How we used to ride

 I've been cycling since my early teens - let's call that the mid 1970's. I was thinking about the heavy five speed steel bikes with 36 spoke wheels, down-tube shifters, quill stems, seat post clamps, cotter-pins, and all that good stuff. But I especially thought about the lights we used to use. I found a picture of my first set of lights on the wonderful Sheldon Brown website.

The front light took a weird three volt battery that looks like two D-cells glued together. The rear light just took two D-cells.

For a poor English boy, Ever Ready was the only option available. My local Halfords didn't carry any fancy hardware. Those batteries only ran that weak light for five or six hours and they didn't recharge so they were good for two evening rides and they weren't cheap. Fortunately, in the deep English countryside it is so dark only one rider needs their lights on so David, Kevin, and I would save money by taking turns running our lights.

When I compare them to the Schmidt dynamo, Edelux front light, and Busch & Muller brake tail light that I currently use, supplemented by Cygolite front and rear rechargeable lights, it's amazing how far the technology has come. My lighting set in 1975 cost about $7 whereas my current lights cost a total of about $500 which would have bought quite a nice used car back then. Mind you, I save a lot on batteries now.

This web page says it all so much better than I can.

I had no computer, but I did save up and buy one of these mileage counters. You mounted it on the front dropout and a peg attached to a spoke would move the device one fifth of a turn every time the wheel rotated. The device assumed I had a 27" wheel and it had gearing to display the total distance travelled. I don't think it had a reset feature so I would have to memorize the distance at the start of the ride and subtract it. I stopped using it eventually because it was so hard to read while riding and I kept forgetting the starting distance anyway.

I don't remember ever wearing a helmet, either.

More beach riding - maybe a 200k in the near future

 I drove down to Yorba Linda park last Friday evening and rode from there to the beach and back starting at 6pm. It was 88F when I started which was pretty uncomfortable for me, but it cooled down quickly. For some reason, 80F at dusk is less oppressive than 80F in the middle of the day.

Ten miles from the beach I met up with a couple of strong young riders and we rode together at a pretty good pace down to the beach and back to Anaheim. We were riding a bit faster than I would normally ride solo and I knew I would pay for it the next day, but it was so worth it. At the end they asked me how old I am and when I told them they seemed pretty impressed. Made my day!

I rode 45 miles in 2:46 but it seemed much faster :-)

The next day Amber and I rode from Anaheim to Seal Beach and back. We were planning on riding Back Bay but the day turned out hotter than predicted, plus my legs were aching from last night. I haven't been to The Crema since the heat wave made it unpleasant to ride during the day, so that was nice. Although I love riding at night, there is one thing I miss about riding during the day.

It was 86F when we finished in Anaheim and I melted the last five miles. Nevertheless, it was a good weekend of riding.

I love night rides

 To commemorate 9-11 I drove down to Yorba Linda park and, starting at 6pm, rode to Seal Beach and back. When you've got good lights (and a pair of clear glasses) there's nothing like night riding to replenish your soul. Well, OK, there's probably lots of things, but I like night riding.

This heat wave seems to be tailing off and we're back to normal September temperatures, which is still hot but not deadly. The wind was predominantly from the North so I had to take it easy as  I rode into it on the beach path which was as crowded as you would expect on a nice Friday evening. Riding through an oblivious crowd of people is a great way to improve bike handling skills. As usual, there were cyclists with no lights and e-bikes going way to fast making us considerate cyclists look bad.

I had the chicken sandwich at Bistro St .Germain. You know how people like to take photographs of their food to send to their friends? I couldn't wait so I ate the food first, then took the photograph.

On the way back someone was letting off fireworks in the parking lot by the beach. Again, rather there than in tinder dry forest. I wish that chap in El Dorado park had had his gender reveal party at the beach.

I finished just before 11pm with 68 miles and feeling very happy.