I love bikes. If you read this regularly the fact if fairly apparent; if you know me personally it is blatantly obvious. I will be going over my fleet in the next few weeks.
Road Bike: 2001 Lemond Buenos Aires Triple
2001 Lemond Buenos Aires Road Bike
Ah, steel. I used to get a lot of fun looks when I told people that I had a steel bike; these days more and more are saying they wish they had one. The ride, especially when coupled with the carbon fork, is extremely compliant. The bike was definitely designed for a more casual rider who wanted an excellent mix of performance and comfort. My number one complaint is that when I do a hard acceleration I frequently pull the rear wheel free of the horizontal dropouts. Unsurprisingly the handling is a bit slow and the bike cannot climb as well as present day replacements (though I am sure most of that is me, the bikes I have demoed show that the bike is playing a part). All of which is fine – I don’t race. Overall the bike has been really good to me (I put a complete new Shimano 105 groupset on the bike last year – the cable adjuster on the front tube is helpful given the touchy new 10 speed rear derailleur ) and a wonderful introduction to cycling. The more relaxed position and smooth ride surely played a major part in my present obsession with cycling. While I cannot promise to buy another steel bike, I will certainly give a custom steel frame strong consideration.
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My first “real” bike in years; my father was on a huge bike kick at the time and was more excited about his new bike and the prospect of me getting a road bike. Lance was winning the tour, Trek was getting awesome coverage in Wisconsin, and I was not overly sold on bicycles. My dad bought me the bike anyways. It was one of the best things to ever happen to me.
Now an avid rider, I cannot thank my father enough for giving me the push into cycling. I have taken the bike everywhere I have lived and have many memories from each state. While some are better than others, I have really enjoyed my bike. I have ridden all over the Madison area – the western hills are particularly enjoyable. The bike traveled with me to Lehigh University in Pennsylvania where I enjoyed countless scenic rides in farm county. When I did an internship in Colorado Springs I learned that Pennsylvania does not really have mountains and that I am not a very good climber. My first job out of school took me to Salem, OR with its challenging rolling hills, coastal range mountains, and occasional vineyards. While I rode in college, it was not until I graduated and moved to Salem that I started riding consistently. Occasionally I would even venture up to Portland and see lots of other cyclists.
I was transferred for work to Memphis, TN where I discovered that whereas some parts of the country do not have many cyclists this part was downright hostile to them; guys in pickups threw half empty beer cans at me on almost every ride. Continuing the trend of fear, I had two individuals, on separate occasions, follow me for a distance until a large open area appeared (I thought an unpleasant altercation was about to occur) but said they were inspired to see someone riding (again, no one rides in Memphis). My favorite quote from my time in the south was when I asked the HR manager if there was shower so I could ride my 17 mile commute into work. His response: “There’s a hose out back”.
I was again transferred, this time to Albert Lea, MN headed into winter. Similar to Memphis, I never saw another rider. Unlike the heat of Memphis, I froze my butt off on almost every ride. My rides always concluded with a cup of tea at the Starbucks where the high school aged baristas all thought I was on crack; perhaps if they took up cycling it would decrease the horrendously high teenage pregnancy rates in the town. Or not.
Finally I quit that job and moved to Boulder, a town that truly loves cyclists. The only time I have not seen anyone else on the road was the day I accidentally commuted in with the temperature at negative 15 F (I missed the negative sign on the temperature when I checked in the morning; I know, I am an idiot). I still am not much of a climber, but I put in plenty of rides in a place where my Buenos Aires and I are fully accepted.
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