Tag Archives: Bicycle

How Many Road Bikes Do You Own?

Posted on March 20, 2024 by alchemyrider

I subscribe to a weekly e-newsletter from Road Bike Rider. Each issue closes with a Question of the Week. These were the options for a recent poll:

Just my one road bike
2 road bikes
3 road bikes
4 road bikes
5 or more road bikes because you can never have too many

This is the result of that poll:

I am among the 26.81% of 1,854 respondents who own three road bikes. Over 85% own more than one road bike. Perhaps not surprising given that the respondents are readers of a cycling publication.

How did I come to own three bicycles?

I bought my first road bike in 2010. My steel Alchemy.

By 2011 I was living in The Netherlands, riding a lot, and wanting a frame that was stiffer than my steel frame. Alchemy built a titanium + carbon bike for me. These two bikes came home with me to Kuala Lumpur in 2012.

In 2013, I made plans to ride the BP MS150 and the TD 5 Boro Bike Tour in Texas and New York, respectively. I needed a bike that was easy to travel with. I bought a Ti Ritchey Break-Away.

I made another trip to the US in 2015 for a cycling vacation. Alchemy Bicycle Company had by then relocated from Austin, Texas, to Golden, Colorado. My cycling vacation was based 40 km away from Golden, in Boulder. Convenient, as I could order another bike from Alchemy, pick it up when I arrived and ride it on my Cognoscenti adventure. That would be much more fun than travelling with my Break-Away.

To make room for my new Alchemy Eros, I sold my two other Alchemy bikes. The steel bike went to a friend in KL, and the Ti bike went to a colleague who took it with him when he returned to Canada.

I bought the steel bike back in 2019. The friend I sold it to only rode it a few times in five years. After a conversation with my Biker Chick, we agreed that I should buy it back for sentimental reasons if nothing else.

I ride all three bikes. To get a view of use over the bicycles’ lifetimes, I dug into my Strava data, and this is the result:

The graph shows the three road bikes I own now and the Ti bike I sold in 2015.

The Eros is by far the bike I ride the most. It is the one that is most comfortable for any ride longer than 50 kilometres.

That historical 1:1 ratio of the number of rides on the Eros versus the total number of rides on the steel and Break-Away bikes holds today. So far in 2024, I have ridden the Eros sixteen times and the steel bike and the Break-Away a combined total of seventeen times. I do enjoy alternating between them all.

There is an old joke among cyclists. Ask the question, “How many bikes do you need?” and the answer is, “Well, if N is the number of bikes you have, N+1 is the number of bikes you need.”

I don’t need three bicycles, let alone four or more. I can do without the Break-Away. The last time I packed that bike into its case for travel was in 2018. Despite its sentimental value, I could part with the steel bike.

I do like the three bikes that I own, though. I will keep them for as long as I can.

Build an Ark – Or Read Some More

Posted on June 14, 2013 by alchemyrider

Some of of my cycling books are about epic rides. Tim Moore’s book about riding the 2000 Tour de France route for example (see Still Too Wet to Ride?)

Closer to home, Sandra Loh circumnavigated Peninsular Malaysia, together with Mak Shiau Meng, in 2009. I have a signed copy of Loh’s “Pedalling Around the Peninsula: A Malaysian Girl’s Two-Wheeled Adventures.” Perhaps the most amazing statistic is that she cycled 2,664 km / 1,655mi without a single flat tire.

Mark Beaumont took a somewhat longer ride. And he did it alone. He cycled 29,446km / 18,297mi to circumnavigate the globe in 194 days in 2008. That was a world record at the time. Achieving it required cycling an average of 160km / 100mi per day, no matter the weather, the terrain or his physical condition. He did have a few flats along the way, as recounted in “The Man Who Cycled the World.”

The most tragic ride story is told by David Herlihy in “The Lost Cyclist: The Epic Tale Of An American Adventurer And His Mysterious Disappearance“. This is also a story of a man attempting to circumnavigate the globe by bicycle, but in a very different age to Beaumont’s. Frank Lenz started his ride in 1892, on the then innovative safety bicycle, complete with new-fangled pneumatic tires. Lenz makes it most of the way around the world before disappearing in eastern Turkey.

Now onto the books that don’t fall neatly in one classification or another. Like “Bicycle Love: Stories of Passion, Joy, and Sweat” edited by Garth Battista. A compilation of 60 or so essays on the many varieties of bicycle love.

Another compilation of improbable, silly, crazy and absurd, but all true stories is in “Cycling’s 50 Craziest Stories.” It is written by Les Woodland, a doyen of British cycling authors with eighteen books on the subject to his name.

The tell-all book that shook the sport in 2012 was “The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups and Winning at All Costs” by Tyler Hamilton and his co-author Daniel Coyle. This book came out as the Lance Armstrong story was coming to a head. It talks about all the significant doping scandals of the past 15 years with a level of detail not seen before. The sport of professional cycling will never be the same.

A book that doesn’t talk about doping but is otherwise an all-one handbook of cycling is “The Complete Bike Book” by Chris Sidwells. He writes about the history of the bicycle, the essentials of riding, choosing the right equipment and clothing, riding technique, and bike maintenance. There is something here for beginner and experienced cyclist alike.

At the other end of the spectrum is a book that does just one thing, and does it very well. The “Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair” by Park Tool. Park Tool makes bike tools, so the company knows a thing or two about bicycle maintenance and repair. This was the recommended text at the bicycle maintenance course I took. Enough said.

