TandemHearts

This past weekend, Rivendell Bike Works hosted their third, not quite annual, gathering for owners and enthusiasts. We met on Saturday morning at RBW World Headquarters for some snacks and socializing. The highlight for me was being introduced to the delicacy known as “breakfast pizza”. I never heard of such a thing in the past, but I’m a convert. Gone are the days of left over, cold pizza for breakfast. Now I’m on a quest for pizza meant to be “the most important meal of the day”.

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In August I decided it was time I built up a light double-century event bike. This urge to keep doing these crazy rides has not gone away. In fact it�s growing as I have decided to try an entire Brevet Series � including Paris-Brest-Paris in August. The shortest of these rides is 120 miles, while PBP is 720 miles. The short rides are single day rides, but PBP is a 4 day event.

It took me a long time to decide that I wanted to spend the money this way. Mostly I wanted to make sure that this wasn’t a passing whim. When I asked Thom if he thought I was as committed to riding as he was to playing the piano and I got the d’uh of course look. I knew it was time.

So what did I get?

A Legolas from Rivendell and it sure is gorgeous!

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While I was in Australia (someday I’ll get the photos up), a 7 year old slammed into my bicycle and damaged the frame. I replaced it when I got home with another Rivendell Rambouillet. It took a while to get it set up just the way I wanted for commuting. I splurged for a very nice Berthoud bike bag and left the fenders their native silver.

The photo links to the gallery.

From time to time, Rivendell Bicycle Works hosts a camping weekend. Curt, who builds all the custom Rivendells, gave a demonstration on how he brazes a frame. Then we pedalled up Mt. Diablo for some camping. Saturday was very cool, with the summit fogged in. The sky cleared and around midnight the winds came roaring through. At one point, so many leaves were falling on the tent that I thought it was raining. It didn’t rain, but it did howl. One tent suffered some damage, but none of us blew away. On Sunday morning, 3 or 4 groups went off to ride various trails. We rode to the summit, with a nasty 30 mph head wind at times. The day was much warmer than Saturday and we all enjoyed an easy ride back to Rivendell after lunch. Follow the image to a galery of photos.

We ride Rivendell Bicycles. Rivendells are designed and built on the idea that bicycles should be practical, reliable, comfortable and attractive. Rivendell bikes are built out of steel, using lugs. This is an expensive process, but it is what they believe in. Since most bicyclists are not racing, riding a bike designed for racers doesn’t make a lot of sense. Rivendell World Headquarters are at the base of Mt Diablo, so when Rivendell organized a weekend of camping and biking, we were there.

On Saturday morning, Curt, who builds their custom frames, gave a demo on brazing some lugs. After, I took a few photos of a completed frame that was ready for paint. All imgees like to one of the two galleries.

After the demo, we rode up Mt Diablo for some camping. The next day there were paragliders launching from near the camp site, so we snapped a few picts.