Bikes - peaceonabike

July 12, 2023July 27, 2023

British Airways

Summary. I flew from Washington-Dulles to Zürich, Switzerland on Sunday, June 11, 2023. My luggage, including my bike needed for a Swiss cycling vacation, contained Apple AirTags My bike never made it. For five days I tried in vain to get someone, anyone, from British Airways to see what I could see – my bike’s exact location at Heathrow. None did. I was unable to ride in Switzerland. I was reunited with my bike on Saturday, June 24:, 2023, in Luxembourg.

On Sunday, June 11, 2023, I flew from Washington-Dulles (IAD) to Zurich (ZRH) through London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR). Although a million-mile flier on American Airlines, this was my first experience flying British Airways.

The check-in at Dulles was quick and efficient. I had two bags to check, one suitcase, and a bike case/bag. They tagged them both as Priority and sent them down the belt. Both bags contained an Apple AirTag. My key tag, normally with my car keys, was in my luggage and my bike has an AirTag inside of the downtube.

When I arrived London, I got through passport control plus additional security and made my way to the British Airways lounge. Finally able to relax I opened the FindMy app and saw that my keys and my bike were both at Heathrow. So far so good.

When I arrived at Zurich I waited for my luggage. My bag seemed to be one of the first bags on the carousel and I grabbed it and waited for my bike. And waited. I went to the Oversize Luggage door but nothing came out. I was avoiding turning on cellular service and paying a high daily fee and instead tried to log onto free Wifi at the airport. One problem is to get free WiFi they will send a code to your phone – which has to be on WiFi or cellular service to receive the code. I turned on my cell service.

I opened the FindMy app and saw the keys (luggage) were with me. I did not see the bike and had to expand the map so I could see Great Britain and there I could see it. My bike was still at Heathrow.

This was to be the first week of a three-week cycling vacation in Europe. While Week Two would be in Luxembourg with my Rooster Racing group, Week One was on my own in Switzerland. I rented a house in the Alps near Wassen for riding in the high Alps.

My first day would be a visit with my friend, Corinne, and her family in Zürich. I had hoped to arrive at her house by 14:00, assemble my bike, and then ride halfway around Lake Zürich in part to slam my body into European time but also to not bother Corinne or her husband as they were both working from home remotely.

I went to the Lost and Found (Luggage) at the baggage claim and approached the woman who would take my claim. I told her my bike did not make it. I showed her my claim ticket and when she asked for a description I showed her a photo of the case. While she offered some excuse about where the bike could be I showed her my live look at the Apple AirTag and told her it was still at Heathrow.

Surely I was not the first passenger to show her an AppleAir tag being tracked by the FindMy app. Yet she seemed surprised that I knew where my bag was while her system did not. I am not sure if she was a British Airways employee but more likely an airport employee who dealt with missing luggage and forwarded that to the airlines. She offered the usual nothing assurance that most bags come on the next flight or within 24 hours.

Surprisingly I was calm and thought my bike would be on the next flight. I gave my location address in Zürich to the lost and found agent content that my bike would be delivered later in the afternoon.

I checked the British Airways flight schedule and saw that they have five flights per day between Heathrow and Zürich. The next flights would be arriving at 14:30, 17:50, and 22:30. While I would probably miss Tuesday’s ride in Zürich at least I’d have my bike when I headed for the Alps on Wednesday.

British Airways Daily Flights LHR-ZUR (June 2023)

At 19:06 on Tuesday, June 12, I checked the FindMy app and saw my bike was still at Heathrow. I had little hope that it would make the 19:45 flight and arrive Zürich on Tuesday. Also, I took to Twitter in the hopes that a human at British Airways would see my plight and get my bike on the next plane. It got no response.

My thoughts shifted from my bike being merely delayed to it actually being lost and I might never see it again. I could not relax. I did not sleep well and at 7:20 am on Wednesday, June 13 I checked the app. The bike hadn’t moved. I knew then it was not on the 6:50 am flight and had little hope it would be on the 9:20 flight.

