A Different Kind of Cycling
 

Last weekend was my 6th Lake Pepin 3 Speed Tour, where a bunch of AARP members play dress up and pretend we are bicycling in pre-WWII Great Britain. The fact that we ride 85 miles around the perimeter of Lake Pepin on decades old 40lb bicycles is secondary. So, here we go.

Transport to Wabasha, MN. My Wrangler with my 1968 Raleigh Superbe on the front bumper. Chez Cheesy Lite in the background.
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Getting the Raleigh ready to roll.
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Nutters (what we call ourselves) starting to arrive. By the time we roll, we are 120 strong.
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Dr. Garth Katners' Steel Bitch II.
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I have a history with this 1954 Robin Hood. I first bought this bike at flea market twenty-some years ago for $15. I rebuilt it and rode it for several years. I sold it to my brother in law who rode it for a number of years before he gave it back. It hung from my rafters for several more years. A new bike shop opened in town and was looking for an old bike for the shop window, so there it ended up for a few years. When the shop moved to a new location, it came back to me again. This is where Dr. Garth comes in. Garths' apartment was broken into and among other things, his beloved 1950 Robin Hood was stolen. When I heard about the loss of his bike, I offered up this bike to him, gratis. He totally rehabbed the bike, red powder coat, aluminum rims, mustache bars; the whole nine yards. Not too shabby looking.

More Nutters. About this time, the worlds' rotation begins too wobble a bit because of the concentration of weight in one place.
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The 3 Speed Scepter, US version
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The 3 Speed Scepter, Canadian version.
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No accounting for taste.
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And, under threatening skies, we are off.
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Six miles to the first stop. Hereafter, every turn of the pedals is the farthest I've ridden all year. Do I have a cheese fetish?
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The oldest bike on the tour, a 1915 Raleigh Cross frame.
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A well-worn Triumph
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At one of the many overlooks on the WI side of Lake Pepin. The small bike in the center is a folding Raleigh Twenty. An evil little machine that can be civilized with massive amounts of cash.
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The long, lonesome highway. WI 35 aka The Great River Road.
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Rolling into Stockholm, WI. Population 66. I think that's only Monday through Friday.
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Barge Traffic. Finally. The drought we had the last couple of years almost killed them.
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Panda shot of cheesys' left hand.
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Bald Eagle. Best I do with a cell phone.
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Heading into Wabasha, MN at the Mississippi Bridge.
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Noel Robinson. One of coolest guys I know. Can do an English Major version of a George Carlin bit, never utter a swear, and still have you rolling in the aisle.
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Sunday Morning. More threatening skies. They cleared by the time we hit the road.
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Breakfast at the Eagles' Nest Cafe. We attract a wide variety of riders.
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A wider variety. The acid flashback on the left, the only real Brit on the ride in the center, and Steve.
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With a 45 year old bike, on the road repairs are the rule rather than the exception. BTW, the open end wrenches(spanners) are Whitworth.
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At the 'Brew-Up' in Lake City, MN. Apparently, the birthplace of water skiing. A nice break during the ride.
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An 'Afternoon Tea', if you will. Some folks (me) go for simple; a small antique stove and kettle for a cuppa with some cookies or small sandwich. Others go for quite a spread.

My spread. The second kettle belongs to the gent in the previous pic. He packed up all his cooking gear and left his alcohol burner(Trangia) on his kitchen table.
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Our token Brit, Alan, firing up his Kelly Kettle. A neat little stove that uses biomass(wood)for fuel.
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Last pic. Jon, on the left, is the founder of the Lake Pepin 3 Speed Tour. Mike, on the right, lives a short distance from me. Mike is using an 80s Coleman 400 to heat up his water. Knowing Jon, there's a good chance that's a very good single malt in his cup, not tea.
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Last pic, because it got so hot during the last 15 miles of the ride, that my phones' camera quit on me. Suffice it to say, I finished the ride. Rough part was that I did that last 15 miles with no food or water in the heat and high humidity. The water at my usual refill spot was deemed non-potable by the recent flooding and I missed my usual cheeseburger and fries by turning right instead of left. That right turn, though, put me in some beautiful scenery on some lightly traveled gravel roads. Even with the diversion, I made it back to Red Wing, MN before the severe storms moved in.
I loaded up the Jeep and hit an Italian restaurant in town, where I downed a pitcher of ice water and a meal of fish and chips. After lunch, I drove back to Wabasha and got in my trailer as the storms hit. Although the trailer stays much drier than a tent, the trailer bounces around a lot in the wind and is much noisier in the rain.

Looking forward to next year. Might be towing the grandson in a trailer.

Extra points to the The 3 Speed Scepter, Canadian version for using a CCM sprocket. Which single malt did you warm up with this year?

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Figured you'd catch that.:tup:

Jeff, the older gent on the right, does an annual (tongue in check) Greeting from HRH Queen Elizabeth, which is always a hoot. Jeff is also a 70+ TT record holder. He kicked my butt.

As far as my single malt this year, anoNoc(that's how it's spelled. pronounced 'anok'. Laphroig without the smoke and a bit sweeter. good stuff)

You have my full attention.

Thanks for posting the great ride report, Cheesy! :D I noted the Harbor Freight Heavy Duty Chain Breaker in your tool kit. ;)

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Ding ding ding ding.

Yes, it WAS a HF chain breaker. It has been converted into a cotter pin press for the cottered cranks on old bicycles. Beats using a hammer and swearing a lot or the $150 cotter presses.

Your inventiveness and frugality mark you as a true China Rider, Cheesy. :) We are very happy to have your kindred spirit among us. :tup:

I really enjoyed this picture thread especially. Thank you!

I am a long time bicyclist, and I still enjoy my bicycle. A long time ago I used to compete and do long distance tours.

At one point I had an old 3 Speed Raleigh, in BRG, IIRC.

As I also like old motorcycles, I think I would enjoy an old bicycle as well. I liked the old Schwinn Collegete I rode around Orcas Island a couple of weeks ago.

Your bike looks great. I like the plate as well :-)

Thanks, Doc.

I used to do 24hr TT's in the 80s and hung up long distance touring after completing Paris-Brest-Paris in 1991. P-B-P's 1200km in 90hr gives a new meaning to PITA.

There are five Brit bikes, two Japanese bikes, two French bikes, one American bike and one American/German/French/Japanese bike in my garage. I could have bought five used CXs for what I paid for that last one.

OMG I had no idea!

Back in the day I could tour up to 500-750 miles over a week or so, more or less. We did a round trip NJ to VA when I was about 17 and then I was hooked.

My biggest ride was Fairbanks to Anchorage. There's a mountain range in between....

I raced in college and a little competition when I was at Stanford. This was all in a different life.

I'd kind of enjoy tooling around on an old Raleigh 3 Speed :-)

The only bike I have now is a 12 year old or so Raleigh full suspension mountain bike with hydraulic disc brakes, more of a downhill bike than anything else. It's a good bike but much heavier than what I need.

Way back in those days I used to ride* with 'Marathon' Lon Haldamen. I had a resting pulse in the low thirties.


*When I say ride, I started off with him but was dropped within a mile. And I'd be doing 24mph.:shrug:

Nice pictures. Definitely looks like an unusual funny bunch together. Looks like fun though, and lots of interesting things must have been said.

Thanks. One of the few cycling events I look forward to anymore.