Could Have Used Santa's Sleigh

   My apologies to my brother if he goes to read a new blog entry, only to find this is pretty much taken directly from the long email I sent to him this morning, detailing my recent ordeal.

   The Cycle Tech "Ride With Santa" went off without a hitch last Saturday, and it was enjoyed by all, including a first time attendee, my brother-in-law Jay. He actually put us all to shame in the decorating department, stringing lights through his reindeer-antler-equipped helmet and wearing a Santa-inspired tee shirt overtop of his cycling jacket.

   The only letdown for me was that the lights I had wound around my frame stopped functioning about halfway through the route. Strangely, they clicked back on shortly before we finished, when climbing up Main Street in Royersford. Not that I felt cheated of being able to put my lights to full use, but I like to get out a few times at night during the holidays (if it's not brutally cold), riding area trails and neighborhood streets to take in the home light shows.
   There is a new trail nearby that runs west-east, taking advantage of an existing power line corridor to connect a few housing developments in Limerick. I was on that route last night when I hit a low spot with poor drainage, and because the black asphalt there was so new, I couldn't tell it had frozen over. I went down hard!
   Granted, it has been 30 years since I was skating regularly, keeping in shape for hockey games, but I have taken a spill on ice hundreds of times (with and without protective equipment), and that repetition is surely an advantage when knowing how to fall - keep arms in and roll into the hit, letting the big bones/muscles absorb the smackdown. I also have it drilled into my head to stay with the bike when you crash, as it can often take the brunt of the impact, saving you from worse damage/pain down the road.
   When I slid to a stop, I was a little shaken, but I had no clothing tears, and my bike showed only a twisted left brake/shift lever. I brushed some slush clear of my legs and jacket, banged the lever back into alignment and walked about 50 yards just to assess my body's condition. Really, I didn't feel any different than the countless times I've caught a rut when skating on a pond or area rink and gone down, so I just jumped on the bike and continued for another 20 miles!
   I don't know if it was the adrenaline or the cold keeping any pain or swelling at bay, but I didn't feel any discomfort until I was pedaling the homestretch back to our house, and that sensation was more of a hip flexor strain. Well, when I stopped in our driveway, I could barely get off of my saddle, having to tilt the bike at an extreme angle in order to sling my left leg over the top tube.
   A few minutes later I was shivering uncontrollably at our walk-in closet, not only because my body temperature was dropping as I struggled to get out of the sweaty/wet cycling clothes, but I was in a bit of shock from the agony I experienced when dragging my left leg upstairs to hopefully take a hot shower. Seriously, I was nearly in tears, it was so bad - I just wanted to get warm and stop shaking, but I could barely move!
   Sue had yet to come home, so I just sucked it up, managed the excruciating pain to remove my socks and thermal tights, then somehow lifted my leg over the tub edge to enjoy a few moments of warmth under the hot water. The shaking began again when I dried myself off, but I could now hear Sue coming in the door downstairs.
   I felt really bad putting her through an emergency room visit until 3:00 am, especially because I am the KING of tests that show absolutely nothing wrong, despite my apparent issues. Since 2008, I have had every gastroenterological test and scan out there, attempting to diagnose a chronic digestion issue, only to find out I have Celiac, which was a totally unrelated "gift", and the mystery goes on. Anyway, in this case, no breaks or obvious damage in the X-ray or CAT scan!
   The doctor assumes I have some swelling/fluid in my old person hip joint that is pushing on nerves, but there could be a small hip flexor tear - most likely I'll be doing an orthopedic follow-up after the holidays. I'm feeling reasonably well now, loaded up on Percocet and trying to stay off my feet as much as possible.
   It's funny that what I am thinking about most is how great I felt out on the ride, despite only having put in a handful of miles the past week or so, due to some recent shaky weather and a couple family events in between. I was closing in on 5000 miles for the year and HATE it when my fitness drops off. Now it looks like a couple of weeks completely off the bike is in the cards...rats!