At 9:00 Corinne offered me her phone to call the local British Airways desk in Zürich. I talked to a very nice but useless man. He was just a guy on a phone in Zürich and not at the facility at Heathrow. He told me that he would “add a note to the file.”

The agent had urged me to check the progress at the British Airways link they gave me for my case. The only thing of value in that link was a location to change where my luggage should be delivered. On Wednesday morning I changed it to Wassen, Switzerland, to the house in the Alps that I had rented for cycling.

I said goodbye to my friends and arrived at Wassen at 16:00. Even before finding my house I checked the status of my bike. It was still at Heathrow.

Twenty-five years ago I worked with a high school foreign exchange program. One student that I placed was 17-year-old Ben from Sissach, Switzerland. Ben and I kept in contact over the years and he was at the center of this bike vacation.

When I couldn’t get a bike reservation online for my train from Basel to Frankfort, Ben went to the desk at the train station in Basel to buy it for me. He arranged his work schedule and took two days off work to join me at the house in the Alps.

On Wednesday I informed Ben not to travel to Wassen. I had no bike and no one at British Airways was responding. Ben canceled his plans.

With a house in the Alps for cycling and no bike I felt captive by the house. I checked on the location throughout the day and no movement. My tweets were ignored or answered by a bot.

Despite paying for a house for three nights, I needed a change where I wouldn’t dwell on missing my bike. I booked a hotel on Lake Lucerne and went on the British Airways site to change the delivery location to Beckenreid.

With no movement by Thursday, Ben invited me to visit him and his family in Sissach. It was close to Basel where I would catch the train and I gladly took him up on it. I went to British Airways and updated the delivery location to Luxembourg which was my next destination upon leaving Switzerland.

On Friday, June 16, I was enjoying breakfast when I told Ben I had to check the status on my FindMy app. I was shocked to see my bike had moved from the south end of the terminal to the north end. It was moving!

I also checked email and text and saw that British Airways informed me they “located” my item. Well, I knew the location for five days. Sigh.

I missed all my planned Swiss cycling vacation at the same time worried whether my bike would ever be returned. For four days I tweeted BA, eventually adding American Airlines (because I booked with them) and even included Heathrow Airport. I could not find one person willing to look at the location I had and retrieve the bike.

Maybe American or Heathrow got someone to look. It was within 24 hours after including American and Heathrow on my tweets that the bike was located. When it was located they sent it to Zürich even though I had updated the location information to Luxembourg. Maybe logistically it was easier since BA has two daily flights to Luxembourg, 8:40 and 17:20. But that meant even more handling for my bike.

My first human contact came on Friday, June 23. I was sitting with my team at the Hilton Airport Hotel in Frankfurt when I received notice of a tweet. The sender was Julia Buckley, a CNN reporter based in London. She offered to help me get my bike back by working with the BA Press Office. While the offer was greatly appreciated, the bike was already in transport.

I still believe in people and think there are good people who work at BA. I think they cut a lot of personnel and replaced them with bots or AI. An automated response is designed to look human and often carried a human’s name. It’s quite deceptive really.

I love my AirTag but it was both a blessing and a curse. It was comforting to know the bike was still at the airport the entire time but I was checking on the status 3-4 times a day and was frustrated that it was still there and BA never lifted a hand.

My return flight on July 4 was scheduled on Finnair from Helsinki to Copenhagen; BA from Copenhagen to Heathrow; and BA to Heathrow to Dulles. On July 3 British Airways notified me that my London-Washington flight had been canceled. However, they booked me on Virgin Airlines, two hours later.

I awoke on July 4 to a text from BA that my flight from Copenhagen to London was canceled. They did not rebook me. At the airport in Helsinki, Finnair couldn’t check me in because of the missing connection. I was able to call BA in London and they rebooked me on FinnAir directly to Heathrow at 16:00. Eight hours in the FinnAir lounge was a small trade-off knowing the British Airways would not be touching my bike on my trip home.

