If you are a rider who buys your zip-ties by the canister, then you might as well click the back-button.

But if you are  interested in a more functional way to attach a battery-powered light to your bicycle, you may find this new invention from my friend Chico Gino intriguing. Gino’s Light Mount is simple, elegant, light-weight, and the definition of functional. Best of all, you won’t need another zip-tie to attach it.

It has been a long time coming, but the Atlantis is finally stable with a front-load. It is a story that dates back to June 2007; when descending Idaho’s Bitteroot Mountains, the Atlantis went into an frightening speed wobble.

Actually, my beef with the Atlantis began well before that. The waning of my love affair coincided with a decision to carry a pay-load on the front of the bike so I could pull-off layers or put on a rain jacket while riding. It was then I discovered this otherwise awesome touring machine was flawed. It was not designed to carry a load up front. In doing so, I had destabilized it.

For the most part, the condition was more of an annoyance than a danger. But that descent in the Bitterroots pushed me over the edge. I made two decisions on that ride. First, I would re-rake or replace the front fork. Second, I would build a new bike, one designed specifically for randonneur events. In the past year, I’ve made good on both of these promises.

Servant cyclist. Ultracyclist and 24-hour record holder, Chris Ragsdale, greets Oregon Randonneur Del Scharffenberg at the Naches overnight control. Chris volunteered as Control Captain, organizing everything from shift changes to the bike corral.

When the organizers of the 2008 Cascade 1200 realized they would have to re-route portions of the route to avoid impassable roads along the course, they mapped a 44 mile out-and-back up to Lodgepole Campground on SR 410 to Chinook Pass. 

Unfortunately for the riders, the trip would take them 44 miles up the canyon, 8 miles shy of the pass itself, which lies well above tree line and provides some of the most spectacular views in the southern Cascades. The organizers (jokingly) offered ‘extra credit’ for riders who made the 16-mile round trip, but it was too much for riders to consider, given the 100-plus-degree heat they had endured on Saturday, and would face again on Sunday.

You don’t have to be over 40 to dream about a bicycle that is comfortable, durable, and as capable of an all-day ride in the country as it is on a club ride in the city. Finding one bike that will do it all is the goal of many road riders, and not just those that are new to the sport. Roadies with years of experience know the benefits of owning a second bike that has been set-up for commuting to work or training on days on wet, spring days.

Photograph courtesy of Ira Ryan Cycles.

From a cyclist’s point of view, the attributes of a great place for road bike riding include beautiful routes, lots of organized rides, friendly clubs, and custom frame builders.

Frame builders?

Unless you live in Oregon, you might not consider the impact that independent bicycle builders have on a community. But for those of us who live here, the benefits of riding among men and women who make their living making bicycles makes us smarter riders. Their work challenges us to reconsider long-held opinions, most of which are formed by reading magazine advertising or listening to sound-bites on The Tour de France.