   Using a good number of the parts left over from the conversion of my Bianchi Camaleonte from a 9-speed, hydraulic brake flat-bar bicycle to an 11-speed, cable-activated hydraulic drop-bar machine and filling in the gaps with other components, I finished building up the Felt F65 frame I had purchased before the Turkey Trek. It currently has a pair of 38mm tires installed, which would provide a plush gravel ride, but you could simply swap in a 32-33mm 

set to make it an excellent cyclocross racer!

Hope you and those close to you have a safe and Merry Christmas, plus a fantastic New Year!

Pleasant Valley Friday

   Another music reference in the title - this time, courtesy of The Monkees, and I'm swapping in a different day of the week (for Sunday).

   Yesterday I had the opportunity to check out some Lehigh Valley trails out in the northern reaches of Northampton and Lehigh Counties. There was a warm sun shining when I started out from Slatington, and I may have let my enthusiasm get the better of me, as I shed some of the layers I had put on that crisp morning and wondered if I might be paying for it later.

   I was starting out in a westerly direction on the Slate Heritage Trail (photo left), which winds along Trout Creek. There were many remnants of the once-flourishing slate industry along the way with some historical markers to give information about some of the locations

   I pedaled out into some open farmland, and in the abundant sunshine, I was working up a decent sweat. The terrain was becoming incredibly hilly, and I opened up the front of my jacket, knowing that, if I didn't stay fairly dry and cool, when the sun started to get low I was going to be wet and cold.

   Going up a particularly brutal incline on County Bridge Road, I crossed through an unmarked intersection and waved to a car passing by for some I.D. help. She could tell that her answer wasn't the one I wanted to hear, meaning I'd have to continue up the nasty climb, but she wished me a pleasant ride anyway.

   Finally over the top of the hill, I turned onto Best Station Road and soon connected to Route 873. I made my way over gently-rolling terrain to the village of Neffs, veered onto Route 329, then headed south on Mauch Chunk Road to reach the Ironton Trail. I had been on this wonderfully-done path years ago with my father, but we were only on the the main 5-mile loop that encircles the borough of Coplay, as well as the communities of Stiles and Hokendauqua.

   I was on a three-mile extension of the trail, out to the village of Ironton itself, and the paved course is lined with ruins and historical markers that give visual evidence of the iron ore mining industry that once dominated the region. The trail is on the roadbed of the former Ironton Railroad, which transported the iron ore to blast furnaces that lined the Lehigh River. In later years the area was dominated by cement mills, and some of those still remain, though much of the transport is now done by trucks.
   There are many railroad remnants along the trail as well, including a nicely-restored caboose, a passenger car (which needed some work) and a concrete telephone booth (photo below).

   As I neared the river, I could see the landmark red brick Coplay Cement Company kilns looming in the distance. Built in the late 19th century, the kilns and surrounding land were donated to the county to become an open-air museum.

   I turned onto 2nd Street before reaching the kilns, so that I could head across the Chestnut Street bridge into Northampton. I made a left onto Main to meet the 10th Street trailhead of the Nor-Bath Trail which runs about six miles between its namesake boroughs. There had been many improvements to the trail since I last visited here years ago, and new bridges had been recently constructed over the busier roads that intersect the trail. Maybe the local parks department was feeling pressured by the quality of the Ironton Trail on the other side of the river?

   The trail climbs rather quickly away from the river, but not too steeply, as this was the roadbed of the Northampton and Bath Railroad. The shortline primarily served the many area cement mills (the high school nickname is the Koncrete Kids, after all) to interchange with the New Jersey Central in Northampton.

   I was aware of the lowering sun and definitely didn't want to get caught riding in the dark. I still had over ten miles to ride up the D&L Trail to return to Slatington, so I only rode half of the Nor-Bath Trail, doing a U-turn at the Bicentennial Park sports complex. Eventually heading through Canal Park, which is a short segment of the trail route on the east bank of the Lehigh River, I was disappointed by the condition of the asphalt surface, but I suppose with its proximity to the river, exposure to flooding is a frequent issue.

