A couple years back, I decided I wanted to try the legendary Seattle to Portland bike ride. One thing or another rather led to me being unable to actually be able to do it, but something this year just rather changed in me and I decided: this will be the year that I do it. So, a couple of weeks back, I started looking at road bikes. What I had (still have) is a nice Scott Comp Pro that I bought for a steal when I still worked for the EPA, but I knew I didn't want to make the ride with that particular bike, so I was shopping around.
After spending hours/days on Craigslist, I finally decided to take a day where I would just go to every used bike shop in the Portland Metro area. I started with Bad Monkey Bike and Board in Vancouver (my local bike shop and a great group of people) and got to try a 2012 Redline road bike that fit wonderfully and was priced well, but I didn't want to shoot myself in the foot so I kept looking.
After spending the better part of five hours looking for the perfect ride (and eyeballing a Fuji at City Bikes), being effectively snubbed at Veloce and not having the best of experiences at a few others, I ended up at Sellwood Cycles . I must say, it was my first visit there and I was quite impressed.
They have a great setup, great location and within minutes of me being there, a nice guy named Eric came to help me and find the right ride for me. After hearing what I wanted to do, my sizing etc.., Eric guided me upstairs to a nice blue Cannondale T700. I took one look at her and I was entranced. I threw on a helmet and quickly took her out for a spin. She shifted wonderfully, rode smooth and I knew I had the bike for me. This was the bike I would tackle STP on.
What follows will be my cycling blog in general, but for the next several months, focus will often be on my efforts for STP. I am, by no means, a professional cyclist. This is my first road bike in 5 years. My last was a 1983 Peugeot that was probably a bit too big for me and for the better part of a year, I commuted from my home in Vancouver to my work in Downtown Portland on a Manga that I bought at Target. I did it because I enjoy cycling, and I enjoy the feeling of those long rides. The feeling of the wind in your face, the feeling of your legs really stretching out as you get into a ride. Really, this is just going to be an all around cycling blog containing the information that I glean from not only my riding, but repairing of bikes. Last Christmas I bought my girlfriend a 6 speed Bridgestone cruiser, and we are going to repair it together. This, really, is going to be about a little of everything in the cycling aspects of life.
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