This next item is on the left side of the shelf and sticks up above all the other books. It is not a book in the traditional sense. I had to look up what a leporello book is. “Bicycle,” created for the London 2012 Olympics, is Ugo Gattoni‘s vision of a madcap bicycle race through the streets of London.

The last book in my collection is also a picture book. Graham Watson is a renowned cycling photographer. Organized by season, this book takes readers around the globe, from the Australian championships to the Tour de France, always showing the peloton against a backdrop of exquisite, compelling scenery.

Just the thing for a rainy day.

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Posted in Cycling in Malaysia and tagged Bicycle, Books, Cycling, Maintenance, Round the World, Short stories. Bookmark the permalink.

Still Too Wet to Ride?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by alchemyrider

Yesterday I listed the biographies and autobiographies in my collection of cycling books (see Too Wet to Ride?).

Today I will start with a memoir and a more general review of the cycling stars from the golden age of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Tim Hilton wrote “One More Kilometre and We’re in the Showers.” Hilton’s breadth of knowledge and interest is evident in this scrapbook of cycling lore.

Tony Hewson of “In Pursuit of Stardom” fame wrote another book about the era of UK cycling in the aftermath of World War II. “A Racing Cyclist’s Worst Nightmare: And Other Stories of the Golden Age” is a collection of short stories written in a variety of genres: autobiography, biography, discourse and fiction.

Now onto books about major races. They don’t come any bigger than the Tour de France. There are countless books about the Tour. I have “Blazing Saddles: The Cruel and Unusual History of the Tour de France.” Matt Rendell complements his vivid storytelling, sometimes of the unsporting and unsavoury underbelly of the Tour, with more than 100 classic black-and-white photographs.

Ned Boulting spent eight years covering the Tour for ITV. “How I Won the Yellow Jumper” chronicles his journey from being dropped into the roving reporter role, despite having no knowledge of cycle racing, through to becoming the Tour commentating equal of the likes of Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen.

Bill Strickland co-wrote “We Might As Well Win” with Johan Bruyneel in 2008. Bruyneel built an enviable reputation as a Director Sportif, winning thirteen Grand Tour championships in eleven years. This book is about how Bruyneel, his teams, and his star riders Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador, dominated the Tour from 1999 to 2010. My biker chick was a fan of Bruyneel’s, at least until he fell from grace after the USADA formally charged him with administering a long-running doping program. To this day she says that he broke her heart.

My favorite history of La Grande Boucle is “The Official Treasures of Le Tour de France” by Serge Laget and Luke Edwards-Evans. This is a compendium of historical tidbits, 275 archive photographs and 40 removable facsimiles of posters, postcards and other Tour memorabilia. You will love this book if you are the type who pushes all the buttons on science museum displays.

There are books about particular editions of the Tour. Like “Tour De Lance.” Bill Strickland had unprecedented access to Lance Armstrong as he attempted an audacious comeback to win the 2009 Tour. With his main rival Alberto Contador for a team mate no less. This is another book that I need to reread now that Armstrong is no longer a winner of seven Tours de France.

Tim Moore is a British travel writer who rode the entire route of the 2000 Tour. “French Revolutions: Cycling the Tour de France” is his irreverent diary of that trip, as well as an homage to bike racing.

I have only one book about the Giro d’Italia. Herbie Sykes‘ second cycling history book, “Maglia Rosa: Triumph and Tragedy at the Giro d’Italia.” This does not read like a history book though. Sykes presents a collection of stories together with 150 images to create his tale of the Giro.

The Giro is central to Italian cycling. It gets a big mention in this book about the history and impact of cycling in Italy. “Pedalare! Pedalare! A History of Italian Cycling” by John Foot. Foot is a Professor of Modern Italian History at University College London. He has written extensively about Italian history, including three books on Italian soccer. He brings with him a historian’s eye rather than a sportswriter’s take on cycling in Italy.

I need to add a book about the third of the Grand Tours, the Vuelta a España, to my collection. Actually there are many books that I want to add to my collection. Where is that Kindle?

I have books about riders. I have books about races Naturally I have books about bicycles. Or more properly in this case, a book about a show about bicycles.

“Bespoke: The Handbuilt Bicycle” is the catalog produced by Lars Müller Publishers for the NYC Museum of Art and Design exhibition of the same name. An exhibition of the work of six internationally renowned bicycle builders.

Robert Penn takes a slightly different approach to building a bicycle. “It’s All About the Bike: The Pursuit of Happiness on Two Wheels” is about his quest to put together the perfect bike. He takes his readers on a journey around the world visiting the factories and workshops where the parts for his custom bike are made.

That man William Fotheringham pops up again. This time as the author of “Cyclopedia: It’s All About the Bike.” An encylopedia-like collection of everything Fotheringham has learned whilst reporting on professional cycling for the past 30 years. Something you can read from A to Z, or just dip into at random.

A true history of the bicycle is what David Herlihy produced. “Bicycle: The History” may sound like an overly-confident title, but this book lives up to it. It is the definitive history of the bicycle.

The last book on my shelf about bicycles themselves is by Guy Andrews. Andrews is the founder and co-owner of Rouleur, a bi-monthly British cycling magazine. Rouleur is noted for its design and its photography. So no surprise then that Guy Andrews’ book “The Custom Road Bike” is also beautifully designed and is full of lovely photographs. Photographs of the very best bicycle components. You will drool over this book so much that you might as well have gone out in the rain.

Old Roots, New Routes

Tag Archives: Bicycle

How Many Road Bikes Do You Own?

Build an Ark – Or Read Some More

Still Too Wet to Ride?

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