Tag: bikes

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Scrappy Hour Group Bike Ride

Scrappy Hour Group Bike Ride

I started riding more often in 2024 and was riding anywhere from 3 to 6 days a week but always solo. My old pal Matt mentioned a group ride called Scrappy Hour and described it as a “casual slow roll” ride, which sounded right for me because I don’t really go fast, I just cruise around.

So I joined Matt last October for my first real group ride, and it was fun and easy, so I did it again in December and while it was a little cold it wasn’t too bad. Matt couldn’t join in but my old pal Mike was there and I saw Nora (another Milwaukee person I know) again. Otherwise I really don’t know many people on the rides (yet) but that doesn’t really matter, it’s just about getting out and riding in a group.

The most recent ride (this past weekend) saw me and Matt, along with my neighbor Michael, meet up at Rocket Baby in Tosa to do a smaller group ride that meets up with the larger group. We met Meg and Paige there and the five of us biked down to Cathedral Square Park together. The roads are not very busy on a Sunday morning at 9am so it was pretty easy going, and mostly downhill!

I will say that the Tosa leg was not as much of a “slow roll” as the Bay View legs have been… I guess when you let people half your age lead it can go a bit faster. (Disclaimer: I’m not totally sure but I’d guess I’m one of the oldest people on these rides. Not that age matters but I’m not exactly in great shape like some people are.)

I made sure I would not be cold on this ride. I wore my winter boots and wool socks, balaclava, ski goggles, a scarf, and then two long sleeve shirts with two sweatshirts, and long underwear with insulated exercise pants. I also had my medium winter gloves on. From Matt’s advice I threw a jacket and hat and heavier gloves into a backpack and then used those for the “standing around” part of the ride to stay warm when not moving. I also had some USB hand warmers. I did not get cold, unlike my companions. (Sorry, guys!)

The ride back was just me, Matt, and Michael and the hills were killer. As in, they killed my will to live. I was going slower than I’ve ever gone on a ride. Somehow we took a path that seemed to have even more hills and at the end my legs were jelly. The whole trip for me was 5.38 miles there and 6.4 miles back. I’ve done rides that long or longer without issue, but they are at my own pace and avoiding large hills.

Oh, I forgot! The ride has this whole “coffee outside” thing. The idea is you ride to the location (takes about 30 minutes) hang out outside for about an hour drinking coffee, socializing, etc., then head back (another 30 minutes). So it’s like a 1 hour ride with a 1 hour break in the middle. I don’t drink coffee but did bring some hot chai tea in an insulated mug for this one. Sometimes there are snacks as well. Again, it’s all really chill and a nice little community of people who like to ride bikes.

Right now if you want to find out about rides check out Scrappy Hour MKE on Instagram. They are in the process of adding a Bluesky account (which I’ve asked them to bridge to the Fediverse) and they’ll be starting a mailing list as well. (Email scrappyhourmke@gmail.com to get added!)

The next ride is Sunday, February 23rd, 2025 and typically the main group leaves from Cactus Club in Bay View at 9am, and then there might be groups leaving from Interval Coffee on the East Side/Riverwest and Rocket Baby in Wauwatosa, but the Bay View is the only “for sure” one and the rest are TBD closer to the date. (At least I think that’s right.)

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I Santa Rampaged 2024

Ho! Ho! Ho! I Santa Rampaged! This was my first time taking part in the largest Santa Bike Ride here in Milwaukee and it was a blast. A blast of cold air for sure, but also a fun blast. Back in October I mentioned it to my neighbor Michael and he said he’d do it too, and little did I know he was a veteran because he’s done the ride in the past, and even tended bar for the very first one over a decade ago, so he had the inside scoop.

There were over 2,000 people who joined in on the ride, with a huge percentage dressed as Santa or Santa-adjacent (Mrs. Claus, etc.) but we also had Grinches, Elves, Reindeer, and all sort of Christmas-themed outfits and costumes. We also had a dude who was shirtless, and then we realized he was also pantless, and just wearing red shorts with white fur trim.