   I crossed back over the river on the Woodward Bridge at 21st Street and continued up along the D&L Trail towards the community of Laurys Station. The bluffs on the west side of the river become higher as you near Lehigh Gap, so I was in a cold shadow for the rest of the ride back to Slatington. I jumped out of the saddle a few times, not only to keep up a pace, but to try to generate some warmth from the effort.

   I was generally happy with the performance of the new Bianchi, though I'm not sold on the wider 38mm tires. I expected a lack of nimbleness on the streets, compared to the 30mm versions I have been riding on in the past, but I'm not sure what to think about their performance on unpaved paths. The surface of the D&L Trail is very fine cinder - though it doesn't puddle, it does hold water and becomes rather mushy, and like the Perkiomen Trail near my home, because it receives very little winter sun, it is rarely dry after the month of November. Both trails are constantly going through a freezing-overnight/thawing-during-daylight process.

   Now, physics would tell me that I was actually better off with the wider tires on the soft path, as their greater surface area would keep the tires from cutting into the mush and sinking. I also noticed a more comfortable ride on some of the more coarse or broken surfaces.

   I certainly don't feel the need to keep two wheelsets on hand for changing terrain, like a pro cyclocross racer might. I prefer not to ride in the wet, so I'm leaning towards trying a 32- or 34-millimeter tire and leaving it at that.

   So I'm now selling my 2006 Cross Concept - it served me well for nearly eight years, and I hope someone else can enjoy a few more years of off-road adventures on it. The bike has been cleaned and tuned-up, so it's ready to ride!

Trekking, Wheeling and Dealing

    A dozen friends showed up at Betzwood Park, just outside of Valley Forge, for the 8th annual Cycle Tech Turkey Trek. We had an unusually warm autumn day, as long sleeves and jackets were shed after only a few miles. My buddy Steve (red helmet) took this over-the-head shot of some of our crew as we passed by the Norristown train station.

   Our 41-mile route would lead us out the Schuylkill Trail into Philadelphia, but unfortunately a handful of our group had some time constraints and could only complete about half the event. While they turned around at Manayunk, we continued on, eventually taking a bathroom break at Boathouse Row before climbing up through Lemon Hill to reach Girard Ave.

   An unplanned stop because of a flat tire allowed Steve to snap this shot of me (above, in the France-striped jersey) and some of the bunch, with the Philadelphia skyline in the background. We were soon back on our way, passing the Zoo and pedaling over to the Exposition Hall grounds.

   We wound past the Japanese House and Garden and through the Fairmount Horticulture Center before tackling the climb up to the Belmont Plateau for a spectacular view of the city.

   A couple miles later, we connected with the Cynwyd Heritage Trail to begin a long downhill back to the SRT at Manayunk. Unfortunately one of our riders took a spill at the Cynwyd Station area, slipping on the leaves near the sidewalk/ramp joint. No one was seriously injured, but the group started to break up in the confusion, as many were heading down the long descent and had no word of what had happened.

   I was disappointed to be bringing up the rear, but as the host of the ride, I felt obligated to make sure everyone returned safely. When I finally returned to Betzwood and spoke to a few of the group who were still packing up to leave, I realized that for some people the day had simply stretched out longer than expected.

   I love my boys and miss having them around the house, but there are some days when I am thankful for no longer having family obligations/schedules to worry about!

   Because I had received the parts from Chad to assemble my Bianchi gravel bike, I had a good number of components left and decided to purchase a cyclocross frameset to build up. I was considering a Marin Nicasio gravel frame but decided on a nice 2016 Felt F65X frameset from a seller on Pinkbike.

   A few weeks ago I met my pal Walt at his storage unit with the intent to pick up one of his bikes that a prospective buyer had contacted me about. That sale eventually fell through, but I was able to snap photos of some of Walt's collection. I have had a few of his items on my For Sale page for a while, but I have decided to create a new, separate page that will feature only an overview of his items and link it to my page. View Walt's Collection.

