Frozen Water Bottle Season

   During the Turkey Trek ride, a couple of my friends and I were reminiscing about a summer evening ride out to Philadelphia many years ago. The event sticks in our memory for three reasons: 1. remnants of a recent hurricane had caused severe flooding in Manayunk, so on Main Street there was a coating of thick mud, which stuck to our tires, 2. our group was accidentally split in two at the Cynwyd train station (the start of its namesake trail) when a trio of participants dropped off the pace and missed a turn (they quickly figured out their mistake and doubled back), and 3. when we reached the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge back to Manayunk, the gates were closed and we had to take the spur of the Cynwyd Trail down to Belmont Avenue and take the Green Lane bridge instead.

   I mention this because the PRR bridge has had lights installed along the deck for about three years and is now open to cyclists 24 hours a day. I had always meant to take a ride out there on some balmy summer evening, but the plan always slipped my mind.

   During a beautifully clear day last week when the sun still felt warm, I considered riding into the city, and then the bridge popped into my thoughts. I looked at the forcast and saw that there was some light snow/sleet in the forecast and that the temps were not going to climb out of the low 40s anytime soon, so I knew that I wanted to get out for a long ride that day, before the weather turned sour. My idea then turned to enjoying some of the Christmas decorations by bundling up warmly, attaching the head and tail lights to my bike, then heading out into the city in the late afternoon, so that the sun would be setting by the time I reached Penn's Landing. On the return leg, I would finally get to ride the PRR bridge at night!

   I sometimes struggle with chosing the correct clothing, especially when I know the temperature is going to swing ten or fifteen degrees. I definitely didn't want to get sweaty by wearing too much, then end up having a layer of wetness against my skin later in the ride when it got colder. I had selected a lightweight longsleeve jersey to wear under my winter cycling jacket, which allowed me to leave the front zipper open and effectively vent my body heat without getting a chill from the cool air hitting my chest. I had also stuffed a pair of glove liners in my jersey pocket, as I knew my fingers would need the extra protection as the temperture dropped into the 30s after sunset.

   We had actually seen some of the holiday decorations hung during the Turkey Trek, but it was entirely different when lit up at night! Many of the businesses that line Main Street had dozen of light strands cascading down their storefront, creating walls of alternating colors:

 

   Instead of making the usual connection near the Wissahickon Transportation Center to ride the trail along Kelly Drive, I continued straight on Ridge Pike through the Falls Bridge area. I was surprised that traffic was a bit light as I rode on a short stretch of street without a marked bike lane, right near Laurel Hill East Cemetery. Soon I was back on the bike lane on 33rd Street, which I enjoy because it runs parallel to the old mansion properties of Fairmont Park (read here about a bike tour I took in this area years ago) and there are only a couple cross streets in this stretch that runs a little over a mile, winding down to Girard Avenue.

   After bouncing over the trolley tracks there, I continued straight on Poplar Drive, made a left on (confusingly-named) Poplar Street and then a quick right onto 30th Street/Pennsylvania Avenue to reach the art museum area. I find this wide boulevard, with its lanes strangely divided by parking slots, to be a very pleasant ride, as most of the traffic is diverted to nearby Kelly Drive and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

   I made a left on Spring Garden Street and followed the bike lane out to the fantastic road-separated bikeway along the Delaware waterfront. Penn's Landing is a really hopping place most of the year, and the RiverRink Winterfest had been set up, including a Ferris wheel with pulsating lights.

   I rode a little over a mile then crossed right to Spruce Street, opting for the smoother brick-paved walkway instead of the cobbled street. This area of Society Hill, near the New Market and Headhouse (also known as "The Shambles") may be my favorite part of the city. I turned down 2nd Street and, because the stalls were empty on a weekday, I had the opportunity to ride under the full length of the gabled roof, which was beautifully lit with hundreds of bulbs:

   I returned to the painted bike lane on Spruce Street to make my way across the city back to the Schuylkill Trail. Unfortunately the sinkhole derour was still in effect, so I had to take the protected bike lane on 22nd Street and zigzag over Cherry Street towards the trail's access point on Race Street. There is a "black hole" of one way streets here, so I cautiously (and against my principles) took to the sidewalk for a block.of 23rd Street.

