Organized Rides in New York - 2012

Charity Rides:
Tour de Cure (Buffalo June 2, NYC June 3, Various Dates)
Ride for Roswell - June 23

Multi-Day Tours: 
Great Finger Lakes Bicycle Tour June 8-10
Cycling the Erie Canal Bike Tour July 8-15
Bon Ton Roulet (Finger Lakes) July 22-28
The Great Big FANY Ride - July 22-28
Great Hudson Valley Pedal - July 31 - August 5

Day Rides:
5 Boro Bike Tour - May 6
Ride to Montauk - June 16
Discover Hudson Valley - June 24
Can Am Century - August 5
Ididaride - August 12

More Resources:
Bikeride.com


And many more.

Nice bikes you should consider

There are so many great bicycles to choose from these days!

I haven't ridden most of these, but they seem to have the criteria I look for in a bike: steel frame, the ability to run fairly wide tires with fenders, drop bars (for multiple hand positions and ducking headwinds) and a good reputation. I don't know about rack and fender braze-ons for all of these (some are lacking I'm sure). They're bikes suitable for the way I ride - commuting, recreational, and light touring (although there are some full-blown touring bikes listed -- perhaps less suitable for recreational riding unless you prefer a heavier duty bike).

Before you buy a bike test ride it, get it sized properly, and get one that will fit the tires width you want, and fit fenders and racks.

In no particular order:

Light Touring/Commuting/Recreational:
Jamis Aurora and Aurora Elite
Salsa Casseroll
Raleigh Port Townsend
Bianchi Volpe
Fuji Touring
Novara Randonee
Soma Smoothie ES, Buena Vista, San Marcos,
Rivendell A. Homer Hilson, Betty Foy, Sam Hillborne *


Heavy Touring (and some Cyclocross):
Surly LHT (Long Haul Trucker)
Kona Sutra
Trek 520
Co-Motion Americano
Soma Doublecross, Saga
Gunnar Grand Tour  *
Waterford Adventure Cycle  *
Rivendell Atlantis  *

Utility:
Surly Big Dummy *
CETMA Cargo bike *

* I have the most interest in these.

There's many more, but this is a good start and pretty good variety.

Evolution of a Cyclist

I've cycled a lot at various points in my life, but I took a good 10 year hiatus. You may never forget how to ride a bike, but you can definitely lose some skills after a long hiatus. I started off slowly, riding just for fun -- bar hopping and getting some sunshine and a little exercise. I bought a cheap used cruiser for myself and my gf, and that kept us pretty happy for the first season.

For the second season I had every intention of doing some light mountain biking to explore the hills around my local ski resort and find good places to do light backcountry skiing (light as in just one step up from cross country -- more on that later). To that end, I bought a mountain bike.

Being a dedicated urbanite I just couldn't get the gumption to load up he bikes and drive for an hour to go cycling when the weather was perfect and I could just cycle in the city right out my front door. As a result the mountain biking never really took off. Instead, I got some Big Apples for my mountain bike and rode the bike trails and roads.

During my third season I got interested in road bikes, specifically classic steel from the 70's and 80's. I bought and 1981 Trek 710 frame and built it up using old and new parts.

These days I cycle during the day for commuting, the evenings for fun and exercise, and on the weekends I do longer more interesting rides (40-100 miles) and last year I did a short overnighter on the weekend. This year I plan on doing more. I have no interest in racing or wearing spandex. I'm a Fred, a bit of a retrogrouch, and fan of practical steel frame bikes.

Two videos on health everyone should see

Cycling is about fun, but it's also about health (among other things).






Diet can make a difference.

Why 'Happy Cyclist'

Especially when I'm in a car, but often when walking, when I see a cyclist I saw (to myself or out loud) "There goes a Happy Cyclist". Cycling is just basic simple fun that seems to put a smile on peoples' faces.

Seemed an obvious name for a blog. Hopefully a few folks will find something useful here.