Brooklyn...Bronx...Bianchi Bicycle

   I was recently listening to the NPR program Fresh Air, which was featuring old interviews with cast members of The Office. Incredibly, it has been twenty years since the debut of NBC's hit comedy, and listening to some of the funny clips on the radio motivated me to start rewatching the series online.

   Fellow fans of the show may remember the episode when Jim impersonates Dwight. His annoying coworker finally snaps when Jim utters a phrase mocking three of Dwight's biggest interests: bears, beets and Battlestar Galactica.

   My take on the humorous alliterative line reflects the theme of this blog entry, primarily a Four Boroughs ride in New York City that I am planning for May 31. The ride will be open to anyone, as we will be pedalling at a social pace, much like our annual Turkey Trek or Santa Ride events, as well as a comparable distance, around 40 miles. If you are interested in joining the fun, just send me a message.

   There is a FIVE Boroughs organized ride in May that also includes Staten Island and what is probably a spectacular ride over the Verrazano Narrows bridge. Sure, the event has roads closed to auto traffic, but you have share the pavement with thousands of people of varying degrees of ability and cycling awareness. The ride had become so popular at one point, that numbers had to be restricted, with a wait list for those not making the initial wave of registration.

   It seems the organizer's solution is to charge a hefty $168 entrance fee, and that certainly is enough to turn me away. I've ridden all over the Big Apple during many visits, and there are plenty of paved trails and bike lanes (much of it traffic-separated!) on which to explore the area. I'd much rather organize a route of my own for FREE!

   We would start at Fort Lee Historic Park in New Jersey (saving us any bridge or tunnel tolls) and ride onto the island via the George Washington Bridge. I found out that since my last visit in 2022, the north side of the bridge has seen major construction to imrove bicycle access, and I'm looking forward to seeing what has been done.

   Dipping down immediately to the Hudson River Greenway is certainly an option, but I've noted in the past that most traffic is on the parallel 9A Parkway, and riding south on Riverside Drive is quite pleasant. Around 130th Street, we'll join the Greenway and cycle past the Upper West Side and Hell's Kitchen into Chelsea Piers.

   After passing the West Village and the World Trade Center, we'll enter Battery Park, where the Staten Island Ferries come to dock. Again, I understand improvements have been made to the bikeway through this area, with a smoother connection to the East River Greenway heading up the other side of Manhattan.

   The Brooklyn Bridge tends to be mobbed by tourists, so I generally avoid cycling over it. Besides, you can't really see the bridge while you are on it, so I prefer the view from the calmer bikeway of the Manhattan Bridge. We'll head a short distance north, turn on the bike path that parallels Pike Street and make a quick connection to the bridge ramp from Canal Street.

   Once in Brooklyn (borough #2, for those keeping count), the path ramps down to yet another series of traffic-separated lanes along Sands Street, Navy, Flushing and Kent Avenues. Now in the Williamsburg neighborhood, we'll be pedalling north along the East River until we meet the ironically-named Eagle Street. Here will be the first stretch of street riding, although still on a nicely-marked bike lane, and only just a couple of blocks-worth over to the bike path on Pulaski Bridge.

   After crossing Newtown Creek, we'll be entering borough #3, the confusingly-named Long Island City neighborhood of Queens. Another short segment of street lanes and "sharrow" back roads, via 49th and Skillman Avenues, loop over to more dedicated bicycle paths on Queens Boulevard and the pleasant approaches to the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge:

    From the bridge, we'll catch glimpses of Midtown Manhattan, the Empire State Building and my favorite structure in the world, the Chrysler Building, an Art Deco masterpiece:

   Back in Manhattan again, we'll do another few blocks of street riding over to Central Park in the bike lane of 61st Street. Our crew will have the option to do a lap around the park loop - this would stretch the total to around 45 miles - which was closed to car traffic a handful of years ago. Otherwise, we'll continue up to 90th, pass the Guggenheim Museum and cut back across to meet the Ward's Island Bridge (again, a confusing name) over to Randall's Island.

