City Cycling 2: Christmas Spirit Ride

   Sue and I have just returned from "Ride With Santa", our annual nighttime cycling event, and this year everyone had bikes decked out in lights. More importantly, everyone dressed warmly (unlike last year) to better survive the quickly-dropping temps - it was 30 degrees when we finished, definite frozen water bottle weather!

   Five of us set off from our house in Royersford and rode a few miles on the streets to the Perkiomen Trail-head in Rahns. We then circled back via the connection with the Schuylkill River Trail in Oaks. At our leisurely, conversational pace, our fingers and toes were getting numb enough that we actually welcomed the climb out of Phoenixville to get the blood pumping!

   Spots on the trails were still a bit wet from rains a couple days ago, and some of the puddles were icing over. Everyone was cautious, all had a great time, and many enthusiastic comments about doing it again next Christmas were heard!

   I didn’t really expect to make a second trip into Philadelphia so soon, but about a week ago I was presented with another beautiful late-autumn day, and my focal point of this ride was going to be some of the city’s Christmas traditions. I couldn’t be sure how many nice days I would get before the arrival of the holidays.

   I realized that I could actually combine two of the walks in The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Guide to Historic Philadelphia, since I had already visited many of the sites included in the “Around City Hall” and “Benjamin Franklin Parkway” routes. This would allow me to devote more time to my key destination, the John Wanamaker (now Macy’s) department store for the Christmas light show and Dickens Village.

   The Ben Franklin Parkway is lined with many museums that I have visited with my family, including the Philadelphia Art Museum, which is at the north end of the Parkway on Eakins Oval (named after the city’s most famous artist), and the Franklin Institute, Academy of Natural Sciences and Please Touch Museum, all located around Logan Circle (named for William Penn’s secretary James Logan).

   The circle itself is home to a beautiful fountain designed by Alexander Stirling Calder, who is the son of Alexander Milne Calder, the sculptor of City Hall’s William Penn statue. The fountain depicts figures representing Philadelphia’s three major waterways, the Schuylkill, Delaware River and Wissahickon Creek.

   There is actually a wealth of sculpture and statuary along the parkway, including a Rodin museum and memorials to Copernicus and Shakespeare. In a grassy park across from the entrance of the Franklin Institute is a memorial commemorating the contributions of African American soldiers and sailors who fought in all U.S. wars. Nearby, like bookends on both sides of the parkway, are two memorials honoring soldiers and sailors of the Civil War.

   Most visitors are familiar with the iconic Love sculpture by Robert Indiana at the far end of the parkway at JFK Plaza, but just across 15th Street, on the square surrounding the Municipal Services Building is a really cool installation by Daniel Martinez, Renee Petropoulis and Roger White called “Your Move”. You can wander among giant dominoes, checkers, chess pieces, bingo chips, Monopoly and Sorry markers.

   A couple of other interesting structures line the parkway, including the Free Library of Philadelphia, an immense Greek Revival structure with a Rare Book Room that contains ancient cuneiform tablets, illuminated manuscripts from the Middle Ages and first editions of Charles Dickens. The collection also includes manuscripts of Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder in the Rue Morgue and “The Raven”.

   The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul is an Italian Renaissance structure with a design formed during the city’s anti-Catholic riots of 1844. Completed in 1864, its copper dome and imposing sandstone exterior dominate Logan Circle.

Too bad about the hotel backdrop!

   Years ago, as part of a homeschooling lesson for my sons, we did an architectural tour of Philadelphia which included a visit to the French-influenced, mansard-roofed City Hall, the largest structure of its kind in the country. We had the opportunity to ride the elevator to the tower for a spectacular panoramic view of the city and its surroundings. Of course, topping the tower is the 36-foot, 8-inch “Billy” Penn statue, the largest single piece of sculpture on any building in the world!

   Just north on Broad Street is the Masonic Temple, which I remember the boys giving a “Whoa!” when they saw one of the most ornate and visually striking buildings in the city. The architectural jewel, with its spires and turrets, cost more than $1.6 million, an incredible sum at the time. A bit of trivia: the trowel used to lay the cornerstone on the U.S. Capitol was used on the temple cornerstone in 1868. I don’t have enough time to devote to a description of its seven halls, representing Egyptian, Ionic, Corinthian, Oriental, Italian Renaissance, Gothic and Norman styles - each richly adorned. The temple is well worth a tour, but here is a page with some photos of the interior.

