SF Randonneurs Populaire - This Saturday!

With a fair degree of trepidation - potentially challenging weather is not a problem, but I'm definitely still a bit under-miled...  Ahh well, how can you not get excited about a ride when it has such great artwork?

The artwork is by Alice Stribling, which can be viewed in its original form (but seemingly not linked to or downloaded) here.

Anyway, the San Francisco Populaire rolls north from the Golden Gate Bridge at 7 am this Saturday - check in and/or sign up is required, so don't show up at 6:59 - the hearty band of randonneurs will be rolling north to Pt. Reyes Station for the first controlle, then heading back down to Crissy Field for a triumphant finish. The SF Randonneurs website has more info.

The Populaire is a great way to feel out the idiosyncrasies of brevets and randonneuring. It introduces the format of non-competitive self-sufficient distance riding,  and uses control cards and time limits like the longer rides. For more general information, see the RUSA.org website. 

Hope to see you there!  Please mock me gently as I suffer up the hills.

Understated Elegance - Bob R's Toei 650B Randonneur

 It's easy to miss the details on a well rendered, yet understated bicycle. These days, with the bulk of the rides you see on the roads looking all racy with screaming logos and swoopy stripes, subtle details tend to fly under the radar.  Once you learn to tune out the noise though, certain details catch your attention. When I was processing the images for the Current Classics Gallery, this one just made me pause:

 Current Classics Gallery #771

For such a discrete and small part of a bicycle frame, there's a lot going on here - the internal cable routing not being pushed through a dimple, but running into a tapered housing; the thinned and elegant arc of the seat lug; the way the seat stays curve up and almost join; the way the seat post binder bolt fits flush when tightened.

There's nothing particularly "showy" about that work - but it pulls things together with a certain confidence of style, patience in approach and just enough flair that you know someone thought pretty deeply about it before even beginning.

The kind of bit that you just find yourself considering years after you've owned the bicycle.  And smiling about.

Today's updates to the Current Classic Gallery:
#771 - Bob Rogen's Toei 650B Randonneur
#772 - Michael Kullman's Schwinn Voyager
#773 - Tim Merrell's Peugeot PH1 OLE
#774 - Leon Lokkart's Gazelle Champion Mondial

Other Toei bicycles in the Current Classics Gallery

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