   I was inspired to ride here by a customer who recently shot this cool photo of the Ciocc bicycle he bought from me years ago. The pathway there runs beneath the supports of the Hell Gate Bridge:

   We'll pedal over the bridge at the north end of the island into the Bronx (borough #4) and work our way across the on-road bike lane along 138th Street (Msgr. Gerald Ryan Blvd.). Here is probably the sketchiest part of the route, but it is just a few blocks, and we'll eventually turn onto the smaller Gerard Avenue and its marked bike lane.

   After passing Yankee Stadium, it is mostly riding on painted bike lanes via 167th Street and the Edward L. Grant Highway up to the High Bridge. This structure, which carries the Croton Acqueduct over the Harlem River, is always a highlight for me when riding back to the George Washington Bridge. Not only are there great views of Upper Manhattan from atop the bridge but also a cool herringbone brick surface on which to ride.

   Beyond the water tower is a lovely ride up the trail, along the rocky ridge through the Highbridge Recreation Center. From there it is a simple zigzag across 170th Street, Fort Washington Avenue and 180th, back to the George Washington Bridge ramp.

   Finally, I've added another frameset to what is becoming a rather long project queue. Every so often I have a celeste urge, and I found a really nice 1987 Bianchi Mondiale. This frameset, which is in really nice condition for its age, came stripped of its decals, and I've already applied some new ones. I plan on installing a Campagnolo 8-speed group and an Italian 3T cockpit.

   

   I was able to wrap up one of my projects, as I completed assembly of the Flandria Eddy Maertens bicycle:

   

The Struggle From Inspiration To Motivation

   After making a series of sales, some which involved swapping parts from one bicycle to another to complete the deal, I was able to revisit some projects that have been hanging around my build queue for quite a while. In my defense, these plans originated when I still had my custom paint connection in place, and most of the time, I was just taking frames to a local guy for a sandblasting then I would drop them off with my buddy Bruce for whatever color application I desired.

   You may remember that his business with Victus Sports, which makes custom baseball bats for Major League Baseball, completely exploded, and Bruce could no longer take on any outside work. I honestly couldn't have been happier for the guy, as his work was consistently showcased by many of the Phillies and other top-flight players like Aaron Judge, Fernando Tatis, Jr. and George Springer. I just wish I could have found someone else out there so inexpensive (Bruce SPOILED me!) and talented.

Just for fun, at the end of this blog entry, I thought I'd include a showcase a few projects Bruce and I did together over the years.

   Despite my best attempts, I found working with rattle cans wasn't always so simple, especially when you don't have optimal conditions in which to work. With the long-delayed Battaglin Speed CE (Cobbles Edition) frame, I found myself frustrated by the "orange peel" effect of a bumpy finished surface when temperature, humiditiy and uneven surfaces conspired to leave me with anything but the smooth coat I desired and needed on which to apply decals. Longer and longer I kept putting off sessions of wet sanding - honestly the most unpleasant of bicycle maintenance tasks seems more fun to me!

   Well, I'm pushing myself to really get to it this spring, and although my struggles some with lingering lung congestion didn't really make me feel up to putting on a mask and/or sessions of rigorous sanding, I did take apart the blue Ciocc that needed a session of wire brush work to remove surface rust. To make it easier, I put a wire wheel in a drill, and it worked out really well. I'll be spreading on a layer of Metal Rescue gel to completely clear the frame of any issues.

   The chrome on the fork blades is beyond a reasonable return to shininess, so I will match up the blue paint on the rest of the frame and give those a coat - the crown looks pretty good, so I'm thinking of masking that out. I'll reapply the smaller Ciocc decals to the back of the seat stays and on the non-drive chainstay.

