and they're off!
03-23-09, 07:27 AM
#1
multimodal commuter
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,809
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
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and they're off!
Hey guys!
Just wanted y'all to know that my daughter and I are off on a four day ride to Virginia. Checking my email was my last task before starting out; so as I write, my helmet is already on. First overnight will be with a member of this forum; I will let him announce himself should he feel the urge.
Just a few moments ago, I weighed the fully laden tandem. 100 lbs on the dot, as close as I can tell. First day, some 65 miles... okay, I better hop to it, eh?
Wish me luck!
Rudi
Just wanted y'all to know that my daughter and I are off on a four day ride to Virginia. Checking my email was my last task before starting out; so as I write, my helmet is already on. First overnight will be with a member of this forum; I will let him announce himself should he feel the urge.
Just a few moments ago, I weighed the fully laden tandem. 100 lbs on the dot, as close as I can tell. First day, some 65 miles... okay, I better hop to it, eh?
Wish me luck!
Rudi
03-23-09, 09:19 AM
#5
Bike Nerd
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Mid- Michigan
Posts: 579
Bikes: mid 80's Fuji Supreme (commuter), LeRun unicycle thingy Raleigh Centrurion
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Have a great trip, I'm considering a two day minitour myself at the moment. Need to get some miles in and recharge my soul.
03-23-09, 09:33 AM
#6
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hey guys!
Just wanted y'all to know that my daughter and I are off on a four day ride to Virginia. Checking my email was my last task before starting out; so as I write, my helmet is already on. First overnight will be with a member of this forum; I will let him announce himself should he feel the urge.
Just a few moments ago, I weighed the fully laden tandem. 100 lbs on the dot, as close as I can tell. First day, some 65 miles... okay, I better hop to it, eh?
Wish me luck!
Rudi
Just wanted y'all to know that my daughter and I are off on a four day ride to Virginia. Checking my email was my last task before starting out; so as I write, my helmet is already on. First overnight will be with a member of this forum; I will let him announce himself should he feel the urge.
Just a few moments ago, I weighed the fully laden tandem. 100 lbs on the dot, as close as I can tell. First day, some 65 miles... okay, I better hop to it, eh?
Wish me luck!
Rudi
03-23-09, 09:53 AM
#7
Senior Member
Have a great trip. Which way are you headed? If you need a place to stay on the north side of Baltimore (Parkville) let me know. It might be sleeping on the floor for one of you, but we could at least feed you.
03-23-09, 01:06 PM
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Highland Park, NJ, USA
Posts: 3,798
Bikes: "Hildy", a Novara Randonee touring bike; a 16-speed Bike Friday Tikit; and a Specialized Stumpjumper frame-based built-up MTB, now serving as the kid-carrier, grocery-getter.
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Good luck, Rudi! Keep us posted.
__________________
Tour Journals, Blog, ride pix
My bands:
Tour Journals, Blog, ride pix
My bands:
- Uke On! - ukulele duo - Videos
- Ukulele Abyss - ukulele cover videos - Videos
- Baroque and Hungry's (Celtic fusion) full-length studio album Mended.
- Artistic Differences - 8-track EP Dreams of Bile and Blood.
03-24-09, 07:15 AM
#10
Guest
Posts: n/a
03-24-09, 07:24 AM
#11
Guest
Posts: n/a
Rudi and his daughter left Kimberton, PA, this morning a few minutes before 9:00. (I'm disappointed they didn't take Eddie the beagle with them, but so be it.) Their next night stop is on the Susquahanna river, 50 miles away. The temperature is in the 30s this morning, sunny and little wind. Too cold for me to ride with him. 
So far they have one mechanical - a broken spoke on the rear wheel. We offered to take him to a local shop to get the spoke replaced, but he was concerned about falling behind schedule. Next bike shop on the way is 30 miles from here, and that's where he's headed now. Send some good karma his way, folks, Rudi needs it!
