My New Bike
My New Bike
I got a new Bike Friday last week. That’s the type of bike that folds and has 20 inch wheels. I have been riding similar Bike Fridays since 1994. My new bike is similar to a mountain bike with flat handlebars and 1.75 inch wide tires. It is red and has cantilever brakes with a triple crank and a wide gear range.
This is my travel and adventure bike. I like to travel with my Bike Friday when I need to fly somewhere. The bike fits in a Samonite suitcase and travels for free. With my new bike the suitcase converts into a trailer and my duffle bag of clothes then goes in the trailer. When I get to my destination I can put the bike back in the case and fly home.
I put a speedometer on my new Bike Friday. I am not sure why. When I am riding it I don’t look at my speed. I don’t really care how far I go. I wear my walking shoes and baggy travel shorts. When I am on my touring Bike Friday I have a different attitude about how fast I ride. This is my adventure bike. If I see something I like, I stop and look at it. That’s why I have a kickstand on this bike.
In November Susan and I are riding 600 miles across Peru in eight days. We are flying into the city of Piura near the Pacific Ocean and the northern border of Peru. Then we are heading east over the Andes Mountains and crossing several 10,000 to 12,000 foot passes. The mountain roads are paved 95% of the time. I traveled this route by bus at night several years ago. We stopped several times and everyone had to get out of the bus and help build bridges from rocks to cross streams that had washed away the wooden bridges. I expect similar adventures on our bike tour.
We will be pulling our trailers with our new Bike Friday touring bikes. There are simple hotels every 50 miles with a cot and cold water showers. At least we don’t have to carry camping gear. We are trying to get to the jungle town of Tarapoto where we can fly from their basic airport back to Lima . If this trip goes well it could become our next PAC Tour adventure in Peru.
We have had several tours in Peru before. The adventure factor is always pretty high during our travels there. I have been to Peru 12 times in the past seven years. During each trip I always learn something new. If we do another PAC Tour trip there next year I want to include cycling over the Andes and down into the jungle. A highlight of the tour is always traveling on the Amazon River by boat. I would like to combine a tour with delivering supplies to the jungle orphanages or schools. It is hard to explain how meeting the local people changes our group’s expectations of the tour. In the beginning everyone is focused on riding their bikes. By the end of the tour the bike is just a way to get from adventure to adventure.
I am looking forward to riding my new Bike Friday Air Llama. When I ride it I’m never quite sure what adventures I will see next.
END
I got a new Bike Friday last week. That’s the type of bike that folds and has 20 inch wheels. I have been riding similar Bike Fridays since 1994. My new bike is similar to a mountain bike with flat handlebars and 1.75 inch wide tires. It is red and has cantilever brakes with a triple crank and a wide gear range.
This is my travel and adventure bike. I like to travel with my Bike Friday when I need to fly somewhere. The bike fits in a Samonite suitcase and travels for free. With my new bike the suitcase converts into a trailer and my duffle bag of clothes then goes in the trailer. When I get to my destination I can put the bike back in the case and fly home.
I put a speedometer on my new Bike Friday. I am not sure why. When I am riding it I don’t look at my speed. I don’t really care how far I go. I wear my walking shoes and baggy travel shorts. When I am on my touring Bike Friday I have a different attitude about how fast I ride. This is my adventure bike. If I see something I like, I stop and look at it. That’s why I have a kickstand on this bike.
In November Susan and I are riding 600 miles across Peru in eight days. We are flying into the city of Piura near the Pacific Ocean and the northern border of Peru. Then we are heading east over the Andes Mountains and crossing several 10,000 to 12,000 foot passes. The mountain roads are paved 95% of the time. I traveled this route by bus at night several years ago. We stopped several times and everyone had to get out of the bus and help build bridges from rocks to cross streams that had washed away the wooden bridges. I expect similar adventures on our bike tour.
We will be pulling our trailers with our new Bike Friday touring bikes. There are simple hotels every 50 miles with a cot and cold water showers. At least we don’t have to carry camping gear. We are trying to get to the jungle town of Tarapoto where we can fly from their basic airport back to Lima . If this trip goes well it could become our next PAC Tour adventure in Peru.
We have had several tours in Peru before. The adventure factor is always pretty high during our travels there. I have been to Peru 12 times in the past seven years. During each trip I always learn something new. If we do another PAC Tour trip there next year I want to include cycling over the Andes and down into the jungle. A highlight of the tour is always traveling on the Amazon River by boat. I would like to combine a tour with delivering supplies to the jungle orphanages or schools. It is hard to explain how meeting the local people changes our group’s expectations of the tour. In the beginning everyone is focused on riding their bikes. By the end of the tour the bike is just a way to get from adventure to adventure.
I am looking forward to riding my new Bike Friday Air Llama. When I ride it I’m never quite sure what adventures I will see next.
END
posted by Lon Haldeman at 7:26 AM
4 Comments:
Regardless of what Lance thinks, it is about the bike. New bikes are fun. What did/does it cost?
Oh, the bikes I'd buy if I had the dough...
I got my Bike Friday, a.k.a. Sat'R Day, with the hope of riding it with PAC in Peru. I'm up for an adventure!.
For die-hard fans of the Haldemans (and Bike Friday) including a story on their Midwest Camp2006, here's some bedtime reading:
http://www.bikefriday.com/midwest
Lon is absolutely right. After a while it is less about the bike and more about the culture and people of Peru. But, riding over Ticlio Pass was still a high.
Jerry S.
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