   Back at the art museum, I weaved up the path up to Spring Garden Street, where, until recently, the detour for the MLK Bridge took trailusers over to the west bank of the Schuylkill. From here I could see across to Boatlhouse Row, beautifully lit in holiday colors:

      Right turns on road-separated bikeways along Mantua Avenue and 34th Street had me soon pedaling past the Philadelphia Zoo, which currently has its own holiday light spectacular on display:

   I took a left turn at Girard Avenue, using the relative safety of the sidewalk near the sketchy interchanges with the Schuylkill Expressway, and made my way to the fantastic bike lane that runs along Parkside. I'm guessing that the high winds we've had lately had swept away the leaves and garbage that are unfortunately such a common presence on this path, because I'm pretty sure the parks department didn't take care of it...and they certainly wouldn't have done such a thorough job!

   From here it was the connection up Bryn Mawr Avenue to the Cynwyd Station. I usually enjoy the couple miles of downhill coasting to the Manayunk bridge, but the windchill wasn't particularly pleasant at this point. I was excited to ride across the bridge, though a photo from the deck (below) isn't too spectacular. I was hoping to find that someone had contributed a nighttime broadside shot somewhere online but no luck so far.

   There really weren't too many surprises on the familiar route back from the city, though many of the deer that always come out in the early evening now had impressive racks of antlers! Their occasional presence definitely led me to the decision to stop while adding the glove liners when my fingers started to get a bit numb from the cold. I was certainly capable of managing a no-hands-on-bars glove operation while riding, but having the ability to brake seemed the much wiser choice.

   This week I was able to finish off both customer build projects I had in my shop, including Brendan's fantastic Daccordi 50th anniversary bicycle:

   ...as well as the flatbar conversion of the Pinarello FP3. I had a good idea that the Shimano Deore 10-speed trigger shifters, despite the as-advertised "road bike compatiblity", were not actually not going to work with the Dura-Ace rear derailleur. I was correct - the shifters provided too much pull, and gears were being skipped. The purchase and installation of a Deore derailleur, which is actually meant for mountain bikes, did the trick!

   I'm taking my usual blog break for the holidays, so I'll catch up with you sometime in early 2026.

What offseason?

   Usually activity in my shop is slowing after September, at least with the frequency of customers needing tune-ups and repairs, but this year I've been getting an uncommon quantity of builds and upgrades as the cycling "season" has been winding down. My friend Brendan came for a visit last weekend, not only to finally pick up the Bottecchia I had build for him early this summer but also to drop off a new project, a 50th anniversary Daccordi frameset from 1987.

   The Tuscan company may not have the name draw of a Colnago or Pinarello, but their custom-built bicycles are of an extremely high quality. This frame was constructed of Columbus SLX tubing, and features chromed lugs and pantografia (engravings) everywhere, in this case celebrating the company's anniversary. There are even "50" metal badges on the top tube near the seat post lug.

   The seller either didn't know what he had or really appreciated Brendan's enthusiasm, because the purchase price was laughably low. The chrome stays and fork were in perfect condition, as was the dark blue paint, and a fantastic engraved 3T stem was included!

   Brendan certainly knows of my afinity for Campagnolo, and this Italian frame would definitely receive those parts, if it was my choice. However, he was almost apologetic when he explained the bike would be built with Shimano, BUT it would be the interesting Sante groupset. The two-tone component line from 1986 was meant to showcase design, providing an appearance like jewelry, way beyond the bounds of bicycle parts of that time. The pearl white and light gray paint was applied to surfaces made  smooth as possible by concealing the bolts of each component.

   Earlier this month, I had met a woman with a really nice custom-built steel frame by Forest. I had never heard of the brand before, but it was a very lightweight frame, and whole bike weighed just over 20 pounds. In my mind this was pretty fantastic, but Carolyn was dealing with shoulder issues, and a physical therapist friend of mine (who had recommended me to her) suggested she look into a carbon-framed machine that would be even easier to load into her vehicle.

   Carolyn seemed enthusiastic to some of the bikes I found available online, and when I found a local seller had dropped her list price on a wonderful Pinarello FP3 by a couple hundred dollars, we jumped at it.

   The bike came equipped with Shimano Dura-Ace, and although I'd rather go the Campagnolo route, Carolyn prefers a flatbar configuration, and switching to trigger shifters will be much more simple with the Japanese brand! Recouping some of the cost of the replacement parts by selling off the unused Dura-Ace parts is also a plus.

