Aside from bicycles, of course, the main reason I choose to continue my futile search for fortune in the bicycle industry is because of the people I know and meet. There's no shortage of extremely smart and passionate people who are insanely interesting, individualistic personalities. Sure it's cool to be around famous athletes from time to time, but I much more deeply value the less publicly visible people that make the bicycle world go 'round.
As some of you may know, my latest Bicycle Times test ride is the Norco Vesta. So far this steel steed has been pretty good to me. However, I write this blog with some words of caution.
I'm going home to bury my best riding buddy. She's been with me for over 10 years. She absolutely loved to go for rides. Just say the word "ride" and she was prancing in anticipation. In the van or truck she'd go. Queen she was. She couldn't restrain herself when she'd see me put my helmet on. She would start to jump and yip—and off we'd go. Rain, snow, hot, cold...it didn't matter...it was her favorite thing to do. She was as clueless as they come when it came to playing any other doggie games, but there was none better when it came time to ride.
The Extrawheel Voyager trailer is an aptly-named appendage for your bicycle—unlike other trailers that have a bed with one or two small wheels to support it, the Voyager is essentially a full-size wheel (either 26" or 700c) enclosed in a steel frame that carries a set of panniers. The "Voyager" part of the name fits with this trailer's ability to traverse rough surfaces. A look at the photo gallery on this Polish company's website shows that the trailers have indeed traveled far and wide.
Aside from bicycles, of course, the main reason I choose to continue my futile search for fortune in the bicycle industry is because of the people I know and meet. There's no shortage of extremely smart and passionate people who are insanely interesting, individualistic personalities. Sure it's cool to be around famous athletes from time to time, but I much more deeply value the less publicly visible people that make the bicycle world go 'round.
Just to echo pretty much everything Ed said, this ride is a brute. After finishing up at the pizza restaurant we got chatting to a bunch of guys who'd driven over from Plymouth, and I ventured the opinion that the ride wasn't quite as tough as the media make it out to be. They must have thought I was a complete tool! Respect to the postie in their group who had to be on his bike at 5am on Monday for his round!
