photogravity

As many here on the forums know, I'm one of the more recent additions to the known regulars here on the forums. I was thrust into the C&V bicycle by virtue of one bike in particular: my 1972ish Peugeot PX-8. The bicycle had been sitting in a friend's barn for many years when I spotted it and "rescued" it from obscurity. Little did I know that this little project would throw me into the cauldron of bicycle collecting. Fast forward about a year or so...

On a ride in January with rhm, TimmyT and iluvnoise, I am riding my Peugeot for a section of their longer century ride. During one of the breaks, rhm mentions that he has a bike that I would really like a lot. I'm intrigued enough that I ask a few questions and make a mental note to check out the thread on the bicycle here on the forums. Just a little over a month later, I have managed to talk rhm into "loaning" me the bicycle to see if it might be of interest. That bike, as it turns out, is now my 1950 Norman Rapide - a bike that is so special that it is hard to even put it into words. This bike can't be appreciated unless you see it in the flesh, throw a leg over it and take it for an extended ride.

Here are some of my personal achievements so far this year and there's still a little bit left to go.

• I have ridden a total of 1567 miles.
• The Norman Rapide has clocked 557 miles.
• The Bilenky 650B Constructeur tandem has clocked 345 miles.
• I now have 3,000 posts here on the forums.

So here's to a year of great personal achievement, with hopes of many more as the year progresses. This is also a good time to pass on my thanks to those that have been sources of inspiration and useful information to me here on the forums. There are too many to put in this post, but you know who you are.

Now I've enumerated some of my modest accomplishments, I'd love to hear of achievements some of the other folks here on the forums have had recently. C'mon guys, it's time for a big C&V group hug!


P1010510 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


A Day At The Farm - 4 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr


Bilenky 650B Constructeur Tandem - First Ride - 19 by Sallad Rialb, on Flickr

Kobe 

I don't have anything that compares to the Norman. Well done sir!

puchfinnland

I would love to go for a ride with you in December or maybe even november, I hope to have my Cardinelli back to roadworthy condition after Jirvine helps me out.
I being in Finland want to ride my Bike that I built when I was 13, John is going to pick up my bike and we can go through it on the forum,
I know it needs a few small parts and I hope to bring them with me or buy them and have them waiting for me.

looking forward to ride with friends.
Anybody else in the Maryland area want to join me and Jirvine on a good ride in the countryside?

RaleighSport

Wait.. who are you again? Nah, it's been a great year for you indeed and I can't wait to see what you have coming up.

-holiday76

MmmmmMmmm, bikes.

Velognome 

I got nothin' but your bikes are beautiful!

photogravity

Thanks, KOBE. It's a one of a kind bike, that is for sure!

photogravity

It is within the realm of possibility that we'll be able to meet up in December. We should try to work out a nice ride that covers a nice swath of Northern Baltimore County, since that's where the nicest riding would be.

photogravity

My name is photogravity and I'm a bike-a-holic. It's been one of my better years, that's for sure, and while my mileage is miniscule to some of the real riding beasts on this forum like rhm, noglider, RobbieTunes, northbend and scozim, I'm pretty happy with my progress. I have a lot of winter projects to work on, one of which arrived just this week.

non-fixie 

I'm not really into counting achievements, and certainly not into group hugs, but I enjoy this forum very much, and I do appreciate your contributions. So there.

fender1

Nice year & congrats! Next up: carbon fiber IGH bike and skin tight lycra riding clothes?

puchfinnland

yep, i remember going out with my friend on saturdays, starting in Towson, and going through prettyboy reservoir and then heading east and coming through loch raven.

On our best trip we went to DC, and the other was gettysberg for the night and back the next day.
we were under 15 years old...

photogravity

Indeed!

Hey Velognome, remember our ride back in May? Remember how I walked up a lot of hills? Remember how I would nearly cry when I saw a hill off in the distance? That man is gone! I'm not saying I'm a good climber, but I am saying that I can ride a bike up a hill which is something I couldn't do earlier this year. I can even do it on the Norman which affords me only 4 gearing options!

noglider 

photogravity, I haven't been clocking my miles. I suspect I've ridden less than you this year. I do feel that I'm stronger this year than any other year. I've had a lot of fun riding with you and many others. And I've seen you gain a lot of skill and strength, too. Good stuff.

repechage

I think you need another Winter Project, You should purchase Drilliumdude's Masi Special.

bigwooly

I've not been back in the saddle for a whole year yet but in the 4 months i've been back riding i've ridden 267 total miles in that time.

