Biker Babe and Our Treck to Whittier

Stan Pitts sent me a picture of himself and his beautiful wife Tina on their last bicycle ride. He is attempting RAGBRAI next year after he works the bugs out of his current settup. You see they tend to jack-knife at high speed stops which could prove problematic during the crowed conditions of the RAGBRAI ride. So this is a project in the works for Stan and all of us here at cyclingpigs wish him the best of luck with his new bike or is that a trike….strike that, it must be a quike. We will call it Stan’s Quike which is the combination of quad and bike.

While Stan was figuring out his jack-knife problem on his Quike the rest of us enjoyed a leisurely ride down the bike path along the river and on to Whittier Narrows. Coffee and treats at the local coffee shop was very nice. We witnessed a near tragic burn when Darwin dropped his coffee all over the table and created a real eye-full. You never know what these bikers will pull next. The quick pace line back broke the group up a bit but it was nice to stretch out the legs a bit. We were all smelling the barn by the time we hit the Santa Anna Dam.

Back at the bike shop I dropped the Look off for a little work, saddle change and country knobby tires. The Look is now set up for long leisurely rides of RAGBRAI. The Selle Italia Strike Pro is one hell-of-a saddle. For the prices they charge it had better be. The big old knobby tires will just soak up the uneven pavement that we may run into so they will be a blessing. The racing bike looks totally garbaged now but will ride nice. Actually, I put some Michelin Pro Race 25 mm wides on. These tires have a slightly larger volume and can be run at slightly lower pressures. This combination will not give up too much in performance but really make the ride comfy. In another issue I will discuss all of the changes I have made to the Look in preparation for the RAGBRAI ride. It is now a different bike than a year ago when it was strictly a racer.