   We had also visited the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, a building that is a piece of art itself, designed by Frank Furness and George Hewitt. Opened in 1876, the academy is home to paintings, sculpture and drawings by area artists, such as Thomas Eakins, Benjamin West, William Rush and Andrew Wyeth, whose work is known around the world.

   My main goal was the Wanamaker holiday display, and I had packed some jeans and sneakers to slide on over my cycling tights, so I would look/feel more in place with the other visitors when I walked in. Later on, Sue would be surprised to hear that I actually dared to leave one of my bikes locked up on the Philadelphia streets, but I parked it strategically near a busy entrance of the Reading Terminal Market so that it would be in constant public view. I was only leaving it there for less than a half hour, and I was also banking somewhat on my late-1970s Flandria not being as much of target for the average city bike thief.

   I always enjoy seeing the store decorated for Christmas and the huge “Magic Tree” with its thousands of bulbs that change too many colors to count! The famous light show runs every two hours, but I’ve seen the somewhat corny production so many times, I didn’t feel the need to see it again.

   I was a bit disappointed that I had arrived mid-day, so I wouldn’t have the opportunity to hear the store’s centerpiece, the Wanamaker Organ. Built for the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, the instrument is played after the noon and 6:00 light shows. With over 28,000 pipes, it is the largest operational organ in the world!

   Each floor of the store has about a 20-foot ceiling, so the escalators are LONG rides up to the Dickens Village, where the story of A Christmas Carol is told with animated statues, music, some narration and hand-painted signs. A large portion of the store’s third floor is transformed into a mini-version of Victorian Camden Town.

The Cratchit family's Christmas dinner scene

   Quickly back into my cycling attire, I headed south down Broad Street, past the Academy of Music, where I have seen a few Philadelphia Orchestra concerts and, a few years ago, a performance of “Spamalot” with my family. The gorgeous 1857 structure is the oldest concert hall and opera house in the country.

The Academy of Music outside...

...and in

   I passed the University of the Arts and then turned left to find the narrow Camac Street, known as “The Street of Little Clubs”. The lane is host to the Philadelphia Sketch Club (established in 1860, it is the oldest professional artist organization in the country), the Charlotte Cushman Club (the 1907 organization, which provided a home for travelling actresses on tour, closed in 1999), the Plastic Club (begun in 1897, it serves as the oldest women’s art club in America) and the Franklin Inn Club (a private literary club founded in 1902).

   I learned later, upon my return home, that Camac Street was once paved with wooden blocks, apparently due to complaints from the clubs about the noise made by carriages on the previous surface of granite blocks. Unfortunately, the wood didn’t stand up well to the weather, and, although the wood was re-laid as recently as 2012, it was eventually paved over. Efforts are underway to restore a 30-foot section in the 200 block of the street – it’s just a matter of perfecting the plan, regarding what type of wood and/or what kind of weatherproofing treatment to apply in order to make the surface last.

Check out the intersecting street name...ooh, so close!

   I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus with projects, as I would like to clear out most of the finished bicycles I have in stock before starting new builds. I am piecing together the Look KG 231 a little bit at a time, with the majority of the parts being Campagnolo Chorus.

   There have been a couple visitors to my shop, one mostly to share plans for build(s), and another to actually swap out some parts on a new bicycle. A friend plans to stop in during the next few weeks to put together a cyclocross bike – for a while I’ve had the frame and most of the parts stored here in anticipation.

   A gentleman named Dan called me a couple of months ago to get some advice about purchasing an Italian racing frame. I sent him some ideas, and he was immediately drawn to an early-1990s Colnago Superissimo that had the paint scheme of the Italian Ariostea cycling team. I suggested he make a slightly lower offer on it, and the seller accepted.

   When Dan came over to drop off the frameset and discuss plans for the build, he was a bit surprised to find that I had nearly everything he needed. I don’t usually have a lot of parts in stock, but I had recently found a Campagnolo Chorus 8-speed group and had set it aside for the future. I occasionally have some bars around, and I was able to provide a Cinelli Giro d’Italia set that had an XA stem already attached.  I also had a Italian Fir wheelset that had black rims with red and yellow decals – it seems they were destined for this bike!