   These projects should both be a fairly quick turnaround, so pics of the finished bikes will be coming next time. I'll say goodbye with a few photos from the Turkey Trek, which was blessed with fantastic autumn weather. Despite a detour around a sinkhole that recently developed in the Schuylkill Trail, directly across the river from 30th Street Station, we were able to check out some of the fantastic new bridge connections in the city. A great time was had by all!

Pre-ride shot of the crew at Norristown's Riverfront Park

Water refills and bathroom stop at Boathouse Row's Lloyd Hall

Pedaling through Conshohockenn on our return leg

Baby Do You Wanna To Take A Ride Into Philadelphia

    Once again my title is making reference to a song, in this case one by my friend John Faye, a supremely talented local musician, who had his "brush with greatness" with some national air play and an opening gig for Bon Jovi, though everyone who has heard his music and/or met John knows he is pretty great, musically and as a person! Check John out when you have a chance, or his early band The Caulfields, the John Faye Power Trip or the group IKE, for whom my sons were patrons back in the late-2000s.

   My friend Mark does an annual 100-mile ride from his home in Douglassville into Philadelphia and back. Last year he "picked me up" on the Schuylkill Trail, just down the hill from my home and across the river in Spring City. During the 70 miles of the ride we shared together, a variety of topics were covered and many laughs were had.

   He kindly asked me along again this year, and I met him on an early, chilly Friday morning a couple of weeks ago. As he greeted me on the trail, we immediately started questioning our apparel, as the sun was quickly warming up the day - it is difficult to dress for rides that have a 30-degree temparature swing, but we agreed it is always better to be a bit too warm than too cold!

   I remembered that Mark told me that he always had to tack a couple of extra miles onto the end of his route in order to reach the 100-mile mark, and I asked him if he might like to change up the return leg a bit, as I had a fun detour in mind. We both have ridden the Schuylkill Trail more times than we can count, and mixing things up a little appealed to him. "I trust you," he replied.

   He already had about 18 miles in his legs by the time he reached me, so it wasn't quite as much of a factor for him, but I don't enjoy not being warmed up when hitting the brutal climb the trail takes from just past the Cromby Trailhead up to the north side of Phoenixville. Anyone who has ridden in the area with me knows how much it bothers me that the powers-that-be did not put the funds into reopening the tunnel that had allowed Pennsylvania Railroad trains to run under the hilly part of the borough. Rails To Trails advocates are always pointing out how features like tunnels and bridges are big draws to tourists using these cycling routes...and that big hill is a major obstacle to the casual pedaler!

   Later on we would employ the strategy that I regularly use to avoid returning up that hill, as it's often on the tail end of my rides, and I would still have the incline up Main Street in Royersford to contend with before reaching home. Instead of following the trail through Phoenixville, where the hill would start down at the level of French Creek and head steeply up over the north side, we rode the gentle climb downtown on Bridge Street then turned right on Gay Street to use the more gradual ascent on the big concrete arch bridge. My friends enjoy the neighborhood we cut through to rejoin the summit of the Schuylkill Trail, as the streets are all named after former Phillies.

   Because Mark regularly joins my Tuesday night crew during the summers, I was aware that he was at a high level of fitness, so I wasn't too surprised that, on the way out to the city, he opted for the hilly route up Umbria Street into Roxborough, instead of the canal towpath into Manayunk. I imagine they were added as a speed control for traffic, but I warned him of some new stop signs along the street, as a couple weeks ago Sue had an unexpected surprise when a driver nosed out towards her from one of these intersections - a delivery truck has completely obscured her vision of the new stop sign there!

   It isn't too often that I'm riding far enough with my friends that I need to refuel, but this was certainly the case, and after we rejoined the trail along Kelly Drive, we cut back the speed a bit to snack on the go. The bicycle and foot traffic increased as we neared the city, so slowing down was usually a good idea anyway.

   We passed the usual landmarks, such as Boathouse Row, the waterworks and art museum, then ducked under the newly-completed renovation of the MLK Bridge, which includes a bike lane over to West River Drive. We'll be taking that route next weekend during the 11th Annual Tech Turkey Trek (see details below).

   Heading out over the Schuylkill Banks Boardwalk, we came to the recently-opened cable-stay bridge connection to the Grays Ferry Crescent park. The $48 million project improves access to the southwestern part of the city that was cut off by the river, parallel railroad lines and Schuylkill Expressway.