   The other day I was in a discussion with a visitor about the projects I decide to take on. I was talking about being careful with bicycles I've found that, despite being in fantastic condition, just don't have that wide appeal to the casual bicyclist. Sure, most know the Colnago, Pinarello and Eddy Merckx brands, but I don't come up with those very frequently at an inexpensive price. I seem to have the most luck with secondary brands that have a good reputation among those who have just a bit more knowledge about the sport and its history.

   I've done well with marques like Vitus, Wilier, Basso and Battaglin, which may not have the worldwide name, but have the reputation to make them an attractive purchase. Alternatively, I know enough about those bicycle companies and pros that have ridden their products to provide an interesting tale or two that might push a prospective buyer "over the top" towards a purchase.

   In that vein, I've found a mid-1970s Flandria frame, badged up for one of the stars of that era, Freddy Maertens. Flandria bicycles started with the Claeys brothers at the turn of the 20th century, and the Flandria-sponsored teams from 1957-75 were some of the most successful in the history of pro cycling.

   Although young stars like Eddy Merckx, Sean Kelly, Herman van Springel and Walter Godefroot all moved onto other teams and greater success, legends like Freddy Maertens, Joseph Plankaert, Rik van Looy and Joop Zoetemelk won nearly every event on the pro calendar, and in van Looy's case some of these races multiple times! Maertens himself was one of the best sprinters in the world, taking victories in many Belgian classics and an amazing 36 Grand Tour stages during his career. He was the overall victor during the 1977 Vuelta a Espana and claimed both the 1976 and 1981 World Championships.

   The frame is in wonderful shape, considering its age, and it has beautiful gold outlining on the lugs. Flandria frames were made of Japanese Ishiwata Steel tubing, a material that was comparable with Columbus tubes but came with better finishing, making it popular among frame builders.

   I'm planning to do something slightly different with this project, taking cues from a video I've seen on Alex Stieda's 7-Eleven team bicycle, on which the Canadian star (the first North American to ever wear the yellow jersey) performed a bit of a retro-mod build. I will be using primarily Campagnolo components instead with my down-tube shifter drivetrain, but I do really like those cool TRP brake levers and will definitely be snagging a pair of those for inclusion!

   Elsewhere in "shop window", I've had the Vicini listed as-built without much interest, so I am going to re-equip the bike with modern components, in an attempt to make its rideability more of an attraction to potention buyers. I also haven't had too many nibbles on the Lazzaretti, so I've decided to purchase some throwback decals (but in white, instead of black shown below) and redo its aesthetic.

   I also met a gentleman in North Jersey that was thinning out his collection and offered up this fantastic Colnago Nuovo Mexico. I have plenty of Campagnolo parts around here to make this a wonderful project, but what was really interesting is that the guy's research into his frame had me correcting the identification of one of my earliest projects. I have subsequently gone back and fixed all my past blog entries to reflect that the bike I thought was a Nuovo Mexico was actually a Colnago Super "Profil". In my mind, this was actually better news, because it turns out the iconic bicycle Giuseppe Saronni rode to victory at the 1982 Worlds was also a misidentified Super!

   As shown below, there were some outstanding overall paint jobs that Bruce had done for me, but two smaller jobs particularly stood out. One involved the matching of a pearlescent antique white on a early-1980s Ciocc Mockba '80 bicycle that had its top tube very badly chipped. An early-1980s Pinarello Gran Turismo looked as though the red paint had worn or faded around its lugs, exposing the metallic paint below. It almost appeared as though a gold pinstripe had been applied. It was a gorgeous patina effect that Bruce mimicked perfectly on parts of the bike that had bubbled/rusted and had to be stripped of paint. Both these jobs could not really be appreciated in photos, but in-person they appeared magical, especially when you knew the original condition.

A 1992 Pinarello Asolo that once belonged to me

A return-to-glory for my in-law Todd's Ciocc World 77

A much more impressive look to this late-1990s Merckx Alu Team frameset