   It was an extremely short turnaround for this project:

   I’m going to be taking a few weeks off during the holidays, so have a wonderful Christmas, and enjoy your New Year’s festivities!

City Cycling Philadelphia: Revolutionary Roads

   Last summer I pulled a book, entitled The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Guide to Historic Philadelphia, off of the shelf that contained my sons’ collection of homeschooling materials. Included in the pages were twelve walks the reader can take in the city, each featuring a distinct neighborhood with its own unique structures, flavor and, of course, history.

   After finishing the book, I was left feeling that, although I often ride into the city along the Schuylkill River Trail, I don’t actually go into the city itself very frequently, and, despite being a native of the greater Philadelphia area for about thirty years, I really didn’t know my way around the city’s neighborhoods, such as Society Hill, Southwark and Rittenhouse Square, or know much about their respective pasts.

   I’ve made it a goal to ride into the City of Brotherly Love and investigate each of these walks over the next few months. I have visited many of the sites mentioned in the book, and I might end up combining some of the walks, but my plan is to finish up with a Penn’s Landing finale, which will include a spin out to the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge, when the weather turns warm again in the early spring.

   My first ride last week, on a sunny but chilly afternoon, was billed as “The Nation’s Most Historic Square Mile”, focusing on the area of the city between 2nd and 7th Streets, in the vicinity of Walnut, Chestnut and Market Streets. During my alternating cycle and stroll, I would be reflecting on the great men of the American Revolution and those who shaped the early development of our country.

   Working my way west from 2nd Street, there wasn’t a lot to actually see at my first stop. Welcome Park was once the site of the Slate Roof House, the first such house in the colonies, but more importantly the home of William Penn and his wife Hannah during their second visit to Philadelphia from 1699 to 1701. Here Penn issued the Charter of Privileges, guaranteeing religious freedom and civil liberties to residents of the Pennsylvania colony. During the celebration of the 50th anniversary of this landmark document, a new bell was cast for the State House to commemorate the event – that casting eventually became known as the Liberty Bell!

   If you aren’t totally distracted by the aromas wafting from City Tavern or Old Original Bookbinder’s, both buildings being faithful reconstructions of the original late-1700s buildings, you will find several authentic colonial houses still standing nearby. I wasn’t going into that deep of an investigation of these houses, but you can find a real taste of colonial life in those belonging to Thomas Bond (a skilled surgeon and pal of Benjamin Franklin), Bishop White (PA’s first Episcopal bishop and chaplain of the Continental Congress) and John Todd (a Quaker lawyer whose wife, Dolley, later became famous as the wife of James Madison, after John died of yellow fever).

   I resisted riding my Flandria bike over the cobbled streets near the Merchants’ Exchange, as they made the Belgian block (or pavé) I over which I pedaled up the Muur de Geraardsbergen seem plush! I was afraid to knock something loose on my vintage machine - or worse, knock something loose on my body - while banging over the slippery, uneven surface.

   For fifty years the Merchant’s Exchange served as the city’s commercial hub, as the oldest stock exchange in the nation. The Greek Revival structure, designed by William Strickland and completed in 1834, is considered one of the great creations of American architecture.

  Just around the corner was the First Bank of the United States. As the name implies, it is the oldest such institution in the country, and a wonderful example of the Federal Style, with obvious Greco-Roman influence. After losing its charter, the building was purchased by noted Philadelphia merchant Stephen Girard and served as his namesake bank from 1812 to 1926.

   I was now at the southeast corner of 4th and Chestnut, the location of Carpenter’s Hall. The 1773 building officially functioned as a guild for the building trades, but it was a regular meeting place for George Washington, John Adams, Ben Franklin, Patrick Henry, John Jay and others. The hall hosted the First Continental Congress, during which delegates formed a petition to King George III, outlining their grievances and asserting rights. I took a moment to stop inside and warm up a bit!

   Directly across Chestnut is a small alley, Orianna Street, which leads to Franklin Court, once the site of the great statesman’s home. The building is long demolished, but underground here is a wonderful museum, which my family and I visited years ago.

