Older Bikes vs. New - Pre-ordering a Rivendell Clementine

I ordered a Rivendell Clementine! Photo credit: Rivendell Bicycles

As a couple we are pretty low-key when it comes to bikes. We ride older, functional, and sturdy mountain bikes that pre-date shocks, appreciating that era of bike simplicity - not a conscious choice per se, but it just happens to be the type of bikes my husband and I toured on in the 1980s and 1990s, and we've kept them going ever since. We are comfortable adjusting cantilever brakes, replacing cables, threading through thumbshifters, wiping chains and rims, and pedaling with toe clips. Aluminum Blackburn racks have held up well and are still going strong. We like wider rims that accommodate 1.5-2" tires and value their sturdy stance on bike path, sidewalks, dirt trails, and debris strewn roadsides.

My husband is comfortable with his current stable of bikes: a 1992 Bridgestone MB-3 and a 1986 MB-2, whereas I've thought long and hard about whether my current Trek 830 Antelope will be my go-to choice as I get older. In recent years I've appreciated the upright step-through style of my commuter Ross Mt. Saint Helens which has seriously made me  consider this bike style as a primary option for my later years. I've pondered a marriage between the two styles (and best qualities of both) in The Ideal Bicycle a process that further helped me define what I wanted. Always on the lookout for an older bicycle, the awakening came when I realized I couldn't acquire an older step-through frame in a large enough size. It was shortly after this revelation that I began following Rivendell's fleet of Mixtes with more interest; Betty Foy and Cheviot. However, I would not compromise what I really wanted, only to settle for their mixte's high step-over height (not to mention I couldn't swallow spending what I consider an exorbitant amount of money these models fetch).

Over the past year, I've pondered what I love about older bikes vs. newer bikes.

Older bikes advantages:

• sturdy frame
• frame clearance for 26" tires and fenders
• inexpensive
• Schraeder rims (in my opinion, a better alternative to finicky Presta valves)
• Often come with thumb shifters

Newer bikes advantages:

• adjustable stem bolts to easier swap out handle bars to fine tune bike fit
• updated V- or disc brakes for quicker stopping power
• Shiny new paint!
• In most cases, a lighter weight frame
• a frame size that might fit

I was heartened to find options available to Europeans yet saddened to learn I couldn't easily test ride any of the bikes! It was around this time that I'd followed Rivendell's Clementine model and feedback from the first round of pre-orders. It was all positive. And continues to be. So, the timing and pre-order savings means a bike will be delivered to my house this July (they say). In a size that will fit me, the low gear gearing I desire, in a pretty blue color. Unfortunately, for this round of orders the Clementine has been rebranded as Clem-L, only available in mustard or blue. So no orange Clementine. However, it's a small price to pay for the more important features. I am hoping this will be a wonderful touring bicycle. This is the first new bicycle I've purchased in 30 years - about time, eh?

As an aside, Velouria at Lovely Bicycle! has a Clementine in her possession. I am eagerly awaiting her feedback, which I suspect we'll hear before my bicycle arrives.

Slow Rolling Through Canada, Just North of the VT Border - Preview

Packing light and doing it right. Two women who know how to tour, eat well, and laugh...and endure soggy dirt roads (well almost!) to arrive at a B&B. When the going is tough, it's the there's-no-shame-in-walking bike tour. Adele and Annie know how to have a good time!

A Year of New Beginnings

As blossoms fall and puddle, swirling and whirling, the heady aroma accompanying smiles,
I ride.

As thoughts turn to summertime goals, maybe an overnight per month?
I ride.

As a jumble of accessory window-shopping Internet brain binges for a bike that will arrive this summer - a scary unseen, untested purchase, no less - has me in titters,
I ride.

I still can't quite believe it's happening - first new bike in 30 years,
I ride.

I'm ready to let go of two old much-loved bicycles...at least I think I can!
Still, I ride.

Leaving this Friday with a friend for a 4-day Canadian bicycle adventure, bed & breakfast accommodations - another first!
Oh baby, anticipating this ride.

And because this friend is also awaiting a new bike - a custom one - we've made tentative plans for an autumn shakedown tour.
That promises to be a fantastic ride!

Monitoring an Owl Family-The Best Part of My Commute

Adult owl protecting its babies.

It was just yesterday morning that I was mid-way up a short hill, spinning in low gear, going through the motions of my usual commute when runners and dog walkers stood, trail-side, staring at a dead tree trunk. Always curious, I cruised easily to a stop, put my foot down and gawked at two baby owls fluffing their feathers in the cavity of a pockmarked, dead tree.

The adult hangs out, diverting the crow from it's nest.

And so it was that I was nearly late for work. It's not every day that one comes across an owl, not to mention two, and babies. They are common barred owls, the only species I've ever seen in Vermont, easily identified by it's black eyes.

Two baby owls are nestled in a protected cavity.

Later that afternoon, I cruised down the hill, braking to a stop to gather with 4-5 people. One woman had set up a tripod with foot-long lens just as an adult owl swooped onto a nearby branch after just evading a daring, noisy crow. The parental owl stayed that way for 20 minutes, seemingly unperturbed and I eventually, pedaled home.

This morning, I stopped again, surprised by the big owl, standing sentinel in the nest's doorway as a baby owl was barely visible behind. I whipped out my camera, fiddled with the failing battery and eventually captured a good photo. By the time the afternoon rolled around, my husband met me near my office and we rode home together just so I could show him the owls. But don't you know, not even the babies were on display, which leaves me wondering if they've flown the coop?

Either way, I was privy to something special, and wholly unique in a city park. Bike commutes don't get much better than this.

Everyday Cyclist in Pearls

I wear mostly skirts in our office, more so than pants or dresses, mainly because the attire provides me with the opportunity to ride to work already semi-dressed, so-to-speak, swapping my black tights and socks for leggings and skirt when I get to work. It's a system that works very well for me as my commute is mainly downhill and I seem to arrive with little time to spare before my work day begins.

And so I found it quite amusing that I rode home today without my usual jacket - nippy morning temperatures had risen by afternoon into the balmy 60sF - which meant my top garments consisted of what I wore  all day long inside the office: linen shirt, lightweight sweater, and green pearl-like necklace. As I cruised home, the green beads flopping against my chest, I mused about how much I'd turned into the "everyday cyclist". Sure, I still wear lycra tights, but in all other respects I'm embracing this brilliant way to get around on two wheels.

Another everyday cyclist.

Everyday cyclist who dresses to keep cool.