No one at British Airways reached out to me about this horrendous experience. In what I believe was my last cycling trip to Europe it was ruined by not having a bike.

July 28, 2021May 27, 2022

Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt

My history of bike computers is as follows:

2012 – Garmin 705. State of the art, a little bit large, color screen. Pricey. $700 retail price I got mine for $500. Don’t buy version 1 of the newest technology. You will pay.

2013 – Garmin 500. Small compact unit. Ultimately, it died and Garmin gave me a $100 or $150 credit towards the purchase of my next one.

My Garmin 500
When I rode 200 miles it would not offload the data

2014 – Garmin 510 – Small compact unit. Basically, it was the same as the 500 but could sync wirelessly.

2019 – Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt – Small compact unit, similar to Garmin. It had a black and white screen. There were some differences between Garmin and Wahoo.

First, Garmin was and is programmed using buttons on the unit.

Wahoo is programmed using your phone’s app.

Changing the Climbing Fields on the phone app for the ELEMNT Bolt

Second Garmin displayed digits down to the hundredths and appeared to be very accurate when uploading to a website. In other words, if you rode 10.01 miles then your upload will show 10.01 miles.

Wahoo shows distances in tenths. Almost immediately Wahoo would display 0.1 miles. Actually, it’s not “immediately” but likely 0.05 miles which is rounded up to 0.1. If you wanted exactly 10 miles and waited until the odometer shows 10.0 miles, most likely the upload would be a little short, e.g., 9.95 miles. If one is anal-retentive or obsessive-compulsive about exact mileage figures then you will probably not like the Wahoo.

Third, Garmin had a return to start mapping feature which would presumably route you back to your start location using the shortest routes.

Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt had a return to start feature which would retrace your turns. If you did a 15-mile ride and were five miles from your start, Garmin would route you those five miles. Wahoo would send you back the 15 miles from where you came.

Fourth, the Garmin 510 had a “turn by turn” mapping feature which let you preload rides onto the unit. But it did not have maps. So 200 meters before a turn it would beep and display TURN RIGHT. The Bolt had maps and was far superior.

Mapping is important to me. I had multiple failures loading routes to the Garmin 510. I did not have confidence that my preloaded route would work. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn’t. The Bolt always worked.

And fifth, and the reason I bought the Bolt, the Bolt had the capacity to display Strava Live Segments while my Garmin did not. In fairness, I could have bought the newer equivalent Garmin unit (which may be the Garmin 530) which would display Live Segments.

And a word about accuracy. In this high-tech world, we expect our units to find us with feet if not inches by bouncing a tracking signal to a satellite in space. They are not always that accurate. When I first got my Bolt I mounted it next to the Garmin and for about six weeks I ran both units simultaneously. And rarely did the two head units produce the same data. If I did a 50-mile ride one might display 50.04 and the other 49.86. And it wasn’t the case that the Bolt was always greater than the Garmin. Or the Garmin always showed more than the Bolt. It depends.

There seemed to be no rhyme nor reason as to which unit would display the greater number. Initially, I would choose to upload the unit that showed the greater distance (LOL) but eventually decided it really didn’t matter. And when I put the Trek Domane SL5 into service in last January 2020, I went with just the Wahoo Bolt.

I love my Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt. It is the low end of their units. The ROAM has more features.

2021 – Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt – Color edition (July 2021)

My Bolt case was showing signs of wear and I purchased a new one. In the past 20 months, I discovered two major changes.

First, the newer Bolt now has a color screen. It is also sharper in its display.

And second, the “map/route to start” for lost cyclists now maps to start. I have not tried this feature to see how it really works.

Photo 1 – This is the base screen for the Bolt. The colors here define heart rate and traffic.

The Bolt pairs with the Garmin Varia radar/taillight unit to show traffic approaching from the rear. IMHO, the Bolt does a better job than Garmin’s own unit, in my case, the Garmin 510.

The Garmin 510 defaults to a full screen view when no traffic is present. When traffic is picked up by the Varia unit, the screen shrinks to about 7/8th size showing a “lane” as a strip on the far right of the unit with a dot moving up the lane so one can see how close the vehicle is.

