How do you find vintage bike rides?
 

Ok, you've built your vintage bike, but how do you find organized rides for vintage bikes?

I know about the California Eroica, but other than this ride what other vintage bike rides are there? Any in the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, Idaho)? Are there websites that post annual vintage rides?

Welcome your thoughts and suggestions.

A group of us do a C&V ride at the Dairyland Dare in Wisconsin every year.

https://www.wisconsingranfondo.com/e...edium=calendar

We meet the day before, have a meal, and spend time checking out the old bikes before doing the ride. Gearing choices on a ride that hilly get interesting fast on an old bike.

Another possibility is to see about putting together a C&V ride with your local bike club.

I've been talking to a friend here on BF about putting together a C&V ride on the Wabash Trace in SW IA. We'll just pick a date, use the site for a bit of publicity, and do a ride followed by lunch. I think we'll get a decent turnout.

There are a number of PNW BFer's that have gotten together for rides, specifically Washingtonians. @Drillium Dude might chime in since I sent the call!

Why does it have to be "Vintage Ride" Can't you just show up at the local show and go and go? Maybe you can organize you own.

There really aren't very many dedicated "vintage" rides. Luckily, you can roll your own. Just show up on a vintage bike, and suddenly, you're on a "vintage ride". In that spirit, my local club has vintage rides whenever I show up, and occasionally even when I don't. :-)

I own only one bike--an '84 Peugeot so every time I ride I'm on a vintage ride.
Also, the first Sunday of every month there's a vintage ride that starts at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, So Cal.
Jon

Yes, you can show up and roll with the local club and the non-vintage organized rides that run through the season from early spring to late fall here.

However there is the fun and fellowship part of being with other vintage riders and vintage bikes. I would equate this to the Annual Vintage Car races we have over the 4th of July weekend. While you can go to other car races, this race weekend is all about cars you never thought to see, e.g. the actual Alfa Romeo that Nuvolari drove to beat the Nazi German Mercedes and Audi in the German Grand Prix (and it was raced, I now know what a supercharged strait 8 sounds like), and people who really get the experience, one actually let my wife sit in their monster winged vintage Turbo Porsche with a single turbo charger the size of a basketball (gave true meaning to turbo lag).

It's nice to visit with people and learn about their bikes and in the process learn about your bike. Also there is the issue of vintage versus modern, vintage is a different experience, you only have 5-7 gears, in the rear cassette/freewheel, whereas modern has 10-11, no getting around the ability to keep leg/knee effort in a much broader comfort range with greater gear selection, which with older knees/legs is a real plus, which leads to... You don't want to get dropped, and vintage riding with vintage is going to make that less likely.

So it sounds like the organized rides are few and far between, but you might be able to start a vintage ride with your club, or, post and/or watch for posts in C&V of riders gathering for a ride locally?

Is there a sub-forum for posting rides? Maybe there should be so riders can check a calendar for rides in their region coming up that they could join? Just a thought.

We local C&Vers have set up vintage group rides in the past and likely will again. Mainly, someone does a call-out in a dedicated thread, a couple-three weeks ahead of the ride. Then there's the Portland contingent who get together for some rides in addition to events such as the Velo Cirque held just two weeks ago. Sometimes guys from WA carpool down for these events, too.

I agree that vintage rides tend to stimulate like-minded conversations and have a tendency to be slower paced. There's just a different comradery on a vintage ride.

Best I can suggest is to keep an eye out on the forum for upcoming events as the weather begins to improve. When spring breaks we'll see people coming out of the woodwork wanting to get together for a ride.

DD

Look up Critical Mass. Last Friday of the month at sunset in many urban areas. Dress up in your finest vintage attire & go.

I've never ridden on a dedicated C&V ride - quite fancy doing the Anjou Velo one year though, we holiday in France most years and the combination of velo, vin, et fromage is a winner.

I usually ride the modern bike for club runs, but I do a few sportives every year on either the Peugeot or Gitane; there's usually one or two other riders on similar classics to talk to, and I do get a lot of conversations with riders on modern machines. Conversations tend to start along the lines of either "My God! Are you really doing xxx miles on that antique........" or "Great bike! I had one years ago, wish I'd kept it...."

You own a Stevenson... Bill knows where all the rides are... Road Rides and Events ? Capital Bicycling Club

Do I have to wear leather gloves and a top hat? :eek:

I can never quite keep up on what a "vintage" bike is. According to l'eroica rules most of the things that were invented before 1987 aren't allowed on bikes that are supposed to represent production up to 1987. And then some people would call any bike with shift braze-ons and a level top tube "vintage".