   Continuing along Chestnut, I passed the Second Bank of the United States, another fine Greek Revival structure and Old City Hall, once home to the U.S. Supreme Court. Adjacent to this building, on 5th Street, is Philosophical Hall, headquarters of the American Philosophical Society. Founded by Ben Franklin in 1743, the internationally renowned organization is the oldest learned society in America. Its members have included Audubon, Edison, Darwin, Curie, Pasteur, Frost and Wyeth.

   Behind these last two buildings would be what many consider the climax of this little journey, Independence Square, Congress Hall and, of course, Independence Hall. I parked my bike next to the statue of Philadelphia’s Irish-born Commodore John Barry, who served as a officer in the Continental Navy during the Revolutionary War and is considered the father of the U.S. Navy. This was a nice location for a snack, as my stroll was drawing to a close, and I needed to refuel for the ride back home.

   I’d previously been to the Liberty Bell Pavilion complex, just across Chestnut, so I didn’t need to repeat that visit. I continued up 7th Street, past the Atwater Kent Museum and, finally, Declaration House, a reconstruction of Jacob Graff, Jr.’s home, where Thomas Jefferson lived while he drafted the Declaration of Independence.

   After crossing Market Street, it was just a couple of blocks to Arch Street, where I headed west toward the Ben Franklin Parkway. As I neared the Convention Center, I received a bit of a bonus sight of the Friendship Gate in Chinatown at 10th Street. From there it was a fairly short distance to a nicely-painted bike lane on the Ben Franklin Parkway to connect back with the Schuylkill River Trail at the Art Museum.

   Before signing off, I wanted to include photos of the completed Wilier-Triestina Cofidis Team replica bike. This project has taken a long time to complete, and I know updates on this bike have been rather sporadic, but it was primarily a matter of being patient while collecting the rare parts. Since it was built for a client and wasn’t available as a finished bike on my For Sale page, I’ve listed the specs with the main photo:

Components: CAMPAGNOLO Record 9-speed group, including: (both) DERAILLEURS, BRAKE/SHIFT LEVERS and CASSETTE; CRANKSET- FSA K-Force; BOTTOM BRACKET- FSA MegaExo; BRAKES- Mavic SSC; STEM- ITM 4ever Millennium; HANDLEBAR- ITM Millennium Ergal 7075 T6 Ultra Lite; SADDLE- Selle Italia Flite Titanium; WHEELSET- Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL with Michelin Lithion 2 tires; BOTTLE CAGES- Elite Patao carbon

Autumn Among Amish and Many Mennonites

   Because the forecast called for a relatively mild day, followed by some really cold temperatures later this week, I planned a special ride out in Lancaster County. We had been having some erratic weather recently with heavy rains, strong winds and then some colder days with snow, and I had only been able to get out once in each of the last two weeks. I even turned to the indoor trainer (ugh!), as I could feel my fitness already slipping away due to the inactivity.

   One of those rides I had squeezed in was a fairly relaxing spin with the Cycle Tech Turkey Trek gang – we had a really great turnout, even though we were in for a chilly and windy day. There would have been well over a dozen participants, if some late changes in plans hadn’t occurred. I joked that the no-shows had seen the forecast and were looking for reasons to avoid riding, but it really ended up not being too bad.

   With the wind (light breeze early in the morning) at our backs and the sun out, we actually felt like we had over-dressed. Some of us were considering taking off some layers as we quickly reached the city line and made our way down along Boathouse Row. It was at this point the wind really whipped up, and although we were sheltered a bit down along the Schuylkill Banks boardwalk, our mini-peloton was really smacked around on the way back.

   With our heads sometimes down fighting the wind, and with the participants at various levels of strength or fitness, our group splintered often, with a couple charging off the front and/or falling off of the back. Eventually we all just kind of gave up and rode at a little more than a jogging pace, simply enjoying the company and conversation.

   Before I get back to my recent adventure, I wanted to provide an update on my Merckx Grand Prix build. My new friend Dirk, to whom I had previously sold a Tommasini Super Prestige bicycle, had been asking questions about the Merckx and eventually committed. I had been keeping him informed on progress, and he gave me some direction with details, as he liked the leather look of the Pinarello Treviso I built a few years ago.