Did I mention it was cold out? It was in the 30s but definitely felt much colder when standing around waiting to get going. I had on three shirts, a sweatshirt, and the (very thin) Santa shirt along with some thermal lined pants and the (thin) Santa pants. The thing is, it seemed fairly warm out near East Tosa before we left but when we got down to Bay View (near the lake) it was much cooler. I made a poor choice on shoes but I think the wool socks saved me. Luckily I brought some heavy gloves, and other cover-up gear so it wasn’t too bad. Next time better shoes through.

Obviously I’m old and I get cold, because the younger folks were not bothered by it. I saw plenty of women in tights with exposed ankles and they seemed to be holding up okay… And of course the shirtless (and pantless) guy were there. Anyway, December… it’s gonna be cold!

The ride itself was great. The last time I did a large group ride was the Black is Beautiful Slow Ride in 2020. This one was twice the size, but very well organized. We were near the front of the pack nearly the whole time so I don’t even know how long the whole thing stretched behind us. There was a car that got in the middle at one point, right in front of me, and they had to drive slow until they could get out of the way for a few blocks. I guess there was one bad crash/injury but the most trouble I saw was when someone would drop a glove and then hit the brakes. Doing that causes near or minor crashes because while we were going slow, we’re also packed in fairly tight. Still all in all, a great ride, a fun time, and I will do it again.

The ride from the Bike Fed to Great Lakes Distillery was 11.17 miles. We ended at the distillery because that’s where we parked to avoid the crowds. (We rode from there to the Bike Fed so that was another 2 miles so in total we rode just over 13 miles.) I also got a slice from STREET-ZA which is the #1 Food Truck in the U.S. according to their web site.

I also had a few drinks (or a few too many) at the distillery and they made them strong because Michael knows a guy and whew I pretty much went home, lost my keys in the garage, and then got in the house and took a nap. All in all, an awesome day with friends.

My daughter asked if I was going to film or photo document it, and while that’s a thing I would have done years ago I decided to just ride and enjoy and let others do that… so I’ve collected a bunch of links to videos and coverage. I know I appear in at least one of the videos below. I’m easy to spot… I’m the one dressed like Santa.

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A 50 Year Old Raleigh Bike

I’ll just admit it, this post is mostly to share photos of an old bike. This is a 1970’s Raleigh 3-speed bicycle. I don’t know the exact year. I rode it today for three miles and I nearly kept my normal pace.

The shifting isn’t perfect but the brakes are good. It feels pretty solid. It’s not as smooth as my Trek 7200 Hybrid but it’s 50 years old and has skinnier tires and no suspension. I just rode around the neighborhood for around 16 minutes. Also, it was 25 degrees F when I was out.

It’s got a three-speed internal hub shifting thing. I tend to ride in low gears a lot, and even in first gear the one hill I went up was a little difficult. (My wonky knee didn’t help.) Still, for tooling around on a fun ride, this thing is just fine.

There are no lights, the reflector is angled all weird, no phone holder, no 3D printed mount for a Meshtastic radio, no top bar bag… just a bike.

There is a bag (appears to be “fake” leather) and a bike rack on the back. The bag is probably also original, and the rack is probably also from the 1970s.

The sticker with info is all scratched up… I tried to identify it when I got it but gave up after some searching. (Feel free to keep looking and let me know!)

Yeah, you know its got fenders! I’d say this bike was well maintained but it may also be that it was just not ridden in the past 20, 30, 40(??) years. I don’t know. I’ll ask around. It was in my mom’s garage so it probably belonged to a family member.

Update: It did not belong to a family member. Years ago my brother helped my mom clear out the garage of someone who passed away and they got the bike at this time.

The shifter works… mostly. It didn’t always shift smoothly and sometimes I was not sure what gear I was in.

It looks like Wares is gone now… Support your LBS!

The Raleigh is from England. Yes, I have a British bike! You should hear its accent. (LOL)

Oh crap! I better renew the bike license… Actually, I should list this on Bike Index and you should list all your bikes on Bike Index!