The Bolt has a “lane” on the far left which is always visible. In my older unit, black and white, it was a darker lane. But it showed vehicle icons instead of dots Not big deal. But the reason the unit is superior is because the Bolt beeps at the presence of traffic and displays colored lights at the top from yellow to red (take cover) to green (all clear).

Photo 2 – The Bolt’s traffic lane has changed from green to yellow and displays a vehicle icon near the top (it’s close). The unit also beeped and displays yellow lights at the top of the unit.

Photo 3 – The heart rate zones can be set up by the user and on the basic screen colors will correspond with the zones.

Photo 4 – Hear rate zone is Zone 5. I am in the red. Except I really wasn’t. This was paired to the Wahoo TICKR which never was accurate for me. At first when I went into the red I would stop even though I was nose-breathing. I would take my heart rate manually it would be around 100-110 bpm. Ironically, I found the Bolt paired better with Garmin’s heart rate monitor than its own TICKR.

Photo 5 – Mapping works great in the Bolt. Not only does it display roads, major roads in yellow, but it also displays bike paths, in blue.

Photo 6 – Live Segments from Strava. This is the summary screen after completing some segments. Notice the neat crown for a KOM. Not shown is the progress screen. On a segment the displays shows your PR (but can toggle to race the KOM), total time, distance remaining, time relative to the segment (e.g., plus or minus 3-4 seconds) and a projected finish. When I got this unit it was not set up like my first Bolt and that would have been a game changer. But some fiddling with the phone app and I have it set up the way my first unit was set up. Everything is perfect.

Also not shown: I have the unit set up to show incoming phone calls and text messages. I could also choose emails but chose not to. Emails can wait.

Bottom line. I love this unit. At $280 maybe a little pricey but paired with Strava’s Live Segments, it has made riding so much more fun.

2022 – Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt – (Warranty)

Uh, we have a problem. The unit was on the charger overnight and in the morning I unplugged it to put it on my bike. The cord seemed to stick and was hard to pull out. I didn’t have my reading glasses on or my contacts in and my thought was last night in the haste I used a USB cord instead of the C cord to charge it. Perhaps I forced the wrong cord on it.

The flap that covers the opening would not close. My granddaughters were with us yesterday and the unit was just on a table. I thought that maybe one of them was “playing” with it and bent that flap so that it will not close.

When my ride ended I put on my reading glasses and took a close look. I used the right cord and it look like it had burned a little. The unit itself definitely overheated and had a meltdown. And it was deformed enough that the cover flap would not close.

I contacted Wahoo with photos. Within an hour I had a return slip and was on my way to FedEx. Four days later I had a new replacement in my hand from Wahoo.

I don’t know what happened with that old unit but their customer service is the best. Period.

October 21, 2020August 31, 2021

The Search for the Perfect Bike Car

It was the perfect bike car, with “was” being the operative word. But that came to an end on September 23 in Williamsport, Pa. when a truck dropped a water container, at speed, in front of me and I hit it hard. The car was totaled.

My 2002 Toyota RAV-4 had removable rear bucket seats. It was not a large car as there was only room for a small amount of luggage behind the two rear seats.

But the seats were removed quite easily and since I had floor to ceiling room, I installed a fork-mount rack that I could carry two bikes – upright. I just rolled them right in and the wheels sat neatly on the support for the removed seats – a built-in wheel chock.

We have another RAV-4, this being a 2012 model. But I cannot roll the bikes in that one. It has fold-down seats that are not quite the same as removable seats as there is not as much clearance from floor to ceiling.

New or used? I started looking at used cars, beginning my search at CarMax. I looked at the Honda CRV as the most compatible. I could squeeze my bikes in there if I leaned one over to clear the back and then set it upright. The saddle would press or rub against the ceiling and I never took my DIY bike rack to see the effect of raising the fork to the attached bike would do. I feared it would be worse.

