Hanford- blue on blue

I stopped for this picture because the blue looked great.

PBP finished

Fin. It was great. I finished with over 30 minutes to spare. One might say that is close to the cutoff time, but I had a great time and wasn't too worried. I took hundreds of pictures and even poised my bike in nice settings like this one below. The bleu farce paint from Peter Weigle inspired me to stop at numerous blue painted houses and maisons and chateaus. I will write more about the ride in the future, and will post more pictures. Pat and cecily also finished really strong - at 84hours exactly!

My Hanford all ready for PBP

I took my Hanford out for one of the last rides in the US before PBP, and even with a overly stocked front handlebar bag, the bike always performs flawlessly. I am now meticulously scrutinizing what will go in the handlebar bag and debating on a small rear saddle bag. I have been deciding on what tools to bring, how many inner tubes(i think I decided on 3), and I think I finally decided on arm and leg warmers, no tights.

I decided not to use a dropbag(a service offered to bring a bag to a certain checkpoint) because I feel it is a little against the spirit of self-sustained riding. This has left me with a dilemma, because I need to bring 2 spare pairs of shorts and a few pairs of socks. It might sound like a luxury, but nothing feels better than a fresh pair of shorts after riding in the same pair for 24-35 hours. I don't want to cram the clothing in the handlebar bag, and my only seat bag is way too big and I know if I had the space, I would probably start to fill it up. So I will look around work for something that might work.

I'm also thinking about posting the contents of my handlebar bag, so other randoneurs can compare. I know that I am probably bringing more tools than the average rider, but at the same time, I usually offer my services to help others if I can and the tools assist me with that.

My painted Hanford frame!

Me and my framebuilder Simon Firth traveled north today to pick up my frameset from the Peter Weigle, who painted it. I pulled a lot of strings and traded a lot of favors to have one of the top framebuilders in the world to paint my first frame. It came out better than I could have imagined. Love at first site. I cannot wait to build it up and ride it. It has has to have the logos handpainted on, that is going to look very sharp, and have some nice subtle luglining. Yes, It will be at the Brooklyn Bicycle Jumble this weekend in NYC. more info about the bike swap meet here.

Hanford bicycle frame complete

Just needs some paint, graphics, and some parts. Simon Firth has made me a beautiful frame. I can't wait to ride it!

Hanford bicycle is coming together

"When is a race not a race"- when it is Paris Brest Paris

Recently I was rereading a testimonial about the 1999 Paris-Brest-Paris in an issue of On The Wheel written by Larry Strung and fantasizing about my ride this summer. It is vivid account, with many of the same worries and observations I had 4 years ago before trying to ride PBP. Will I ride too hard in the beginning, and fall apart on my way back from Brest? Who would I ride with? How long should I sleep? What bike to ride?

I quickly looked on the internet, and I was surprised that the article -"When is a race not a race? Paris-Brest-Paris 1999"- is not available online. If you are thinking about riding PBP, or just wonder what it is like, I recommend tracking it down. It is in issue #12 of One the Wheel(out of print).

Larry rode an older Peugeot, where as his friends rode fancy Litespeeds. Four years ago, I did all the brevetes in the series and took to France a 1968 Jack Taylor Super Tourist. I was shocked at the disproportionate amount of modern race bikes present in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, the start and finishing town of PBP. Along with Joel Metz, also on a Jack Taylor, it would be fair to say, we were in the minority riding old steel bikes, probably in the 1 percentile.

This year, I have been doing all of my riding on an early 1980s Eddy Merckx, not something I would have ever imagined doing more than 70-80 miles at a time, yet I have done two 200kms on it and plan to do a 300km in a week on it. I did install 700x28c tires on it, but it is far from ideal, as there is no provisions to install fenders or lights.

I put up with inconvenience because I am waiting for my custom frame to being built by Simon Firth, former head framebuilder at Bilenky Cycles, that has started to build his own bikes. I will own the first Hanford, named after the small town in the United Kingdom Simon is from. It will have a mix of modern and older parts, and will be the first new bike I have ever bought. Im excited.

Frameset is getting closer

I love the updates I get about my bike. look at this, it is starting to look awesome!

Seat stay cluster on my bike

My frame is jigged up, not brazed together, but more of a mock-up to see how everything fits together. It is really starting to look beautiful and I am getting excited.
I talked with my painter yesterday, and I can't wait!

Stronglight chainrings for my Custom built bike

I thought I had thought of everything when it came to planning out my custom bike Simon Firth is building me but one collector friend reminded me how interesting older chainrings were. I have always loved these Stronglight Touriste chainrings were, and we have a set here that I have always coveted. So, I think I am going to get a set reproduced, for my new bike. The photographs below are of reproductions made in Japan, with the current price of $550 for a set! Yikes!
But aren't they beautiful?

File under H- Headlugs

Simon filing my lugs into shape

Of course, my Paris-Brest-Paris bike would have Fleur de lis shaped lugs.