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Ways to connect: |
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Location: |
Aylett, Virginia | |
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Member Since: |
January 2012 |
5 Year Distance Chart
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2024 Miles Traveled: |
0
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2024 Rank: |
currently unranked |
Lifetime Odometer: |
32,402 miles
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History:
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I received my first 10-speed as a Christmas present when I was 15. It was a Magneet (made in Holland). It had a steel frame with bottom-of-the-line Campy derailleurs. When the opening of presents was over, I hopped on that bike and road like a person possessed. I had no idea where I was going. But I was going there and going fast.
I continued to ride a fair amount until around 22 years of age. In college, I could not afford the car insurance. So I sold my '67 Plymouth Belvidere for $100 and bought myself a new bike (a Centurian) for $300. This was still a steel frame, but had better components (Suntour) and had bar-end shifters. I had to order the bike through the store and only after it came in did I learn that it was a 12-speed and not a 10-speed. I think this had to be one of the first bikes out at the time to offer a 6-gear rear sprocket (how things have changed).
During graduate school (at VA Tech), I bought a handmade frame from a friend of a friend who was "practicing" his technique at it. I transferred all of my Centurian components over to it and did occasional riding around the Blacksburg mountain countryside, mostly on my own and only sporadically. Not much riding happened after I got out of school (1984) and the bicycle was ultimately crushed, where it resided in our cellar, when part of the base of chimney (it’s an early 1800s home) collapsed.
I bought a new Giant Defy in November 2009 and began riding again. My love of riding was rekindled and I put up about 1300 miles of riding in 2010. At the beginning of 2011, I found a "steal" on Craigslist, purchasing an almost new, carbon fiber Gary Fisher Cronus Pro for $1000. In 2011 I rode over 3100 miles, joined RABA and completed several centuries. This year my goals are to be able to ride solidly with "A" pace groups within RABA and complete the "Mountains of Misery" century over Memorial Day weekend. From there? Who knows ... |
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