   I will provide detailed images here of the recent additions, such as the late-1990s Torelli Nemo, a Columbus steel tube frameset assembled for the company by esteemed builder Antonio Mondonico. In fact, Walt met him at a tradeshow years ago and had Antonio sign the top tube!

   The bike has been built up with Campagnolo Athena 8-speed components and a set of Torelli Master wheels.

   Here is a 1993 Giordana XL Super, built up as a single speed with Campagnolo Record and Chorus components and a set of Mavic CXP33 wheels. The frameset, assembled in Italy by Billato, is made of Excell Podium steel tubing from France. Ignore the tape bands on the top and down tubes, as they can be easily removed - Walt just put them on the frame to protect it from possible damage from over-rotating the handlebars in storage.

   Finally, it's a 2003 Merlin Magia, a superlight titanium frameset with a Reynolds carbon fork and a Campagnolo Chorus carbon groupset. Walt really like the Mavic CXP33s, and had included the wheelset on this bike, too. The frame features some wonderful engravings on the headtube and on the bottom bracket lug.

   By the way, it is nearly the holiday season, which means the Cycle Tech Santa Ride should be on your calendar! We'll be doing the traditional 31-mile route from Royersford H.Q. out to Schwenksville to meet the Perkiomen Trail. We'll connect to the SRT at Oaks and loop back to the start through Phoenixville and Spring City. Bundle up (if necessary), decorate your gravel-friendly bike with lights (if you like) and join us!

GORGEous Italian Beauties

   If you were expecting photos of Monica Bellucci and Caterina Murino, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but the title refers to bicycles and the last of the Cycle Tech Sojourns, which took place in the beautiful Pocono Mountains up along the Lehigh River Gorge. The timing couldn’t have been much better, as we were just a few days from the forecasted peak color, and the steep hillsides were bursting with oranges, reds and yellows, mixed in with the occasional (ever)green.
   Sue and I met our crew at the lower end of the state park grounds, right near the steel truss bridge that carries the tracks of the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad, as well as a parallel section of the gorge trail, over the Lehigh River into the borough of Jim Thorpe.

   I always forget how chilly it can get riding up here, as there is very little warmth hitting the trail, not only due to the abundance of shade trees, but also because the low angle of the sun at this time of the year combines with the surrounding mountains to allow only brief periods of sunlight to reach the ground. We were well-prepared with our attire and it took just a short time to warm up while pedaling the (very slightly) uphill leg north towards Penn Haven Junction, where another branch of the railroad heads to the west.
   However, it wasn’t too long after I had taken off my outer shell and rolled it up neatly to stuff into my back jersey pocket that I started to get chilly again and thought about putting it back on. The river winds all over the place, and luckily we were in another sunny section of the trail, so I held off from putting the shell back on.

   My friend Ed was along for ride, and we joked that after spending a few hours together last weekend riding the Paulinskill and Sussex Trails, we might be “all talked out”, but we always find some fun subject matter to draw upon. His wife Kelly came along, and since it had been about a year since I had seen her, during the last Turkey Trek, we had a great time catching up.
   We took a break at Rockport, as some of us have back issues and need to stretch out. Mind you, my back situation isn’t perfect, but for the most part it feels better when cycling, so I just have to be patient. Everyone knows how antsy I am just waiting around, and really, no one wanted to cool off too much, so the stops were brief.
   As mentioned, the northern leg is uphill, but the trail is built on the Lehigh Valley Railroad grade, so it is very gradual. The incline is more noticeable as you near Tannery, but not particularly challenging. We were disappointed that the trail was closed the remaining two miles up to White Haven, due to construction near the Interstate 80 bridge over the trail.
   Because of Ed’s rough summer dealing with some health issues, he often mentioned how much more fit Kelly is, particularly because she regularly uses an indoor trainer. She “tore it up” for a few miles on the return leg, and I sprinted up to catch her. We slowed considerably after a few miles, but had to look back a few times to make sure we weren’t completely losing our companions.

