Bike Friday New World Tourist

It had been a while since I bought a new bike. Years, in fact. Perhaps four years. Buying pressure builds up. Built up. I finally gave in.

So at the end of January my new Bike Friday New World Tourist arrived in its suitcase. Perfect timing: a new bike in the middle of a snowy winter. But I got 20% off by buying it in the middle of winter, which meant that I was able to get the custom-built NWT for the price of a stock model.

Here's my thinking (and how I justified it to my wife): We have started traveling more, now that kids are off at college. There have been times on trips when I was dying to go for a little bike ride (one time in Breckenridge comes specifically to mind, when I nearly cried every day to see all the beautiful biking going unbiked.), and a bike rental just doesn't cut it. Not even possible much of the time.

A bike in a suitcase would be nice. This is what Bike Fridays are known for: decently rideable bikes that fit in a checkable suitcase, which converts to a usable trailer.

As a perhaps dreamier dream, I would like to ride across the country. But my wife seems to think she'd miss me if I took two months to do it, so I might try to do it in installments. But she doesn't want me taking more than a week at a time. (It's nice to be missed.) That means five days of riding each summer. At 60 miles a day, that would take 12 years. But at 100 miles a day, I could do it in 8 years. Doable.

I'd fly to my destination with my bike in its suitcase/trailer. Unpack, rig up, and ride to the next airport, 500 miles away. Unrig, pack up, fly home. Alternatively, it could be a Tour de Amtrak, perhaps following the route of the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago, and then the Lake Shore Limited to NYC.

Jon is not interested in this sort of transcontinental-by-installment trip, so I'd do it by myself. Cindy could meet me in the nice mountainy places.

Anyway, I have been riding the NWT in the basement on rollers. It feels pretty good. I took it out for its maiden road voyage this week during a February thaw. Quite nice, although the steering is a bit weird with the thin "head tube." There's quite a lot of flex. It doesn't ruin the ride, but it is odd. But the fit, being custom, is perfect. Nice high handlebars exactly the right distance from the saddle.

More info, pictures, and reviews later.

February 2011

I don't mind riding in the snow, but I also won't mind not riding in the snow. It's February, winter can end any time.

We have had a pretty constant snow cover since December. The sidewalks have been snow and/or ice covered that whole time. And it's been pretty chilly, with morning temperatures often around 10˚.

We had a major storm this week, which dumped 12" of snow. I lucked out when the university closed, so I didn't need to try to ride through it while it was still coming down. But the sidewalks still aren't plowed, even two days later, so I have been riding in Grand River Avenue, the major four-lane commuting artery. It's OK at 6:00 am. Not so OK other times. Yesterday I just walked my bike through the deep snow on the sidewalk.

But here's a nice mid-winter tip: Staying warm when the temperatures are in the single digits has not been a problem for most of me; I just layer, cover every inch of skin, wear goggles and thick socks. But my hands have still been getting painfully cold. As an experiment, I put a pair of plastic bags over my mittens yesterday, and VOILA! warm hands. It may be funny looking, but at 6:00 AM who sees it?