So while I have several bikes with '80s parts on them, I don't want to bother figuring out if they would "qualify" for a C&V themed event.

Do you mean ".....most of the things that were NOT invented before 1987....."?? Otherwise it makes no sense.
Jon

Eroica is a kick.
I think the reason for few organized/supported/sponsored rides is that C and V folk don't buy much new stuff.
Sram is not about to sponsor a vintage ride to sell a few chains.

I would be motivated to fork over some more entry fees and do some Gran Fondos if there were a Vintage division. Maybe some of the GF organizers will try and sell their rides to C and V people by creating a separate non age bracketed category for old bike riders.

Eroica rides do not make the rules for what a "vintage" bike is. They set their own arbitrary rules for what qualifies as an Eroica bike. Different rides may use different rules.

For Eroica, many inventions made before 1987 are excluded, such as wheels with less than 32 spokes, or aero brake levers, or clipless pedals, or indexed shifters (OK technically there was indexed shifting before 1987. And those are fine. Run your Positron or Sturmey or Super Champion if you got it.)

Many other inventions made after 1987 are allowed. For example, there's no restriction on the number of cogs allowed in the rear cluster. Run your 11s with friction shifters if you want. There's no restriction on gearing. Ride your 1957 Bianchi CdM with a triple crank if that gets you over the hills without walking. There's no particular restriction on using derailleurs, shifters, brakes, etc. made since 1987, or if there is, it's not "enforced." (I've seen plenty of dual-pivot sidepulls that were not Altenburgers.)

Did I mention it's arbitrary? If you don't get the spirit of it, I wouldn't bother paying for it or traveling to it. No problem. Do your own thing.

Clipless pedals, indexing and aero brake levers were all on the market before 1987, but are not allowed.

I get the spirit, what becomes painful is actually dealing with the specifics. Where would I get cleated shoes in 9 wide? Why wouldn't I use an old 28 spoke front wheel that is from the only old fashioned wheelset I have?

Basically, some of the intended fun is spoiled by navigating the legalities.

Or Dura Ace.

I rarely bother looking for vintage bicycle rides, because I would need a time machine to go to them...

You might say "pain" or at least discomfort is the spirit of the event. Part of that can be about navigating the "legalities." Part of that is certainly doing the event on a bike that isn't what you might normally ride. Go with it, man, don't fight it.

That said, the only thing that isn't really up to modern snuff on my oldish bikes is the gearing and the brakes. (Well, and the weight, but whatever. It's not a race.) Those make it exciting going both up and down hill. But they are actually really comfortable to ride. I dare say more comfortable than a modern stiff bike.

What size bike do you ride? I've got one I could lend you if you're around my size. If you're not I've got plenty of wheels with a legal number of spokes. Don't sweat it.

Yeah, just turn the clickity off. You don't need that.

Bill and I did talk about this. While our local club does have clubs rides, we don't actually have vintage club rides. So I'm thinking about how to set such rides up, maybe one day a month meet at the Chehalis Western Trail, with a turn around at a coffee stand. I will keep watching for rides. A while ago attended a vintage ride with a group in Seattle, now I even have a vintage bike to bring and ride. Soon a couple vintage bikes as finishing up a 72 Nishiki Professional and starting on the Erba Hagiwara, decals finally came in.

On the Eroica there's a pretty wide exception if you ride the 40 mile loop, pretty much anything under the age of bike time limit is allowed, was going to ride my Nishiki Cresta, an 81/82, but conflicts take this ride off the list for this year, thus looking for additional riding opportunities. Nice wide 32cm tires, triple 46/36/26 chain ring with a 6 sp freewheel that goes to 34t and stout cantilever brakes (though they do squeal), the Cresta is a very comfortable ride.

Our local club doesn't have a vintage ride, but once a week, they have a casual ride, with a 15-16 mph average. Some of the same people who ride the latest carbon on the other rides will roll out their vintage bikes on Thursday.

Great trail. I'll be keeping an eye out for that one. That's only 90 miles from me.

Cool; we'll have to make this happen. We'll post something here eventually.

FYI - the Tour of the Unknown Coast in Humboldt Co, CA has a vintage category. I’ve never entered it but will give the century option a go this year on my vintage ride. A friend who has ridden it says the hills late in the route can be a challenge.