About the bike

I've had a couple emails and comments lately asking about what I ride, which is a pretty good question. I'm a big dude who rides hard over lots of miles - finding a bike that stands up to the abuse that a Clydesdale can shell out is a rarity. My Surly Long Haul Trucker, well, it's been my steady companion now going into it's third year of daily service. As of now, it's my only bike... and you know, I'm good with that.

It's a Long Haul Trucker "complete" with a couple minor changes. Schwalbe Marathon Cross tires, Brooks B-17 saddle, Nitto Noodle handlebar, Cinelli Gel tape, a cheap rack and some Nashbar Waterproof panniers. It's pretty simple, it works good, it's fast enough - but best of all - it's stupid comfortable. And durable. I've got over 10,000 miles on it now, and it rides as good as the day I got it.

That's really what it's about, finding what works for you. I just realized that this is my fourth year commuting by bike, and I'm good with that. Someone asked me the other day what I was training for, and I said nothing. Then someone asked me if I was commuting to save money, or to save the planet. My answer? Neither. Maybe both.

It's taken me four years to realize I ride because I ride. I'm good with that.

Just ride

Some days it doesn't matter if you're wearing work shoes and wool dress pants on a 90 degree day, you just gotta ride. I kind of dig those days where it's the end of the day and I go "I just really want to go home" so I don't change into anything cycling-specific other than a helmet, and pedal home.

Pretty hard to beat.

Father's Day

Awoke this Father's Day to a house full of cuties, and man that's just the topping for a great week (or couple weeks, even). Bashed through my 100 mile goal for 120 total miles after a really awesome Saturday morning ride with friends out to Elmwood and back. I've missed the mopac, and I've missed long rides - the average speed definitely showed that, ouch. Gotta work up in that respect but it's good to know I have 36 miles in my legs and it doesn't really even phase me.. even if it's at a turtle pace. I'll just channel my inner Mountain Turtle.

Next week I'm going to shoot for 150 miles, and more smiles. Should be pretty easy after what I did this week and a good number to go for every week. I'm not training for anything, I'm riding my bike. I'm not trying to lose lots of weight, I'm just riding my bike. I'm not commuting to save the world, I'm commuting to ride my bike. See a common theme there? Riding my bike is simple, it's pleasure, it's amazing - and it's extended into other parts of my life. Just check out my office makeover that made my favorite geeky blog, Lifehacker.com:

http://lifehacker.com/5566309/the-efficient-office-a-workflow-makeover

Riding is simple, it's amazing, it's what life should be about. Using what God gave us to live and provide for ourselves. I surrounded myself with too much "stuff", too much clutter, too little effort. Now I have one bike, two legs, and it all just comes together. Will I get another bike? Sure, and it'll probably be from Fargo. For now I'm just focusing on what I have, as Dave Ramsey would put it - "gazelle intensity".

Who knows what will happen, I got started a bit late this year due to a comedy of errors and failures, but I'm happy with where I'm at. And that, right there, is what it's all about.

Great start

I'm back to basics - platform pedals and tenny runners until I can swing another pair of Bonty RL's. Heck, I've been back to my extremely wore out North Face trail runner things just because, well, they were with me for my best "season" to date - 2008. They've got a couple centuries, a gravel century, and some metric centuries in their corner - and they have grooves in the soles where my pedals fit right into. Hah!

The trails have been absolutely gorgeous, and I've taken full advantage of it. Monday through Thursday I racked up 85 miles of commuting.. and taking the wrong way. On purpose. It's great to be free, and the bike just does that. Today I drove because my legs were a little fried after yesterday's winds, and I needed to drop an alternator off at the shop. It probably weighs 40 pounds, and I wasn't sure if that would press my luck on my el-cheapo rack. Man, though, it was hard to trade the view from the driver's seat for this usual view on my commute:
Lincoln's trails have been gorgeous, but not just the trails. Yesterday the wind was howling out of the South and I was itchin', so I headed south. Kept heading south yelling and cussing at the wind on a road south of Lincoln until my legs were howlin' more than the wind.

Called it good and got in a nice solid 26 miles yesterday. Not what I was up to in '08, but I'll take it.. for now. Tomorrow I'm going to hook up with a couple friends in the morning and head out on the Mopac, it's been far too long since I've had a good coating of limestone dust on the LHT. Eagle? Elmwood? Wabash? Don't care, my only goal is to get in a 100 mile week, and I'm easily on track for that.

Sunday? Well, I think these three are up to something...

My bike needs a new, good, awesome home

EDIT: And.. it's found a new home! Dang that was quick, and exactly the result I was hoping for. What a small, awesome world..

Above is the bike that started it all. Technically, it was my brother's old mid-90's Raleigh mountain bike that started this journey, but the Hardrock is really what got me going. Now it needs a new home.

Why? I'm not getting out of cycling - quite the opposite - it's just that I've known for the past two years, since getting the Long Haul Trucker, that the Hardrock is too small for me. Barends, extended seatposts, nothing I can do makes it comfortable to ride for me. It's the classic case of where I should have gone with my gut instead of what the sales dude told me to go with.

Here's the deal, I have a lot of memories wrapped up in this bike. It's special to me, extremely special to me, and I have kept it around for that reason. For a summer I rode it every day across town to see my then girlfriend, and now wife. It made me realize I could commute by bike to work. I had many adventures around Lancaster county on it, acquiring thousands of miles and some scratches in the process. I have a tendency to be dramatic at times, but I'm being completely serious when I say this bike changed my life. I've been given so much as a result of it, and now I want to give back.

I want this bike to go somewhere that it will continue to make a difference. First, here's what it is:

-2007 Specialized Hardrock Sport "Large" (19in)
-Three sets of tires - 26x2.1 "stock" Specialized Resoultion tires (replacement set, < 500 miles on 'em), 26x1.5 Specialized Nimbus Armadillo street tires (about a thousand miles, and thousands left), 26x1.9 Nokian W160 studded tires (just this winter, maybe 200 miles total on ice and snow)
-Two saddles - stock, and a Specialized Sonoma 155 "Body Geometry"
-New crank/BB - Shimano Alivio -Specialized Barends
-Custom built rear wheel, 36 spoke Sun Mammoth rim on the stock hub, hand built by my man Jared from Cycle Works - with a little bit of extra mojo itself
-SKS Rear fender

Asking price? $100*

What's the star for? Obviously if you know anything about bikes - this is a ridiculous steal. I could also put it on Craigslist for a couple hundred dollars more, and it could go sit in someone's garage for the next ten years gathering dust. This bike doesn't deserve that, it deserves to be ridden. It deserves to ooze some of that good mojo back at someone else, to change someone else's life.

You have to come to Lincoln, Nebraska to pick it up (or preferably already live here), and you gotta email me. bdinger at gmail dot com is the address to use. Maybe you wanna change your own life. Maybe you already did and need a little help along the way. Or maybe you wanna help someone out. Shoot me an email.