   Dirk also requested that I take a shot at painting in the Merckx logos on the fork blades. Using some white acrylic paint, I filled in the logos, then waited a few minutes for it to dry slightly. I then folded over a moist paper towel into a point and gently wiped over the area, removing the white from the high points and leaving the logos filled. I was quite pleased with the results.

   Other than a good cleaning and a little cleaning/lube to the Dura-Ace brake/shift levers, this bike was ready-to-go. It had originally come with tubular wheels, so I replaced those with a nice set of Rigida CSB semi-aero rims. Finally, I did a little sanding and buffing to the drive-side crank, as it had a nasty scratch, and then I took some photos of the completed bike:

Dirk was going to install his leather saddle, but I did a little photo
editing to add my own version to match the bars.

   The previous night, while I was trying to decide where I wanted to ride, I saw a photograph on the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society’s Facebook page, featuring a Reading Railroad passenger train at the station in Ephrata, PA. I enjoy railroad history, have built a few detailed model railroads and have a great interest in railroad architecture as well. I “collect” railroad stations by snapping a photo when I visit them and currently have over 600 station pics from all over the country!

   I have been to Ephrata a couple times in my life, most recently to purchase a Bianchi that became a Marco Pantani tribute bicycle. I knew there was a rail trail in development at the time, but I had no idea there was a station still standing in town. After some research on the area, I had a nice route, centering on the Warwick to Ephrata Rail Trail, written down in detail on a small cue card that I clipped to the stem of my bike.

   The former rail line was chartered in 1857 as the Reading and Columbia Railroad to provide a connection for the city of Reading to the Chesapeake Bay region via the Susquehanna Tidewater Canal. Rails were laid in 1863, and trains transported coal, iron ore, and general merchandise. During its peak years, the railroad expanded into the Marietta and Lancaster areas and carried as many as ten passenger trains a day. Through its years as part of the Reading Railroad and eventually Conrail, the secondary branch declined in use until being abandoned in 1985.

   The Ephrata Station (above), which now serves as a visitor center, isn’t actually an official part of the trail, so I started my journey just off of Main Street and headed west on a smooth asphalt path. I had brought my cross bike partly because I was concerned with flatting on the debris left on the roads during the recent snowstorm, but also because I knew sections of the trail were gravel. Those areas of the trail ended up being a nicely packed base with finely crushed stone – I’ve ridden on worse surfaces with 23 mm tires, so I would probably choose one of my road bikes, should I visit this route again.

   The trail was nicely designed with well-marked, smooth transitions at road crossings and a lit underpass below busy Route 272. In some of the more exposed areas of the trail through farmland, the path was lined with shade trees, though I was glad the leaves had mostly fallen this time of year, and the sun could provide some warmth until I could get my own temperature up. One drawback was a break in the trail where a bridge is needed to cross the Cocalico Creek – a short on-road detour was necessary to link the two sections. 

   After reaching the end point in Lititz, I took to the streets in order to loop back to Ephrata. I think many of us incorrectly think it is flat farmland out there - it is far from it! In fact, just a couple of miles off of the trail I encountered a brutal incline up Kissel Hill Road. It wasn’t particularly long - it was just incredibly steep! At the top I was supposed to make a left turn onto Owl Hill Road, and I was praying that didn’t mean there was another climb right after this. Luckily, I was eventually going down Owl Hill after I made my way across a small ridge above Lititz Run.

   There were a handful of roads on my cue sheet that had the word “hill” in it, and the constant up and down nature of the ride didn’t leave much time for recovery. I was happy that the air was virtually still, and I didn’t also have to contend with wind.

   I crossed Zook’s Mill Covered Bridge (above) then turned east to follow the Cocalico Creek a bit, before heading back across the farmlands. I passed many horse-drawn buggies and a couple Amish adults on their kick scooters, which look very much like bicycles. Along the way, I received a few friendly waves from folks, mostly raking leaves in their yards, as the harvest was long past. I also saw a group of Mennonite children walking home from school, and a very small girl surprised me with a “Good afternoon!”

   I finally reached some less intense riding along Diamond Station and Peach Roads, then enjoyed some flat cruising along the Conestoga River on Cabin Drive. I didn’t really enjoy a short stretch of Route 322, as many tractor trailers blew by, but it was less than a mile before I turned east on Martindale Road and headed up Napierville Road and Church Street, over the pass through the hills that separate Hahnstown and Ephrata.