So far they have one mechanical - a broken spoke on the rear wheel. We offered to take him to a local shop to get the spoke replaced, but he was concerned about falling behind schedule. Next bike shop on the way is 30 miles from here, and that's where he's headed now. Send some good karma his way, folks, Rudi needs it!
03-24-09, 11:33 AM
#13
weirdo
Oh, a young daughter! For some reason, I thought he was talking about a grown daughter. Well, that`s even better- hope she has a blast! Good job toughing out the weather. I like that bike, too.
03-24-09, 06:42 PM
#15
multimodal commuter
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,809
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
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Hey!
Just checking in from the home of a Warmshowers.org host in Marietta, PA. Beatiful little Victorian house, really picture perfect.
We had a great day today. The winds had died down; in fact I don't remember any wind at all, all day. There were some nasty hills climbing westward from Kimberton, but once we were over the hump and coming into the Susquehanna Valley, the hills moderated a bit. For a long while we were between two fairly high ridges, so very scenic. It is really beautiful countryside, with very traditional looking working farms, some being plowed by teams of six or more BIG mules. The air was a bit fragrant at times, but I'd rather smell manure than diesel.
The broken spoke was fixed at Shirk's bike shop in East Earl; very nice shop, you wouldn't believe it, it seems in the middle of nowhere, between Almish farms &c, but it's a well stocked and well staffed shop. They cut me four spokes, installed one, trued the wheel up (without the tire), then reinstalled it all... pinched the tube on reinstallation, so they gave me a new one on the house... spokes and labor came to $8, can you believe it? Highly recommended.
We followed "Bicycle PA Route S" most of the way, making detours to see a covered bridge (which we didn't find), and of course the bike shop; and we detoured around the south of Lancaster because we didn't think we needed to see the city. Pretty scenery, but we were there during rush hour, which was not the best time to be there. And we found some Really Nasty hills, I mean, seriously diabolical nasty hills.
People are wonderful. I don't mean just your every day bikeforums salt-of-the-earth (a.k.a. The Historian) but really, everywhere we turned we have met really cool people. Yesterday we had dinner at a brew pub in Phoenixville; loaded down with a caesar salad (for the girl) and a couple very dark beers (not for the girl), I was unlocking the bike, and the manager came out and gave me a gift certificate for $25, just 'cuz!
Then this morning, pedaling along, I see a car stopped, the driver standing there; he flags me down. He, his wife and grandson saw us on the bike and thought we needed a cup of hot chocolate! So they invited us in to the next Duncan Donuts. Nice, huh?
Okay, gotta run!
Thanks everyone, for your good wishes! More later.... --Rudi
Just checking in from the home of a Warmshowers.org host in Marietta, PA. Beatiful little Victorian house, really picture perfect.
We had a great day today. The winds had died down; in fact I don't remember any wind at all, all day. There were some nasty hills climbing westward from Kimberton, but once we were over the hump and coming into the Susquehanna Valley, the hills moderated a bit. For a long while we were between two fairly high ridges, so very scenic. It is really beautiful countryside, with very traditional looking working farms, some being plowed by teams of six or more BIG mules. The air was a bit fragrant at times, but I'd rather smell manure than diesel.
The broken spoke was fixed at Shirk's bike shop in East Earl; very nice shop, you wouldn't believe it, it seems in the middle of nowhere, between Almish farms &c, but it's a well stocked and well staffed shop. They cut me four spokes, installed one, trued the wheel up (without the tire), then reinstalled it all... pinched the tube on reinstallation, so they gave me a new one on the house... spokes and labor came to $8, can you believe it? Highly recommended.
We followed "Bicycle PA Route S" most of the way, making detours to see a covered bridge (which we didn't find), and of course the bike shop; and we detoured around the south of Lancaster because we didn't think we needed to see the city. Pretty scenery, but we were there during rush hour, which was not the best time to be there. And we found some Really Nasty hills, I mean, seriously diabolical nasty hills.
