A Bike, a Bike, My Kingdom for a Bike

No ride today (cloudy, cold and windy), so I'll elaborate a bit on yesterday's ride -- or more specifically, the bike I chose to ride (from among the three I own). It's probably my favorite bike: a hybrid, made by Focus (a German company) with upright handlebars, fenders, reasonably wide tires (32mm), a rear rack and hydraulic disc brakes. It's mostly aluminum, but it's not a particularly light bike, so I use it more for city riding and commuting than for long distances -- but it's so much fun to ride that I can't always resist taking it out for my longer-distance training rides (and with rain yesterday a possibility that turned into a reality, fenders and disc brakes were a big benefit).

The Focus Hybrid

My alternative rides are, first, my Surly Disc Trucker, the all steel road bike I rode cross-country. It has the advantage of incredible comfort -- the steel is very forgiving on road bumps, as is the slightly longer wheelbase and wider tires (38mm). It also has drop handlebars (good for plowing through a headwind), front and rear racks (good for touring), and fenders and mechanical disc brakes (good for rain). But all this comes with a sizeable disadvantage -- it's really heavy! So I feel virtuous if I train with it, but doing so before I've built up some strength and stamina poses a larger challenge. I actually rode it a week ago, on a round trip to Nyack (taking the hilly route) and, I must admit, for the next two days my legs kinda regretted it. Here's a picture of that bike, as well as last Sunday's route.

My cross-country Surly Disc Trucker

Last, but not least, is my Cannondale R800 -- an all-aluminum road bike that, at this point, is over 10 years old. It's fast, it's light (with narrow 23mm tires and aero rims with only 16 spokes), but it's very stiff and doesn't do a great job of absorbing road shock, an increasing consideration as I get older and my back gets a bit stiffer itself. So I don't ride it all that much these days. However, I did take it for a quick spin nine days ago (30 miles up to Alpine Station in NJ and back) and was reminded how nice it is to ride such a lightweight bike. Can you handle one more picture and route?

The oldie but goodie -- Cannondale R800

So what does this all have to do with Climate Ride California, other than depicting my indecisiveness about training? Well, I also had to decide which bike to ride in California -- one of these three (and, if so, which one)?  Or, like I did last year, should I rent a bike in advance from a local shop in San Francisco that will be ready and waiting for me when I get there?

Not actually that tough a decision. The bike I rented last year was just fine, after I took some pains to fit it to me properly. This involved bringing out my own saddle and pedals and, once there, buying a stem post extender, to raise the handlebars, and a rear rack that clips to the seat post, to handle my daily cargo. But the key determinant was not having to deal with shipping a bike in either direction and/or bringing it with me on a plane. Good bike carriers are expensive and, even then, they remain a pain to lug through airports and you still risk having a baggage handler sling it around like a hammer throw and snapping off a derailleur bracket or something equally fragile. Plus you have to disassemble and reassemble your bike in each direction (to varying degrees depending on your carrier). 

I did it once, about twenty-five years ago on a tour to British Columbia, and I remember being up half the night trying to disassemble my bike and fitting it into the bike carrier, then struggling to wheel the unwieldy package through the airport, and then attempting to put the whole thing back together somewhere on a street in Banff. Ugh. The carriers are much better these days, so maybe I'll take the plunge again one day, but not quite yet.....