   I think if I was to tackle this ride again, I would cut down the size of the loop on the west side of this route to avoid the early nasty hills, and add the distance to the east side to go completely around the hills there. The riding to the northeast of Ephrata, through Reamstown and Denver was much more to my liking, even if there was a little more traffic out that way. In this more gently-rolling terrain, I could get up to a decent pace and hold it for a while.

   I can imagine some windy days out here in the flat farmlands near Cocalico High School, but I was thankful today wasn’t one of them! I knew there were only a handful of miles left, as I made my way down Church Avenue (the fourth different Church-named street on my cue sheet) through the eastside of Ephrata and back to my car.

   I always find November to be a disappointing time as a cyclist, since I know fitness will drop off as the weather causes interruptions to my riding schedule. Maybe finding other interesting routes on those bonus mild winter days will help compensate for any poor form. 

Bits and Pieces

   I would like to apologize for not really having a unifying theme in this week’s blog, but a lot has been going on the past couple of weeks, and I’ll try to devote a little time to all of the news.

   First off, this Saturday is the fourth annual Cycle Tech Turkey Trek, leaving at 9:00 from the Betzwood Park trailhead of the Schuylkill River Trail. We’ll be doing a 40(ish)-mile round trip into Philadelphia and back, hoping to take in sites like the Manayunk Bridge (Cynwyd Heritage Trail) Philadelphia Art Museum and the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk, but sometimes city events will cause a detour or two.

   A nice-sized crew has already committed to the event. We won’t be crushing the pace, maybe 15 mph or so, if the forecasted wind allows it, but this is a social event, and we certainly don’t intend to drop anyone. Feel free to join us – just be sure to dress warmly!

   Last week I completed a bit of touch-up to the Merckx Corsa, and below are some photos. If anyone interested would prefer a vintage 8-speed setup, instead of the current modern components, let me know, and we can work something out.

   A couple weekends ago I attended the Philadelphia Bike Expo and saw some tremendous bicycles – too many to mention really, but I thought the Wilier-Triestina Cento10 Pro was a standout, with its cromovelato-esque paint job:

It's all about the gioiello ramato (copper jewel) finish!

   The real highlight of the Expo for me was the opportunity to speak with legendary framebuilder Richard Sachs. I think the reason he took the time to speak with me was probably because I didn’t just ask another cycling question. Having a graphic arts background, I was interested to know who had designed his head badge (compare it to his original version below).

   He told me that an old girlfriend had actually came up with it back in the ‘80s, when there were no computers with art programs. She did everything with paper cutouts, just messing around with some different shapes. He liked this version at the time because it suggested motion and reminded him of the Descente sportswear logo that was very popular in cycling at the time.

   The funny thing was that it was much later that he even realized the design incorporated his initials! A wonderful feature of this shape is that it can be inverted to create a pattern that Richard often uses to decorate his frames.

   The next day I was off to Brooklyn to meet someone I had spoken to on the phone about my Vitus 979 bicycles. Chris generously offered to pay for gas and tolls, and asked me to bring along both the purple and red bikes so that he could decide which he wanted after checking them out in person.

   Turns out he is a bit of a collector and told me about some of his other machines, which included a couple other Vitus bikes. He was just a few years younger than me, and we shared similar stories about our formative years as cycling fans.

   Chris was very generous in his comments about my work, and I could tell he was struggling to decide which of the two bicycles to keep. “You know, Glen, I think I’m just going to have to take them BOTH!” It felt pretty good to come home with a fat wallet and only one of the three bikes I had left home with that morning.

   The other bike was my Cannondale, and I had a really nice ride out from my friend Taylor’s townhouse on Quincy Street in Brooklyn, across the Manhattan Bridge for a couple laps of Central Park. The return leg of the ride went down the Hudson River Greenway and crossed back over the Brooklyn Bridge instead, which was a BIG mistake with all the clueless tourists clogging the bike lane with their photo ops.