People are wonderful. I don't mean just your every day bikeforums salt-of-the-earth (a.k.a. The Historian) but really, everywhere we turned we have met really cool people. Yesterday we had dinner at a brew pub in Phoenixville; loaded down with a caesar salad (for the girl) and a couple very dark beers (not for the girl), I was unlocking the bike, and the manager came out and gave me a gift certificate for $25, just 'cuz!
Then this morning, pedaling along, I see a car stopped, the driver standing there; he flags me down. He, his wife and grandson saw us on the bike and thought we needed a cup of hot chocolate! So they invited us in to the next Duncan Donuts. Nice, huh?
Okay, gotta run!
Thanks everyone, for your good wishes! More later.... --Rudi
03-30-09, 11:02 AM
#19
multimodal commuter
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,809
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
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Ooof, I just typed in a nice detailed update, and the window closed unexpectedly! Oh, well-- perhaps you're all in luck, and this will curb my worst verbose tendencies....
Monday morning, a week later, I'm back at my desk; my daughter's two weeks of spring break ends today, and my son's two weeks begin. The tandem is in VA, at my parents' house, and I'm scanning the ten day weather forecast for a suitable window of opportunity for the return trip.
Wednesday went smoothly, starting out with bright sunshine and a warm tail wind that pushed us across the mile-long Susquehanna bridge to Wrightsville, where we had a big breakfast at a diner right on the old Lincoln Highway. As we approached York I made a detour from BikePA Route S, hoping to avoid the traffic of downtown; this was marginally successful, in that the suburbs are probably not much prettier than the city, and again we had some wicked hills to contend with. By early afternoon we were on flat country roads to the NW of the city, which made for a pleasant and scenic ride back to Route S. Beautiful old houses and barns, lots of interesting livestock, rich aromas, and rural roads with funny names (BTW I nominate Peepytown Road for first prize... separate thread, anyone?). As we approached our destination, just east of Gettysburg, the sky clouded over and the wind chilled and shifted to the southwest. In other words, we finished the day with a rather nasty headwind, but by then we were almost there. Spent that night at the beautiful home of another wonderful host from warmshowers.org.
Thursday morning was cold and grey, and the ground was wet; but it was not raining, so we got going as early as we could. Just south of Gettysburg I heard another spoke pop, so I stopped at a motorcycle dealership where they had a dry outdoor area where they let me do the repair, which proved to be two broken spokes. In the process I somehow managed to lose my presta valve adapter (
), and then had trouble switching my pump over (it's supposed to work on both kinds of valves, but ...). The net cost to us was the loss of almost an hour of good weather, and though the rest was welcome, this meant that by the time we reached Emmitsburg the restaurant on main street was serving lunch and we still wanted breakfast. Five minutes too late!
Early in the afternoon the rain began in earnest. I had long since decided that the purpose of our expedition was to show my daughter what fun bicycle touring is, and the rain effectively stopped the fun. So I called my father, who borrowed the neighbor's minivan, and while we continued to ride south, he drove north and picked us up just north of Frederick, MD. We had ridden 35 miles that morning, for a total of 220 in four days, and came within 25 miles of our destination. Not much of a disappointment; even in the best of circumstances the last three miles of our ride would have been pretty dangerous, since once into VA Route 15 becomes a very narrow, and very busy, two-lane highway with no shoulder to speak of. I was glad for an excuse not to have to ride that!
By mid afternoon we were in familiar surroundings, sipping hot soup in dry clothes. My daughter, fully animated now, was recounting the highlights of the trip.
On Saturday I borrowed my father's car and drove back to NJ. Now I just have to find a suitable window of nice weather for the ride home-- which at this point looks pretty iffy. We'll probably start on Saturday, and by Monday morning I hope to be within range of public transport around Philadelphia --SEPTA, that is-- so if the weather doesn't cooperate, we can hop a train.
More later!