   On the way back we encountered a passing RBMN tourist train, which was packed with railroad enthusiasts, as well as folks wanting a convenient way to experience the autumn colors. Sue and I reminisced about the last time we were up here riding (oh my god, TEN summers ago!), when the temperatures were nearing 100 degrees!
   Despite having the company of loved/missed family members during that ride, there was no doubt the scenery and weather this time around was preferred by us both!

   I was extremely excited to have my Pinarello Prince frame returned to me, beautifully repaired and ready to reassemble. A small crack in the head tube had appeared, not because of any type of impact, but nevertheless, I did not want to ride the bike and make the damage worse. Because the crack was perfectly straight, I was hoping it was a flaw in the joint between the two sides of the mold when the frame was manufactured.

   Thankfully, Pat at Cleveland Carbon confirmed what was suspected and did a wonderful job with the repair, in addition to matching the paint. This bike means a lot to me, not only because of the history behind it, but because the 2011 trip to Rome with my late mother inspired its purchase.

   I was able to (almost completely) wrap up assembly/conversion of my Bianchi Camaleonte (C-Sport 3) to a drop-bar gravel bike. I had previously mentioned that my friend Chad had supplied some Shimano 105 levers and rear derailleur, but he also hooked me up with a set of cable-activated hydraulic brake calipers! He explained to me that they have stopping power more like the straight hydraulics, but don’t have the messy setup with fluids. Sounds good to me!
   I had to have a little lesson on replacing disk brake pads from my buddies at Bikesport, but installation was relatively painless when I returned home. It was pointed out to me that, as long as you don’t knock the calipers around when doing so, replacing pads in disk brakes is actually easier, as rim brake pads require much more time to adjust/align to the rim’s braking surface.
   I wanted to remove the rear brake without having to drain the fluid, but it proved impossible, since the parts that connect the line to the levers would not fit through the tiny internal routing port. I had removed the rubber “boot” and threaded compression sleeve from the fluid line. I then popped out the brass “olive” that fits the line into the lever. At this point I realized that clipping off the end and slipping off the parts would be necessary to remove the fluid lines from the frame.

   At this point, with all of the repair/tune-up work I’ve done on modern bikes, I have plenty of experience with aligning rotors and calipers, so installing the new brakes to my Bianchi wasn’t too difficult. I think the metallic blue finish on the calipers looks pretty good with the celeste paint.

   The rest of the parts involved were the Cinelli stem/bars, a Ritchey WCS carbon seatpost, a Shimano Deore crankset with a single chainring that has narrow/wide teeth and a new 11-speed cassette with a bit more climbing range. I have yet to swap in the SPD pedals from my Cross Concept, as I am tuning up that bike a bit and want to test ride before selling. The standard 116-link Shimano chain I bought for the Camaleonte was also not quite long enough, so I’ll have to install the correct length before riding. I couldn’t resist leaving the chain on temporarily for some photos:

   I was also able to finish assembly of the Pinarello Opera Cellini frame that I picked up in June. There weren't really any snags to this project, other than a missing cable guide under the bottom bracket, but that was a simple purchase. I had a Campagnolo Chorus 10-speed group on the shelf and an ITM stem and bar set hanging up in the shop. I found a new set of Miche Reflex R7 wheels online, which nicely completes this modern build.

 

...and to wrap up, I drove out to Lancaster a couple of weeks ago to pick up a nice Tommasini Super Prestige bicycle. I had contacted the seller through eBay and was able to get in a great ride on my regular Amish Country circuit before meeting for the transaction in the afternoon.

   The bike will need a tune-up, and I'm thinking of swapping out the triple chainring components, although it is a very new Campagnolo Veloce group. I'll also grab a new saddle and some tan wall tires. I will probably list it for $950, but if you’d be interested in the bicycle as-is, I'll drop $150 off the price - just let me know.