Toyota RAV4 – 334,285. The end of the line.
(538,000 km)

I almost bought a new CRV in Woodbridge. But I felt like I was settling with that car. My search continued.

I looked at trucks. I loved the Ford Ranger. The Super Cab model gave me the 6′ bed. The Super Crew model gave me a 5′ bed. And I needed a cap. I ended up at Ourisman Ford in Alexandria looking at trucks. The Super Cab with the longer bed featured two jump seats in the back that folded down, had about 12″ of knee clearance, and sat upright (90º). It was unworkable and the Super Crew’s 5′ bed wouldn’t work.

RAV4 totaled. Repair was estimated at $3500 which was more than the value of the car

The salesman and I were walking in the truck section when I saw the Ford Transit Connect.

The Transit Connect was there by itself, a van in a sea of trucks. I asked about it, at first thinking it was a new vehicle. We opened the rear cargo doors to see lots of room but fold-down seats. I looked at the mounts, willing to remove the third-row seating to carry my bikes. I folded down the seats. I looked closer and told the salesman that I thought the seats would disappear. He knew nothing about that and brought out a van salesman from the dealership.

The van salesman did show us how the seats disappeared. And with the there was enough room to carry my bikes. The van was used but looked new. And ultimately I negotiated a price I was happy with.

2020 Ford Transit Connect – 11,250 Miles Used

It took a slight modification to my DIY bike rack to put it in the Transit. Because of the much longer interior, I can carry bikes without having a wheel next to my shoulder which I had to in the RAV4.

Testing to see if the bike fits. Ford Transit.

It can carry two bikes although once carried three, and has a split second seat. With that, I can carry one or two passengers in the second row along with the bikes.

In 2020 I needed CarPlay which it has. And the gas mileage is 50% better than the RAV4. While I was disappointed in losing the RAV4, for me, the 2020 Ford Transit Connect, is the perfect bike car.

June 30, 2020August 31, 2021

Meet the Checkpoint – A Gravel Bike

I was not looking for a gravel bike. Time may prove me wrong but I am not looking to join the latest trend in cycling – gravel rides. So why a gravel bike?

My Trek Pilot had a structural failure and was unsafe to ride, although who knows how long I rode it safely like that? But Trek would warranty the frame so I wanted to replace the Pilot. I wanted a backup road bike but knew I wasn’t going to go deep into cost or features.

I think a new Domane, even at the low end, was a bit pricey for me. I never considered the Emonda, and maybe I should have. But I also saw the Checkpoint in my local bike shop. Tom Scheiz told me about this gravel bike from Trek.

We are in a pandemic. BIke shops and manufacturers were slammed on inventory. It is hard to find a new bike anywhere and to order one involves a 6-10 week wait. Even with a credit from the Pilot, I didn’t want to spend too much. I looked at the Checkpoint 4 but I did not like the color it came in. So I looked at the Checkpoint 5.

I couldn’t even tell you the difference between the two machines except the Checkpoint 5 had a color scheme that I liked. Well, not so much liked as one that I really didn’t like which was the offer on the Checkpoint 4. It didn’t pop like my 2014 Domane but it was acceptable. More importantly, it was available.

The store didn’t have it in stock. They didn’t have any bike in stock except for, as Tom said, for extra-large and extra-small. But they had one on order with a delivery date of four weeks. Tom put my name on it and it came in on schedule.

So what do I have? I have a gravel bike. I am not an expert nor have I read other reviews. These are solely my thoughts. The biggest difference between a gravel bike and a road bike comes in clearance and drive train.

The bike came with knobby 42cc tires which I replaced with 32cc road tires. The 42s are perfect for trail or off-road, gravel (gasp) riding. There is more clearance in the fork for those instances when the tire picks up gunk. Loved my 2014 Domane but the clearance was so tight, even a pebble could get lodged between the tire and the fork. Even though I was running 25s, Paul McIntyre suggested I go no higher than 23s. With this bike, I will have no problems.

The other clearance issue is the bottom bracket. Gravel bikes sit a little higher.

