The Tour de Crawdad Test Run

I ran across information on the Tour de Crawdad on Facebook and was on the fence about riding it. In the end, a professional colleague personally invited me and I made a game-time call - the night before the event - to try it out. The itinerary was simple. There were three ride distances: 20, 44, and 62 miles. The rides distances were staggered, with the 62-miler kicking off at 7AM and the 20-miler kicking off at 9AM, with the 44-miler on the hour in between. The ride ended where it began, at a fence company west of Springfield, at which point there was a crawfish boil and beer on tap from Springfield Brew Co.

Since it was a last minute decision, I didn't have much time to prepare and I didn't really have time to invite a riding companion or two. I pared down the gear on the Peugeot so that all I was carrying was my leather tool roll, which I stowed under the saddle, a mini-pump, and my bluetooth speaker. I arrived at Carnahan White's parking lot just in time to unload, pick up my swag and wristband, and hop on my bike for the start of the ride. The route was really great; unusually flat for the Ozarks, although we fought a treacherous headwind for much of the ride. Without companions to keep me occupied, I ended up putting my head down and cranking out the ride at a decent clip. A little over an hour later, I was one of the first riders to arrive at the finish.

Filling up on beautifully cooked mudbugs and washing it down with beer on tap was most definitely the best part of the event. Kudos to the chef, because the crawfish were fantastic. We emptied all the kegs before noon, which was a bit of a bummer, but I had to duck out early anyways to take over child care duty so that Ginger could work Rock n' Ribs. I heard rumor that the organizers were on top of the situation and that more beer was on the way. In the end, I had a great time despite the fact that I was flying solo. Next year I'll be bringing some friends along so that we can turn Tour de Crawdad into a real party.

The Bikes We Meet

We see cool bikes around town every once in a while. I had the presence of mind to snap a quick picture of this Panasonic Touring Deluxe that I spotted chained up to the racks at Walnut and Jefferson. Later in the afternoon, I happened to walk past this bike again with my son. Even from across the street, he noticed this machine (he asked if it was mine; I told him "I wish."). I've developed a fondness for these old touring rigs, and the Panasonics are among my favorites. I have no particular reason for this affinity...they're just so cool. These bikes can still be sold for decent prices if they're in good shape. This particular specimen is probably an early-to-mid 80s model, and I'd guess it could fetch $300 or more on the open market. I also wanted to check out what other restorers were doing with these bikes and came across this very fine resto-mod at N+1 Cycle. And while it's not the same model, this Pro Touring resto-mod is also very handsome.

In other cool-bikes-around-town news, props to my employer, Mercy, for these badass emergency services bikes that Ginger spotted at Rock n' Ribs on Friday. It's hard to tell in the picture above, but these rigs have front-facing emergency lights. If I had to guess, I'd say they may also have rear-facing lights as well. The Star of Life on the forks is also a nice touch.

Dusting Off the Wrenches in the Tinkery

As I mentioned yesterday, Spring is tune-up season. So I took some time over the weekend to get the Peugeot into prime condition for riding season. I should note that I ride nearly every day through the winter, so regular maintenance is a year-round affair. But on one of the first mild weekends of the year, it feels awfully nice to wrench on a bike with the garage door open and a beer in hand. I got the Peugeot up on the repair stand Sunday morning, which put me on a deadline for an afternoon ride on the Galloway Trail.

First step was to replace the dangerously spent brake pads. I picked up a bulk supply of Jagwire pads on the internet recently and I was looking forward to trying them out. They're a bit different than the original Nashbar pads that came with calipers - thicker and not as sleek - but they're a lot grippier than the Dia Compe pads that I used to use and I really like the old-school look.

Other than a general cleaning, my other task was to repack the hubs. The front hub went pretty quickly, as it uses standard ball bearings. But I forgot that the rear hub uses Suntour cylindrical bearings, which had me scratching my head until I found some disassembly and cleaning instructions online. In the end, I got the hubs repacked and rolling smoothly.

I didn't have time to tackle cables and housing, which wouldn't have mattered anyways since the guy in the shop accidentally sold me a mountain brake cable along with the other road brake and shift cables I bought. I was also considering replacing the bottom bracket cartridge, so I'll probably end up grabbing one of those when I pick up the one brake cable I'm lacking.

Spring is Here and so is C4B

Spring is here and, for me, that means two things: 1) tune-ups and 2) Cruisin' for a Brewsin. With regard to C4B, the March installment - the first of the year - was rainy and cold, but predictably awesome. The ride included Mother's tasting room and J.O.B., which were both a blast. And of course the usual kick-off and finale at Dugout. My buddy KC came along on his trike and passed out Park tire levers to all the other riders. Just talked to a couple people who've already used theirs.

As fun as last month's C4B was, this month's is looking to be even better. The April ride is scheduled for this coming Thursday and is slated to include stops at Lindberg's, University Plaza hotel, and as always, the Dugout. Lindberg's is one of my favorite regular stops on C4B nights. I'm also looking forward to seeing what happens when a bunch of bike geeks with skid lids crash the U.P. Anyways, be at the Dugout at 6:30 on Thursday for a good time.