Monday morning, a week later, I'm back at my desk; my daughter's two weeks of spring break ends today, and my son's two weeks begin. The tandem is in VA, at my parents' house, and I'm scanning the ten day weather forecast for a suitable window of opportunity for the return trip.
Wednesday went smoothly, starting out with bright sunshine and a warm tail wind that pushed us across the mile-long Susquehanna bridge to Wrightsville, where we had a big breakfast at a diner right on the old Lincoln Highway. As we approached York I made a detour from BikePA Route S, hoping to avoid the traffic of downtown; this was marginally successful, in that the suburbs are probably not much prettier than the city, and again we had some wicked hills to contend with. By early afternoon we were on flat country roads to the NW of the city, which made for a pleasant and scenic ride back to Route S. Beautiful old houses and barns, lots of interesting livestock, rich aromas, and rural roads with funny names (BTW I nominate Peepytown Road for first prize... separate thread, anyone?). As we approached our destination, just east of Gettysburg, the sky clouded over and the wind chilled and shifted to the southwest. In other words, we finished the day with a rather nasty headwind, but by then we were almost there. Spent that night at the beautiful home of another wonderful host from warmshowers.org.
Thursday morning was cold and grey, and the ground was wet; but it was not raining, so we got going as early as we could. Just south of Gettysburg I heard another spoke pop, so I stopped at a motorcycle dealership where they had a dry outdoor area where they let me do the repair, which proved to be two broken spokes. In the process I somehow managed to lose my presta valve adapter (
), and then had trouble switching my pump over (it's supposed to work on both kinds of valves, but ...). The net cost to us was the loss of almost an hour of good weather, and though the rest was welcome, this meant that by the time we reached Emmitsburg the restaurant on main street was serving lunch and we still wanted breakfast. Five minutes too late! Early in the afternoon the rain began in earnest. I had long since decided that the purpose of our expedition was to show my daughter what fun bicycle touring is, and the rain effectively stopped the fun. So I called my father, who borrowed the neighbor's minivan, and while we continued to ride south, he drove north and picked us up just north of Frederick, MD. We had ridden 35 miles that morning, for a total of 220 in four days, and came within 25 miles of our destination. Not much of a disappointment; even in the best of circumstances the last three miles of our ride would have been pretty dangerous, since once into VA Route 15 becomes a very narrow, and very busy, two-lane highway with no shoulder to speak of. I was glad for an excuse not to have to ride that!
By mid afternoon we were in familiar surroundings, sipping hot soup in dry clothes. My daughter, fully animated now, was recounting the highlights of the trip.
On Saturday I borrowed my father's car and drove back to NJ. Now I just have to find a suitable window of nice weather for the ride home-- which at this point looks pretty iffy. We'll probably start on Saturday, and by Monday morning I hope to be within range of public transport around Philadelphia --SEPTA, that is-- so if the weather doesn't cooperate, we can hop a train.
More later!
03-30-09, 11:25 AM
#20
Senior Member
03-30-09, 11:27 AM
#21
Senior Member
03-30-09, 11:37 AM
#22
Senior Member
1. Bird-in-Hand
2. Blue Ball
3. Climax
4. Desire
5. Intercourse
6. Jugtown
7.Virginville
Last edited by staehpj1; 03-30-09 at 11:42 AM.
03-30-09, 11:46 AM
#23
multimodal commuter
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,809
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
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Just a little north, actually. I saw it on the map, but remember, I was traveling with a 10YO girl, so there was a limit to what I could joke about, or what I felt like explaining!
03-30-09, 11:51 AM
#24
multimodal commuter
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,809
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
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03-30-09, 08:32 PM
#25
weirdo
What a perfect way to get in time with both your kids and make use of their separate vacations!
rmh, what`s the manufacturer and model of your funky tandem? And do you know if it`s still available in the US?
rmh, what`s the manufacturer and model of your funky tandem? And do you know if it`s still available in the US?