The drive train is made for gravel. Gravel can really shake the drive train and this has a clutch that can take up some chain slack. I think. I have to figure it out. But other than that, it’s a road bike. For gravel.

It is aluminum. The knock on aluminum is that it will shake you on very long rides. I find the bike to be sturdy, handles well, and I really haven’t noticed a difference over 50 miles. It is heavier than my carbon bikes but I went out and flew up the hill on Hunter Station, setting a new PR. I’m not worried about the weight. Except for tough climbs.

It becomes my back up road bike. I have no qualms about riding it on the road for long distances except for the radar unit tail light. It also becomes my bad weather bike, if not no other reason, if I crash a bike I would prefer that it be aluminum than carbon fiber. Not that I plan to though.

It becomes my off-road bike. I can see myself doing more rail trails than I have in the past simply because I have a bike that can handle those now. It has plenty of extra frame holes for mounting fenders and panniers. This bike can do it all.

I run the Garmin Varia rear light/radar unit. Unfortunately, there is no room for the light on the seat post because I have to carry a saddle bag (tubes/flat kit). But there is room for a tool kit or a “bottle” kit on the frame so I will be moving my saddlebag and then running the radar unit. And just like that, I have a road/gravel bike that will do it all.

First impressions: I am very impressed with this bike. If someone were looking for an entry-level road bike I might even suggest this because it is fit for the road. But it is geared slightly lower than a compact (30×46 v 34v50) so it will give up some in the speed department but gain some back in the climbing department.

Checkpoint ALR 5 is the best value gravel bike in the lineup. It’s a high-quality build that will hold up for long, rugged miles on pavement, dirt, and even the most treacherous gravel roads. But what sets this model apart is the performance parts and the wealth of features like adjustable horizontal sliding dropouts, massive tire clearance, and extra mounts that make it easy to customize for your kind of adventure.

Frame	300 Series Alpha Aluminum, tapered head tube, Control Freak internal routing, 3S chain keeper, rack and fender mounts, flat mount disc, horizontal sliding dropouts, 142x12mm thru axle
Fork	Checkpoint carbon, tapered alloy steerer, rack mounts, fender mounts, flat mount disc, 12x100mm thru axle

Frameset

Front hub	Bontrager alloy, sealed bearing, centerlock disc, 100x12mm thru axle
Rear hub	Bontrager alloy, sealed bearing, centerlock disc, Shimano 11-speed freehub, 142x12mm thru axle
Rim	Bontrager Tubeless Ready, 28-hole, 17mm width, presta valve
Spokes	14g stainless steel
Tire	Bontrager GR1 Comp, wire bead, 60 tpi, 700x40c

Shifter	Shimano GRX RX600, 11 speed
Front derailleur	Shimano GRX RX810, braze-on
Rear derailleur	Shimano GRX RX810, long cage, 34T max cog
*Crank	Size: 56 Shimano GRX RX600, 46/30, 172.5 mm length



Bottom bracket	Shimano RS500, 92mm, PressFit
Cassette	Shimano 105 HG700-11, 11-34, 11 speed
Chain	Shimano 105 HG601, 11 speed

Saddle	Bontrager Montrose Comp, steel rails, 138mm width
Seatpost	Bontrager Comp, 6061 alloy, 27.2mm, 8mm offset, 330mm length

Handlebar	Size: 56 Bontrager Elite IsoZone VR-CF, alloy, 31.8mm, 93mm reach, 123mm drop, 42cm width

Weight	56 – 10.17 kg / 22.42 lbs
Weight limit	This bike has a maximum total weight limit (combined weight of bicycle, rider, and cargo) of 275 pounds (125 kg).

April 25, 2020September 11, 2020

Goodbye Pilot

RESTON, VIRGINIA

It was December 2006, when I went to buy my first “real” road bike. I was looking for an aluminum bike but eventually had my eyes turn to a carbon fiber bike, the Trek Pilot. But it seemed a little more than I wanted to pay and at first, I did not buy it.