   After fighting my way through the crowd, I enjoyed the bike lane down Brooklyn Boulevard. The temps were in that crisp-not-cold zone I love, so I decided to explore a bit. I rode down to the neighborhood of Cobble Hill then cut across on back streets to Prospect Heights (pretty sure I was on Bergen Street most of the way). Anyhow, it got really cloudy, and with the sun low in the sky at that point, around 5:00, dusk seemed to be closing in.

   I didn't want to mess around when I ended up intersecting Bedford Avenue and wanted to double-check that I was turning the right direction. There was a girl with headphones on, crossing the street, and I asked if she knew which way was Quincy. Her reply was "Quincy, Massachusetts?" I can't image how far she thought I intended to ride!

   Still tinkering with my own Vitus, I was able to find a vintage Sugino RT compact crankset that has a look more appropriate with the rest of the Mavic components than the modern FSA parts I had previous on the bike. The Sugino crankset was originally a triple, so I simply substituted shorter chainring bolts and found the 50- and 34- tooth chainrings to finish the job.

   I also removed the Italian 3t stem and bars (saved for near-future use!) that were on the bike when I bought it. I swapped in a Mavic stem, but I don't like the shape of the company's handlebars, which have a long forward reach to the curve. I just can't find a place to put the levers where they are comfortably in reach when riding on the hoods and in proper vertical position for squeezing the levers from the drops, while still maintaining the correct forward rotation of the bars.

   I went a completely different direction, as a bit of an experiment, and installed a set of Kestrel carbon handlebars. I thought it would be nice to cut a bit of weight from the bike, and they blend right in with the black bar tape, anyway!

The (hopefully) finished product

   I thought I’d spare you the blog title of Vitus Vision 3, but I have one more round from the French brand, as I received another visit from my “student” Jordan, who had a red 979 that he wanted to build up. He had quite a project in store, as he also brought along a very nice Bottecchia and a Look 231 that he wished to disassemble, with the intent to use some of the combined parts on the Vitus.

   Just like our previous “Bicycle University” session, we had a lot of fun and got a lot done as an effective team. We had some great conversation going, not only about bikes and racing but also about the NYC music scene, as we are both punk rock fans.

   It was a bit of a coincidence that, after posting the photo of the “Merckx Garage” in my last blog post, that my pal Brendan sent me a photo of his brother Aidan’s garage, which, in addition to the Vitus 992 I had built for him, had a Tommasini, Colnago and Look 595 hanging inside. I had replied that he shouldn’t tempt me with photos of Look bicycles, as I had been trying to keep from purchasing one in my (fruitless?) pursuit not to become a collector.

   Well, the Look 231 frameset Jordan brought along was gorgeous! It is gold (despite the more yellowish hue that shows up in the photo below) with the unpainted carbon sections in between having the appearance of fish scales when light reflects off the frame. I have plans in the works for this bike already!

   Speaking of Brendan, when I was finally able to deliver his Sean Kelly Vitus, he gave me another project bike that is a bit different, an Atala Grand Prix with a “townie” setup. One of my first restoration projects, was an Atala Aelle Victory, and I once owned a Cromor Triomphe, which I eventually sold to a friend in Philadelphia.

   This bike is going to require some polishing to its chrome lugs and some touch-up to the black paint, which will be simple enough. The bike has some really interesting parts, including a mystery crankset that doesn’t even have a manufacturer listed in the original catalog, found online! The Grand Prix is equipped with a Campagnolo Valentino front derailleur that is push-rod activated, instead of having the common parallelogram construction. Strangely, the matching rear derailleur has the incorrect routing of the chain through the pulleys, but it still functions! I’ll correct that anyway.

   The bike has a set of wheels built around Campagnolo Nuovo Tipo high-flange hubs, and according to the catalog, Fiamme rims, though they are unmarked. Unfortunately, the bike has Shimano brake levers, but I’ll let that slide, as finding Campagnolo levers for a flat bar configuration will be difficult and pricey.

   Finally, I was able to find a set of Mavic Cosmic Carbone wheels to complete the Wilier-Triestina Cofidis team bike. I contacted my prospective buyer in South Carolina before the purchase, since the wheels were expensive enough to put this venture beyond the proposed budget. I wanted to get the okay to proceed with plans to stick as close to team specs as possible. That project should come to a quick close when the wheels arrive, as the bike has otherwise been complete and hanging in my rafters for weeks!

As always, I’ll keep you informed on my progress.