Bikes and biking! I love bikes! I love working on them and riding them and looking
at them! My first bike was a blue huffy and after that I got a Dyno VFX(?) BMX bike
that was black with lime green decals. So cool! Biking around Beardstown was a staple
of my childhood. When I moved to Chicago for college I was enamoured with the biking
culture in the city. I dug my dad's old bike frame from my gram's basement and "converted"
it to a single speed. This sparked my love of working on bikes! Since then I have
built up and repaired many!
Here are some of my bikes! Look! Look!
August 19th, 2026
8.72mi - 1980s Raleigh Grand Prix
I got this bike from my Dad! I remember being amazed at how skinny the tires were and how high the seat was when I was a kid.
The only bikes I saw in Beardstown were BMX bikes, Dyno VFR here!!, and the occasional "mountain" bike. When I got tall
enough, me and Weston used to time each other riding around the block. I can still feel the rush I got while riding it the first
time. So wobbly and high in the air! The steering was very touchy and the ride was much faster than my heavy bmx bike. This was
2004 about. My dad kept the bike until I got to college and I converted it to fixed gear. I had a monster ratio of 52/16 and I knew
nothing about it. I rode that bike fixed for a solid 8 years straight before I flipped the wheel over to single speed free. I
promptly flipped it back as it felt BROKEN! These days I have it set up with 9 in the back and 2 very similar rings in the front.
I stretched (cold set, thank you sheldon brown!) the frame from its 126mm to 130mm in
order to fit this pair of Velocity Dyads with a 9 speed cassette. I have microshift thumbies on these WIDE handlebars
(getaround bars) I also put a new front fork on, in order to attach the
front rack. The conversion led me to a cantilever brake for the front and the stock sidepull style brake on the back. Typically
you would want a different pull ratio for cantis and side pulls, but these cantis work with these beefy suntour levers from the 80s!
This bike is one of my heaviest weighing in at 36lbs.
The wheelset has a generator hub built into it that has not been used to generate any power yet.. Woops! I just need wire for my
tail light! Not a fast bike, the way it is built up, but very comfortable and capable ride! I have a surprisingly small amount
of photos of this bike so here is one from the other day and one from a couple years back (2022!), curtousy of Sean!
Take a gander at this beautiful vintage frame in graphite gray with gold accents!
August 16th, 2026
9mi - Mercier Kilo TT - fixed
I have been riding this route the past couple weeks. I am looking for a 10 mile loop but 9 will have to do for now.
The Kilo is my lightest and most simple bike. 20.5lbs! Complete with a front brake and a bell. The 23 width tires are a bit of
a problem with pinch flats but DAMN do they roll fast. This ride was about 45 minutes which is pretty typical timing for
me. I usually average about 5 minutes per mile in the city when I am just cruising. Which is all the time! What is the rush!?
Check out this beautiful green bike and the gorgeous city skyline on Lake Michigan!
