Back from the East and NW

Message 17 of 1137

After 3 weeks of traveling we have returned to our hearth. It's good to be back. We went on a bus tour of the eastern US and visited many historical places (DC, Mt Vernon, Jamestown, Harper's Ferry, Gettysburg, etc), and no bike riding. At the DC Smithsonian Aerospace Museum we saw the original Wright Bros plane and one of only known remaining bikes that they made in their shop.

Wright Bros Bike

We then drove up to Seattle to visit relatives. The weather forecast was gloomy so I didn't take bike.

I went on a 44 mi breakfast ride on Tuesday...ouch...and am very sore this morning. Todays ride will be a slow easy recovery.

posted by dstorm

Well, this morning's breakfast ride was not so relaxed after all. I got caught up with the group's hammering and punished my sore legs even more for 43 miles ...stupid, stupid. Now I may not be able to ride on Saturday.

posted by dstorm
19 days ago

Saddle and leg sore....my goodness! From zero miles to back to back mid distances totaling 87 miles. That's something dstorm! No wonder you are sore. Rest and massage may have you back on the bike by Saturday. One never knows. As for that bicycle made by the Wright Brothers, its design is very similar to brand new fixed gear bicycles I've seen in the city and elsewhere. Were the Wright Brothers the designers of the modern bicycle?

posted by thislife
19 days ago

TL, without doing any research on the subject (except what I've studied over the course of my many years in cycling), the conventional "diamond" frame design predates the Wright brothers by a few years. By the time the Wright brothers were building diamond frame bicycles, so were all the other frame/bicycle builders. I will tell you that those rims are not rusty metal; they're made of wood. Metal rims with inflated tires were still years off. So were clincher tires. These tires were most likely tubulars and had to be glued on. Much the same as today's tubulars.

Dave, I can't tell (and don't know when 3-piece cranks came about). Is that a one-piece crank?

posted by Cacci
18 days ago

I didn't notice the construction of the crank, Cacci. I was going to mention the wooden rims. They were very impressive. They were an exquisite piece of wood work.

posted by dstorm
18 days ago

dstorm,
Great picture of that bike. A quick story about wood rims, (I sure would like to see those!), I have a friend who is an excellent and very talented woodworker/furniture/wood artist, and he has spent some time attempting to build some wood bike rims and it has challenged him so I respect how cool those must be!
Jim

posted by JimBangs
18 days ago

Were those cork grips? I am thinking about some cork grips for my bike.

posted by JimBangs
18 days ago

Tough to jump right back into the saddle after such a long time off. I like the bike, looks so much like our modern bikes. They can talk about evolution of bicycles all they want, but the origianl design is still the best....except maybe for the rims! I see now where bamboo bike frames are coming on strong.
Jim Bangs.... I use cork bar tape (cinelli) and think it's absolutely the greatest. Good grip even when wet......doesn't make your hands sweat, and very comfortable for all day.