She's Here, Along With Diss

Miss Mercian II arrived today.  I haven't had a chance to unpack her, as I've just gotten home from work.  And I'm not about to start assembling a bike while I'm in the skirt and blouse I'm wearing!


But, as you can imagine, I'm looking forward to it.  I opened the flap of the box and pulled away enough of the bubble wrap to see how elegant the frame is with its dark green paint and gold pinstriping and lettering.  I really think the brown grips, leather saddle and mudflap will complement it nicely.


Poor Marianela is giving up those parts.  Is a lady who sacrifices for another lady even more noble than the man who does the same?


What kind of a rhetorical question did I just ask?  Hey, this is a bike blog!  I never promised not to be self-indulgent.


The amazing thing is that Pete just dispatched the bike yesterday--in England.  In Suffolk, as a matter of fact.  Things take longer to get from Suffolk County, Long Island to my place than it took for the bike to come to me.  There is an ocean between me and Pete; there is only Nassau County between the New York City borough of Queens, where I live, and Suffolk County.  Then again, a plane or ship making the trip from Albion to America is less likely to get stuck in traffic than a truck on the Long Island Expressway (a.k.a. The World's Longest Parking Lot). 

In our exchanges of e-mails, Pete told me about the Diss Cycling Club, which is based in his area.  Its president owns the local shop, which has the earliest recorded Mercian sale.  In the shop, he also has a photo of himself sharing the podium with Beryl Burton, whom I mentioned in a previous post. 


I intend to read more about the club, and about British cycling clubs generally, as they seem to have an interesting history and culture.  


And now I'm up to my fourth Mercian.  That, in itself, is going to be interesting when I write my post(s) about all the bicycles I have owned--or all the ones I can remember, anyway!

Another Mercian On The Way

What do a Miss Mercian bike and Anthony Hopkins have in common?  

They're British.  And, soon, they'll both be residing in America.

Pete, from whom I bought the bike, sent me a tracking number.  He's checked out this blog and asked me, "Have you picked a name for her yet?"  I told him I'll name her once I customise her. 

 

I envision her as a sophisticated roadster/elegant commuter.  So, today I also ordered a pair of Tourist handlebars, which are patterned after North Road bars, from Velo Orange.  However, instead of ordering cork grips, as I originally planned, I decided to order a pair of Kraton rubber grips with a "basket weave" pattern.  I figure they'll go nicely with the Gyes Parkside saddle I'm going to take off Marianela.  And, I plan to install a pair of handlebar-mount shifters.    Finally, I might take Marianela's fenders, too:  They're the VO "Zeppelin" fenders, with a brown leather mudflap, which I think will look really nice on the Mercian.

Of course, Marianela will get the saddle and fenders that come with the Mercian.

This is going to be interesting, to say the least.  And lots of fun.

Childhood Summer Riding

Today was a good bit hotter than yesterday.  Yesterday's sky, as blue as the sea and clearer--as it always seems to be in those ideal memories of Childhood--turned hazier, as it often does when one tries to recall that blue expanse of yesteryear.  


The only riding I did today took me to and from work.  I was about a mile from work when Marianela's rear tube developed a slow leak.  I was just barely able to get to work, and before I rode home I had to fix it.  That, in the college where almost nobody else rides bikes.


But none of that took my mind off the riding I did over the weekend.  For some reason, I found myself thinking about a group of boys who rode in circles and did wheelies in the park at Point Lookout.  As it turns out, I had a photo of them:

Now tell me:  Does that look like someone's childhood memory of summer, or what?

Two Great Rides, And I Won!

I followed yesterday's wonderful ride with another today.  Arielle and I took one of our favorite jaunts: to Point Lookout, along the Atlantic coasts in the Rockways and Nassau County.  Along the way, we managed to avoid some of the crowds and the Tour de Queens.  I've no objection to the Tour; I simply didn't feel like riding with 1000 other people.

