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Goodbye to Old Blue

I bid farewell to Old Blue, the Cannondale R300 bicycle that served as my steed from 1986 to 1996. I decided to let my 13-year-old nephew, Julius Parod, use Old Blue temporarily until he quits growing and gets his own bicycle. Julius has grown several inches in the past few months, and his old bike is way too small for him. Julius, along with his sister, Sereana, and his mother, Teresa, are joining me in August on the Shoreline West Tour in Michigan.

Old Blue was a good bike for its time. I bought it in December 1985 from The Cyclery in Edwardsville, Ill., just months after I completed my first weeklong trip, the BAMMI ride from Chicago to Edwardsville. Its technology -- the 12 speeds with shifters on the frame -- is well behind the times, but it will get Julius where he wants to go. He's a pretty strong rider for a 13-year-old, and I think he has the muscles to power the bike up those hills along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

I rarely used Old Blue in recent years, primarily as a backup to my current bike, a deep teal 1996 Cannondale R500 nicknamed The Stealth. (It earned that name because I had some exceptionally strong early rides in the spring of 1996 after I bought the bike.) Old Blue's last major trip was the 1995 edition of TRIRI, and its last big ride was the 1996 Hilly Hundred. Old Blue earned that trip because The Stealth was still in transit from the Grand Canyon to Mexico ride that year.

Old Blue provided many miles of enjoyment for me over the years. It's somewhat sad to see it leave my basement, but I know it will be in good hands with my nephew.

Goodbye, Old Blue. See you in August!

Roger 0 comments 11:59 PM

Monday, May 10, 2004

Just catching up

As you can see, it's been some time since I've posted something on this blog. The biggest thing that happened since the last post was the Tour de Stooges, and that has taken up a great deal of time before May 1 and the days thereafter.

We had about 180 people on the Tour de Stooges, about half of what I was hoping for, but not bad considering the weather conditions: some rain, temperatures in the 50s and a stiff, cold wind from the north. Most people who did go out enjoyed the ride. Some brave people actually did the Moe Metric, the 63-mile route. I heard lots of good comments about how the routes were marked.

The way we handled T-shirts this year left something to be desired, and we need to improve that for next year. We underestimated demand for the shirts, that created some problems for some of the people who ordered shirts. I apologize for those problems, and we will take steps to avoid that problem in 2005. The weather turned out to be a blessing of sorts, and prevented even more problems.

We had plenty of leftover food. Some of it will be used on future Gateway Council rides, but the perishable fruit had to be given away to some of my co-workers at the Belleville News-Democrat, the Salvation Army homeless shelter in Belleville and the Violence Prevention Center of Southwestern Illinois women's crisis center. At least it helped other folks!

Thank all of you who rode on the tour, and a big thanks goes out to our volunteers and the folks at McKendree College. We hope you come back next year!

Roger 0 comments 2:06 PM