A view back at the city skline from the bridge

   After ducking under Grays Ferry Avenue, we took a left turn and looped back over the bridge there. Although it has a nice bike lane, a plan is in place to renovate an existing railroad swing bridge that exists just downstream. Trail users will be able to join up with a section of the SRT on the west bank over to Bartram's Garden.

   I've been over to the Kingsessing section of the city a few times since the new Crescent connection was opened, and I've finally figured out the best way to avoid the nasty paving and dangerous trolley tracks that lie along 49th Street. After crossing the bridge, we turned right at the traffic light onto Paschall Avenue, then left on 47th. We pedaled a couple of blocks, including a short climb up over the Septa rail line, then turned left to reach a protected bike lane along 48th Street.

   

   As shown in the above photo from this location, many of the bike lanes in the city have been moved inside of the parked cars, preventing accidents with drivers opening their car doors and providing a safer barrier from traffic. This was really a pretty, shaded neighorbood, and the bike lane stretched across Baltimore Pike into West Philadelphia, under the Market Street L to reach the east-west bike lane at Haverford Avenue.

   However, we continued north on 48th, and although the bike lane was gone, there was significantly less traffic on this street, so we didn't feel very stressed on our way to Girard Avenue. A short ride to the east on bike lanes took us over to Belmont Avenue, where there is a bit of a tricky crossing because of the trolley tracks in the center. A wise move was to simply use the crosswalks with the aid of the traffic light and then rejoin the northbound bike lane up Belmont.

   I often mention the really nice protected bike lane along Parkside, near the Please Touch Museum (in the 1876 Centennial Exposition's Memorial Hall), not only because it is an underused resource, but because the parks department often leaves it covered in lawn clippings and tree cuttings. Neighborhood residents and visitors then feel free to add their litter to the mess - it is just a shame!

   Circling to the northwest on this route, we met the bike lane on Bryn Mawr Avenue, which took us through another nice neighborhood out to Bala Cynwyd. We zigzagged over Union and Bala Avenues to reach the train station at the southern end of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail. I recently discovered a shortcut over to the station via the entrance to the parking garage at the BMW dealer, which nicely avoided the busy intersection at Montgomery Avenue and Conshohocken State Road.

   We enjoyed the mostly downhill coast on the two-mile trail, and Mark stopped to take the photo below from the Manayunk Bridge. I mentioned to him that, if you crop the Expressway out of the right side, and with the Gothic church and blocky, Euro-looking housing, it looks like we had been instead riding along the Rhine or Danube!

   A few days later, I would be returning to Manayunk to drop off my friend Robert's Somec bicycle. He had provided the Campagnolo Nuovo Record group and Cinelli bar/stem combo, while I supplied from my stock a nice wheelset built up with C-Record hubs and Mavic MA40 rims.

   Speaking of Nuovo Record, because I recently found a similar groupset in really nice condition, I shifted around my build queue a bit to complete the Gitane Trophee de France 1848 that I had purchased Christmastime last year. The French classic is just like it appears in the company's 1978 catalog, accept for the nicks and scrapes on the frame from 47 years of use! I found sets of brand new Campagnolo cable clips and guides to give it real sparkle. The bicycle is now available on my For Sale page!

   This year's Cycle Tech Turkey Trek will be taking place on Saturday, November 8th. We're going to visit the two new Schuylkill Trail features mentioned in this blog entry, so we'll be starting a bit further along the way at Riverfront Park, at the end of Haws Avenue in Norristown. Our 40-mile loop will follow our traditional route into Philadelphia but will continue onto the Schuylkill Banks section of the trail, then onto the connection with the Grays Ferry Crescent. We'll turn around at the park there, then veer west at the Art Museum onto the MLK, Jr. Drive bridge and head back towards Manayunk on the other side of the river. All are welcome - hope you and maybe some friends can join us!