Besides, the ride along, and to, the water is sublime on a day like today.  It was just a bit warmer than I like, but at least there was practically no humidity.  The only downside to that, of course, is that even though I drank all of the water I brought with me, I made two stops besides Point Lookout so I could fill my bottle and for other beverages.

The tide was in at Point Lookout, so I kicked off my shoes.  The waves washed between my toes and left--seaweed.  I saw lots of it today.  And, for a moment, I wondered whether I should find some fisherman's net and harvest some of it.  Just as I think of making pesto whenever I see fresh basil, I now have visions of miso soup when I see seaweed!


Before I left on my ride, I was watching the auction for the Miss Mercian and just barely resisted a temptation to increase my bid.  Turns out, I didn't need that higher bid:  When I got home and checked, I found that I won the bike for exactly the amount of my highest bid.  The shipping is going to cost a bit more than I thought it would, but from what the seller and Fed Ex say, I should have the bike within a week of shipment (or dispatch, as the Brits like to call it.)


I've been thinking of how I'd like to set it up.  At the moment, I'm envisioning a nice, classy transport bike. I'll keep all of the components, as they're of good quality.  However, I will definitely replace the saddle.  I might take the Gyes Parkside off Marianela (sorry!), as it's like the  Brooks B67 and I really don't want to spend the money for, or break in, a new saddle.  Also, I have set up the Parkside for my "quick release" Carradice bag.  And I'm also thinking of installing either the Velo Orange Montmartre or North Road bar with cork grips.  But if I install those bars, I might want a wider saddle.  Perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself.  But I think you can understand why!

At The End Of Today's Limits

Well, the thunderstorms we had yesterday got rid of the heat and humidity--for a couple of hours this morning, anyway.   To be fair, although it turned into a warm, sticky day, it wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday.  Still, I overdressed:  After going to Parisi's for a couple of snacks to take on the ride, I changed from the tank top I'd been wearing, and intended to wear, on my ride for a heavier, three-quarter sleeve shirt.  At least the shirt is cotton, and kinda cute (or so I've been told).


Anyway, it felt good to get out earlier than I had been riding, and to ride with Lakythia.  She says that today I pushed her past an old limit of hers.  It was funny to hear that:  For a moment, I though of myself riding in a studded leather bustier.  Then again, I've never owned one of those, and finding one to fit me probably wouldn't be easy!


What she meant was that we went on a longer ride than any other she'd taken in a long while.  The funny thing is that I wouldn't have known that unless she'd told me:  She was tired, but so was I.  It was the kind of day that would have tired out just about anybody who was riding five or more hours and wasn't a Cat III racer.


I do have one excuse for being tired:  I rode in a fixed gear.  I don't mean to blame the bike;  Tosca, when I pedal her, just wants to keep on going.  But I simply didn't have the option of shifting gears, which I would have liked later in the ride.  When you can't shift gears, even ascending a ramp to a bridge walkway can seem like a real climb.


I find that it's always late in a ride of two hours or more (depending on the season and my condition) that I notice the difference between the way my bikes feel.  Arielle and Helene remain comfortable and, like Tosca, just want to keep on going.  


However, I feel that of all of my bikes, Arielle can "carry" me the most at the end of a ride:  I can just find a comfortable gear and she'll get me home.  Plus, the drop bars allow me to find a position that's comfortable.  Paradoxically, sometimes I want to ride in the "drops" when I'm tired, because the efficiency of the position helps the bike to maximize whatever energy I still have left.  Of course, I can also do that on Tosca, but I can't shift to a lower gear.  On the other hand, on Helene, riding on the forward position of the Porteur bars isn't as efficient as riding on drops.  Then again, if I want to, I can ride upright on Helene, which I can't do on Arielle or Tosca.


Of course, I didn't explain all of this to Lakythia, mainly because I wasn't thinking about it while we were riding.  However, if she wants to know more about such things, or turn into a gearhead, I can help her with that, too.  For now, I'm content to have found someone else with whom I enjoy riding.