The Long Days of the Year... and the Frustration of Getting Sick in the Summer

 

1948 Raleigh Sports Tourist

The long days of the year have arrived. I love long, summer days where there is plenty of warmth and daylight for a good ride after work. I'm not much of a morning person, but I do love a good ride in the evening after I am done for the day.

What I especially do not like is getting sick when the weather is good. The Mrs brought in a mystery flu from work, which I promptly also caught. It's more than the average cold, and it leads to lots of sneezing and nose-blowing. It also tends to hang on for a couple of weeks... Not good...

I hate being sick this time of year because usually the weather and daylight are conducive to riding. I don't like being sick in general (who does?), but I tolerate it when it's January, the days are short, and the temperature is below freezing all the time. But this time of year... it stinks to be sick when the weather is good and there's plenty of daylight.

I lost two days of riding weather to this illness, though not more than that so far. I am recovering slowly but steadily and have been riding again (albeit somewhat shorter rides) this week. This week's bikes are my 1957 Schwinn Traveler and my 1948 Raleigh Sports Tourist.

1957 Schwinn Traveler

The Sports Tourist received a somewhat better kickstand than I had on it. The previous one was kind of loose and worn, though nothing terrible. This kickstand is in better shape. I used a later, Pletscher/ESGE stand made specifically for the Raleigh Sports/Superbe. They fit reasonably well and provide good stability with their rubber feet.

 I'm gradually getting better and hopefully will be back at 100% fairly soon. Keep on riding...

 

Summer Weather

Hot and humid here this week, which I don't really mind. We're headed into summer and the days are nice and long: plenty of daylight to ride. With summer on the way, hot weather seems appropriate enough. I ride in the evening, after work in a largely shaded, forest area. The shade makes it a bit cooler  there, which is a big plus this time of year. 

This week, I am riding various Schwinn three speeds: two Travelers and a Superior. 

Schwinn Superior (1949-50)

 

 

Why Vintage Bicycles? Why Bother Riding Them?

 

1960 Schwinn Traveler three speed bike

Sometimes in the course of doing something, I am apt to return to the original question that started whole endeavor; of why I might do this or that; or why even bother with something at all. Well then, why bother with vintage bicycles at all and why ride them? There are surely bikes today that are lighter, faster, or more convenient. 

The answer is a pull to rebuild and ride that unquantifiable, but still can be felt. For some people the reason is nostalgia for some previous time or experience. For others, it is an interest in something old or antique. That is, a notion of what might have come in the "before times". Either of these reasons is equally valid (or invalid, as the case may be). 

 

Mark Twain wrote about his experience being drawn into piloting steamboats on the Mississippi in his outstanding book Life on the Mississippi. On that great river, he found something unquantifiable but still palpable called to him: "There were graceful curves, reflected images, woody heights, soft distances; and over the whole scene, far and near, the dissolving lights drifted steadily, enriching it, every passing moment, with new marvels of coloring. I stood like one bewitched." 

 

Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens

 

"Bewitching" is the right term for our hobby of refurbishment and riding. Like Samuel Clemens, and his river, there is something that calls to hobbyist about putting an old bike on the road, then gradually taking in the scenery on a ride. We may not be able to quantify the pull, but we can see it and feel it. There are certainly lighter, faster, newer, and more convenient bicycles, but not everything in life can be measured, yet it is there just the same.