I am probably the first person in 50 years to take a self portrait (aka “selfie”) using the bell on this bike. I am both proud and ashamed at the same time.

Keep on pedaling!

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Bern Major MIPS Bike Helmet

I got a new helmet. My old helmet (as seen here) was probably 17 years old and when I asked how often a helmet should be replaced people told me every 3 to 5 years! (And yes, I do know that if you are in a crash and your helmet sustains any impact it should be replaced.)

So yay, new helmet! I was looking at the Bern helmets because a friend of mine used to have one and I remember a nice brim on the front. Since I ride early in the morning I occasionally get blinded by the rising sun, and I typically just tilt my head way down and stare at the road, but I figured trying a helmet with a brim might be a good idea.

The photo above shows the brim flipped down. It’s really easy to flip it up or down with one hand while riding.

I head read about this MIPS thing for helmets and it seemed like a good feature, and this Bern Major helmet has it, so hooray for extra safety.

I was a bit unsure about size… I should note I did not try this on at a LBS but did order it online directly from Bern. My head measurement came in just at the top end of Medium, so I ended up going with Large just to be safe. I don’t know if this was the best option but I went for it.

So when I got the helmet the fit was okay, but I just felt like it should have been a little more snug. I didn’t want to return it and get a Medium (though Bern does have a really nice return policy) but instead I grabbed a foam pad kit from Amazon for $8. I added two strips along the sides and the fit is much better.

The Bern Major MIPS helmet was listed on their site as a “Barn Deal” and was $65 USD. I got a discount as a first time customer knocking it down to $55.25 USD and then with shipping added in it went back up to $67.25. (So the discount pretty much covered the shipping cost.)

Update: I just checked the price in May 2025 and it’s at $97.50. Is it because of tariffs? Who knows!?

I’m pleased with the helmet. It did take a few days to get used to it compared to the one I had over a decade (oops!) but next time I’ll probably visit a local shop and try a few options. I really do like the visor though, so we’ll see if I still do in a few years or if there are other good options.

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I would bike 500 miles…

Yeah, I would bike 500 miles… and I did! I started biking (outdoors) February 2024 and it is now November 1st 2024 and here’s a quick report. You may remember I used to walk a lot and I’ve done a bit of riding my bike indoors the past few years when I was recovering from injuries that prevented me from walking, but this year I got the bike fixed up and hit the road.

I’ve been using the Apple Fitness app on my phone & watch to track rides, but the stats are not easy to get to. Matt suggested RunGap which can import data from Apple Fitness and give a better view of the data.

Here’s the year 2024 filtered for Cycling and showing 506.30 miles. I actually hit 500 miles on October 31st, 2024, which was also Halloween. Spooky!

I can also see I spent 50 hours riding outside this year. I had attempted to get the 50 hours and the 500 miles on the same day, but weather and work commitments threw things off by a day.

My average speed so far this year is around 10 miles per hour. I’ve had rides recently that are 11 or 12 mph but I’m also fine with 10. I don’t have this craving for speed, but 12 is a good goal for me. I got into this cycling because I need regular exercise, and the walking got scuttled by injuries. So far I’ve avoided any biking injuries beyond some scrapes and chafes.

Breaking it down by month you’ll notice June and July had very little riding. Between work, travel, illness, and it being just too damn hot, I didn’t get out there much. October just got over the 90 miles mark, so 100 miles seems like a 2025 goal.

Yeah, I know, some people ride 100 miles in a day! I don’t think I ever want to do that. Again, this is a form of “casual daily exercise” for me. No races, no marathons, maybe some occasional group rides, but I’m here mainly to get my body moving.

I was certainly walking more than I am cycling, and that 8 hours a month should probably be 10 or more but there were some days I just did not feel well enough to get on the bike, and being alert and feeling okay are not things to compromise on when riding, so I skipped days here and there. Still, I look forward to what I can do in 2025!