I've participated in my 1st local group ride. I'm going back for my second tomorrow morning.

Having never owned a bike that fits i'm now up to 2 that are mine and rideable
1986 Schwinn Sprint


1984 Trek 660


I have a 2000 GT Avalanche frame that is in the process of being built up for riding the Muddy Spokes Club with a small group of friends that i've personally gotten all of them back riding regularly

I've gone from not knowing anything about bicycle maintainence and repair to being able to tear one down to bare frame and rebuild it. Thanks SOPO.

There are now a total of 14 friends and aquantainces who have started riding because they said they were inspired by my riding(and weight loss). One of these is my Father who is now riding almost 14 miles a day he's freshly retired 62 years old and absolutely loves riding.Gave him a 1974 Schwinn Continental which he has told me i can't have back because he's keeping it.

I'm officially half way to my weight loss goal of losing 85 lbs all from just riding my bike and cutting out soda in my life.

Also some of the people that i've gotten back into riding have already gotten others back in the saddle as well.

pastorbobnlnh 

Hooked up with C&Vers in FL in March and May.

In June I almost rode a century for the first time (93 miles) and during the ride hit a 1000 miles YTD.

In July I met up with a bunch C&Vers in NY and went on a great group ride.

Tomorrow, if all goes well, I'll reach 1800 miles, 50 short of my 2011 total (hope to hit 2400 by Dec 31).

Wrenched lots of bikes, worked on dozens of freewheels, but haven't reached my 8000th post yet.

In October I've been on C&V for 7 years. Do I have the itch?

Chrome Molly

Got back into the kind of riding shape I was in during my 20's (thanks to lots of climbing). Capped off a 3000 mile season during August at the DD. Did the 150k on about no sleep, and felt like I could have handled the 200k (with a few more PB&J sandwiches at the rest stops).

Picked up some nice rides (Miyata 1000, Gitane TDF), improved upon some of my others, and sold off other bikes at small profits. Got myself placed on Dave Anderson's list for a custom frame (for next year) and that has cooled the N+1 fever down to a real short list. Figured out the best saddle for me on long rides, and that really helps.

I have some winter projects teed up. And, there's at least two months of riding left.

My roller-skiing has suffered though...

4Rings6Stars

My bicycle achievements have been lacking this year (largely do to other achievements) but I:

Sold all my old 'flip stock' junkers and officially quit flipping bikes.
Bought my first custom American bike and first tandem (same bike).
Did my first self supported, multi-day ride. Hope to do some real touring some day...
Also graduated undergrad, then grad school, then got engaged, then got a big boy job.

gomango

Nice achievement PG!

You are certainly one of my favorites.

Keep up the great work!

I rode a bunch of neat bicycles this year.

Kept some, sold some.

Healed from a god awful bicycle accident and have been pouring on the miles ever since April.

jimmuller 

Photogravity, well done! You and Rachel are rolling along nicely on the Bilenky, and you're putting up some great accomplishment stuff in the bargain.

Since you asked:

This year, actually since last October, Sharon and I have ridden our tandem over 2000 miles, with a longest distance of 72 miles. Special satisfaction was from getting Sharon back on the road.

I rode my first century, an unsupported solo run on the Masi.

I haven't commuted as much as the 1000 miles last year, probably only about 600 miles, largely because of weather and work requirements.

My meager bike collection grew from 2 plus tandem to 5 plus tandem, the new additions being a rebuilt Bianchi, a rescued from near death Masi, and a rebuilt Bertin. None on the bikes was a true restoration but they are reasonably period- or culture-appropriate. The new bike colors are black, red, and orange.

I've lost between 5 and 10 pounds.

I climbed Cadillac Mountain again, always a personal treat.

We did our first bike tour on the tandem, a simple 1-night trip with BF member berner.

We had some great rides with BF member photogravity and Rachel!

anixi

Mine: got up to 15.5mph average speed on a hilly 10 mile course, 42.5mph fastest speed ever on two wheels. That's about it since recovering from major back surgery on April 9 of this year. Tough year!

gaucho777 

After basically abandoning the sport for two decades, I restored my teenage race bike:



And I found a diamond in the rough:

northbend 

PG, Kinda sneaky how your fitness improves all while you've just been out having fun this summer? Congratulations.

Bigwooly, great story man. Keep it up!

I'll do the selfreflection later at the end of the year. I still have have one more bucket list item to check off this December

photogravity

Non-fixie, I am thankful for what you bring to the forums also. It's ok if you don't want to keep track of personal achievement or engage in a group hug.