Set-up Man (no closer)

   Although I’ve been enjoying the Pinarello FP Quattro out on the roads for the past couple weeks, I wanted to share how the last few steps went to set up the electronic shifting. I didn’t want to just tack the information onto the end of the last blog, as it was already pretty long.
   During our trip to Baltimore, the postman delivered the last of the parts necessary to finish the Pinarello, namely a sleeve that fits around the crankset spindle and protects the wires that run between the battery and components, should they potentially droop down into the bottom bracket shell. I was so happy to find that the outboard bearing cups came in shiny silver, as opposed to the gold or gunmetal finishes that Campagnolo has used on these parts in the past.
   When I went to size the chain, I found that the front derailleur was set in the big chainring position, which is fine when going through the process of wrapping it around the ring and biggest cog to get the correct length, but it was not going to be good when trying to connect the master link. I immediately turned to some of the documents and videos on Campagnolo’s website to see if there was some sort of reset.
   As directed, I attempted to push the mode buttons on each shift lever simultaneously. A blue light was supposed to flash on the interface unit that hangs from the stem, but mine showed purple, and the shifters did not reset. They did move, and I enjoyed getting a sample of their function, even if it wasn’t what I intended. The only information I saw about a purple light was regarding an incorrect connection, but everything appeared to be working.
   I ended up using the video instructions for making adjustments “on the fly” when you are out pedaling and need to fine-tune shifts. Strangely, these settings are best done in the second and tenth cogs of the 11-speed cassette, but I’d been tuning the shifts later. At this moment, I just wanted to move the front derailleur.
   Now that it was out of the way, I could bring the two ends of the chain together easily. Uh-oh, that wasn’t right – WAY too much slack was in the chain! I’ve seen this problem before with older derailleurs that are used with compact cranksets. The drop between the 50-tooth and 34-tooth rings leaves too much chain slack for vintage rear derailleurs to take up – a long cage derailleur, or something modern, with better back tension is required.
   Well, this certainly was a modern derailleur, so the idea of a faulty part quickly flashed into my mind, but I remained positive. Derailleurs usually have a “B screw”, which you can thread inward, pushing against the derailleur hanger on the frame and tilting the derailleur back. Campagnolo versions don’t always have a traditional B-screw, and this was one of those models. What they have is a bolt that connects to a gear that rotates the upper pivot of the derailleur cage. Adjusting this helped a bit but took up nowhere near enough of the slack in the chain.
   I also noted that when in the largest cog in the back, the top pulley would drag on the teeth of the cog, which would make for some noisy riding when climbing a big hill! Again, the B-screw should help with this somewhat, but I was doubting how this was all going to function together without the correct tension on the chain.
   I sent a quick note to the seller, since he had noted “light use” of this equipment on his own bicycle. He was actually a bicycle mechanic, and although trying his best to be helpful, he sent mostly tips with which I was familiar and weren’t working to solve the problem. He did assure me that everything had worked on his bike, and I resisted asking, “Then why did you remove it?” Some people are Shimano and some are Campagnolo.
   One suggestion of his I did take was to remove another link from the chain, since I had left it on the long side, just to be safe. Unfortunately, this still didn't make the chain short enough, but I remember that I had a “Wolf Tooth” derailleur hanger extender in my parts bin. These extenders allow for derailleurs to shift onto larger cogs than they would normally be intended to reach. This would not only solve the pulley rub problem, but if I tightened it enough in the back position, it could take up the necessary chain slack.
   At this point, I noticed a small hole had been drilled in the bottom of the derailleur hanger on the Pinarello. I wondered if a bolt was threaded in, would it act like a “reverse B-screw” and hold the derailleur (or in this case, the Wolf’s Tooth) in the back position. I looked through my special jar of bicycle nuts and bolts, finding exactly what I needed, and it worked perfectly!

 
   I began to wonder if there was something to the design of the frame (it is supposedly asymmetric) that created the problem, maybe a slightly shorter drive-side chain stay? Someone had drilled this hole for a reason! Anyhow, the shifting performed smoothly, and it was time to take the bike out for some pics:

   Later that afternoon, I set off with extra tools and our emergency cell phone in my jersey pockets, just in case. First, I stopped off at Bikesport to visit my buddy Jeff, as he asked me to come by when I finished building the bike. He had tried to convince me to do a Shimano build, for ease of assembly and finding any necessary parts in the future (even modern Campagnolo stuff has been difficult to locate lately), but he knew my preference for Italian, even if some parts of the process were maniacally complicated.
   I then continued out to complete a 48-mile loop through Skippack, out to Blue Bell and back through Conshohocken to the Schuylkill Trail for the return home. It was probably farther than I should have gone on a “maiden voyage” with the electronic equipment, but it was functioning perfectly, and I was enjoying the ride!