But then, Adam Lewandowski called me and told me Trek had dropped the price, or it was a sale, but, whatever, it was 10% off. Adam told me it would be the last bike I would ever buy. And thus, I took delivery right before New Year’s Day (2007).

My inaugural ride with the bike was my “Manassas Loop.” I followed the Prince William Parkway counter-clockwise. When I reached the Coles District Fire Department, about 20 miles. I had a flat. It was not a good start to the Pilot’s career.

At the Tom Simpson Memorial, Mont Ventoux, France

As I understood it, Trek had introduced the Madone, as their racing bike. Although later they would have different models, the Pilot was introduced as their endurance/comfort bike. It was perfect for my riding. It also had a “triple” chainring upfront. This would be the only negative for this bike.

Triple rings were okay for mountain bikes but not so much for road bikes. The front ring was always problematic. Often I had to “feather” it after shifting to make it sound cleaner. Sometimes it would skip shifts. The Shimano-105 Triple was not a good drive train. Occasionally I could expect the chain to come off while pedaling. I got very good pedaling while the chain was wrapped around the pedal and my shoe, and coaxing it back into position without stopping to fix it.

Blue Knob State Park – near Altoona, Pa.

This bike took me places. None better than Mount Washinton, New Hampshire. Eight times I went to Mount Washington. I completed seven hill climbs. The first, 07/07/07, was canceled due to dangerous weather.

Mount Washington Auto Road Hill Climb – 2009

It made a perfect climbing bike. We (or my mechanics) would swap out the front ring for a 24t and put a 32t or 34t on the rear. This was after the first year when I did not make any changes to the bike.

Col du Lautaret, France – I got caught in snow here – July 19, 2011

It went to France. I was struggling on the climb up the Col du Tourmalet (who doesn’t?) and on the descent over the top I noticed a wheel wobble. I thought I had a broken spoke, and stopped to tighten them, but in a bike shop in St. Lary, I was told the wheel was cracked. I shouldn’t ride it. But I was in France. I rode it. I made it up Mont Ventoux and Alpe d’Huez with it. Maybe more importantly, I made it down Mont Ventoux and Alpe d’Huez.

I rode RAGBRAI (Iowa) and Ride the Rockies (Colorado). It was at RTR that I learned a valuable lesson which I follow to this day – “Never put a bike on a car if you can carry it in the car.” In 2013 I drove to Colorado by myself. I had plenty of room in my car for a bike but it looked so cool on top of the car. It was in Wichita, Kansas when I unlocked the front caliper that was holding the bike on the rack and moved to the rear to loosen the safety strap on the rear wheel. A gust of wind pushed the bike over except it was caught in the mount. The drop out at the bottom of the fork bent.

I found a bike shop in Colorado Springs the day before RTR and they replaced the fork with a used one from a Madone. It worked but now I had a red, white, and blue bike for the next three years. I found a company that could repair it and make it look sweet again.

Blue fork on my bike – with a car to match (NH, 2013)

But it was aging and I bought a 2014 Trek Domane to be my primary bike. The Pilot became my back up bike. In 2019 I had the components replaced so it would shift better. But it was never perfect. It was a Pilot with a triple chainring.

The Brand. No, this Bike. Not this Cyclist.

When I got a new Domane earlier this year, I made a decision. I would move (that is, my mechanics would move) the drive train from my 2014 Domane to the Pilot. I would have the only Trek Pilot with Di2 electronic shifting. Because it did not have internal cable routing, we had come up with a mount for the Di2 battery on the frame.

But Tom Szeide called me today with bad news. He was stripping down the frame to move the components to the Pilot and found a major crack in the chainstay. The bike was ruined. And I was sad.

Trek would give me a limited warranty for the frame and I would use it to get the Checkpoint. But I would have preferred to keep and ride the Pilot with the modification of electronic shifting. It was a sweet ride. I estimate that I put 30,000 miles on it. I’m not 100% sure because it was only post-cancer that I have tracked my miles. But I know I rode it about as far as it would last. I just wish it would have lasted longer.

But time to move on. Thanks for the memories!