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Welcome to the Bike Bulletin. It’ll make you feel better than a well-timed Clif Bar.
As always, reply directly to this email with your thoughts. I read every reply.
This is a weekly newsletter about bike adventures, cycling infrastructure, and people who love two-wheeled transit. I share new episodes every Tuesday, gearing you up for the week ahead.
Here’s what we have today.
A feature about my dad
A throwback MTB video
Flat tires
Some stats for the nerds.
RIDER OF THE WEEK
Chick Westby - Fort Atkinson, WI, USA
This week I’m featuring my dad!
Who are you? Well, who am I when I’m not biking? I retired from 37 years of teaching physics and coaching cross country at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. Now I get to finish projects and create things that I didn’t have time to do, have dinner ready for my wife most nights, and work part-time at our local bike shop.
Fill out this form to be featured as Rider of the Week!
Trusty steeds. My commuters - Trek Checkpoint ALR 5 and a 1980 Chrome Schwinn Voegeur 11.8; Road rides - 2020 Specialized Tarmac Expert
Preferred terrain. Road
Saddle story. I think I’ll share the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me while riding a bike.
When my boys were little I had to put in training time early in the morning before school. One day, I was riding in the pre-dawn darkness on a local bike path and my front light went dead. There was enough difference in the color of the pavement and the surrounding foliage that I kept going.
After a few minutes, I heard some scratching sound on the pavement, like a dog’s toenails when they were trying to get going. All of a sudden, my bike tugged accompanied by a snapping sound, like a couple of pencils being broken. Almost instantly, there was a second tug and a slightly quieter snap. I was freaking out at what I hit but kept going. I tried to imagine what it was and all I could think was I hit a turtle and broke his shell. But no, I didn’t bounce it all.
On the way back there was enough light to see. When I came up to the location of the incident, I about lost it! There on the bike path was a rabbit neatly severed in half! What?! I stood there for a moment in disbelief, then started riding. Within a minute I turned around and used a stick to move the parts off the path.
Next adventure. I think it would be crazy to camp more days in a year than I sleep inside. More realistically, after I finish riding past all the one-room schoolhouses in my county, I want to ride every County Road C in Wisconsin (our county roads are identified with letters and there are 72 counties).
Two-Wheel Tips.
Learn to do your own bike maintenance
Commute by bike… Always! (My dad commuted to school all 37 years of his career on the same Centurion ProTour 15. He estimates it was 24,000 miles of commuting!)
Think of yourself as a bike ambassador whenever you ride
Join the ride. Follow Chick’s adventures on Instagram and Strava.
ROUTE ON MY RADAR
The Colorado Trail
Source: bundokbiker on Flickr with license CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED
Here’s what you’d be getting yourself into.
539 miles (867 km)
92% rideable (that’s a lot of hike-a-bike)
Bikepacking.com guide - bikepacking.com
Ryan van Duzer’s Ride from Denver to Durango - youtube.com
This epic trail takes you through the mountains of Colorado. You’ll pass through hikers, other cyclists, and day trippers as you go up and down and up and down again. It’s the rider’s choice whether or not you take a full suspension mountain bike or a hardtail. On one hand, the full suspension will be comfy and let you hit the downhills hard. On the other hand, the 8% of the trail that’s not ridable will be a lot hard with the extra weight.
BIKE TRIP TIP
On-the-road Maintenence
My most common issue on my bike is a flat tire. If you’re just getting into riding, changing a flat is an essential skill that you need to learn. There are different tire setups - tubes and tubeless - but if you’re running tubeless I’m guessing you know what you’re doing. It’s a great beginner bike maintenance skill and only takes a few minutes.
Materials
Tire irons
A spare tube or a patch kit
Portable pump
Methods
Patch a punctured innertube - Park Tool on YouTube
Replace the innertube - Park Tool on YouTube
Notes
Once the tire is off, feel around the inside to see if you feel anything sharp. Nothing is more frustrating than changing a flat and immediately getting another one.
If you can’t find a leak, put the tube in water and look for air bubbles.
Wait for the patch glue to dry completely before putting on the patch.
WHAT I’M WATCHING
90’s MTB Masters (1992)
This video was full of pure nostalgia. Two pro riders rip around the street of Madrid on mountain bikes. They’re doing wheelies, climbing stairs, hitting jumps, and just having a good time. Clothing was different back then, too.
Watch on YouTube.
Stats for the Nerds
December 4th. The date that Strava released a direct messaging feature. (strava.com)
1800. The number of Santas on bicycles in Milwaukee last Saturday. (npr.com)
$18.6 billion. The economic impact of the cycling and scooter industry in Australia, according to a 2023 report. (weride.org)
6 people. The number of people injured and one dead from an e-bike battery fire in the Bronx on Monday. (abc.com)
500 bikes. The number donated to children in St. Petersburg, FL by the local police. (fox13news.com)
A Note From Sam
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