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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
