Ian Hibell Crossing the Darien Gap by Bicycle

Posted on by Wandering by Bicycle

In 1972, Ian Hibell, along with Gary Bishop and John Bakewell were the first to complete an overland wheeled crossing of the Darien Gap, a strip of swampland dividing Panama and Columbia. Hibell, Bishop and Bakewell took the “direct” overland south-to-north route, including an overland crossing of the Atrato Swamp in Colombia.

Ian Hibell spent the better part of 40 years exploring the world by bicycle and was the first person to cycle from Cape Horn, Argentina to Alaska . Tragically, Ian was killed by a hit-and-run driver on the Athens – Salonika highway on the 23rd August 2008.

1985 Schwinn Cimarron Touring Bike Build Part 2

Posted on by Wandering by Bicycle

The Schwinn Cimarron touring bike build continues. As I mentioned in part one of this build, Jeff is converting this Cimarron mountain bike to a drop bar touring bike.

Setting up the brakes

The original cantilever brakes are staying, but have been improved with Velo Orange cartridge brake shoes. The original wheelset, while in great condition, was replaced with Shimano Deore M525 hubs laced to Sun Rhino Lite rims and the tires are 26×1.75 Continental Touring Plus Reflex.

Headtube Badge

The frame has been polished up and looks great for a 28 year old bike.

Vintage Crankset

The bottom bracket has been repacked and the original crankset has been cleaned up. The gearing is 28-38-48 in front with an Sram PG 850 11-32 8 speed cassette in back.

Adjustments

The shifters are Shimano 8 speed Ultegra bar end run in friction mode and the cables are VO Metallic Braid. The pull ratio of the Deer Head Superplate rear derailleur does not match the Ultegra shifters, but the friction shifting is spot on with the Powerglide II cassette. Teflon cable housing lining is used to guide the cables under the bottom bracket shell and reduce friction.

Ready to roll

The cables are adjusted, the bars are wrapped and it is ready to ride. Now it is ready for fenders, cages and racks.

One photo a day, I’ll give it a go

Posted on by Wandering by Bicycle

Photo a Day 6/22/2013

I know many have done this before, one photo a day for a year, but I’ve never really been driven to try this until now. Photography, for me, is something I really enjoy when I travel, but when I’m surrounded by the familiar, the drive is lost. I have a camera on me much of the time, in the form of my iPhone, so I just need to make the time. I’m not going to post most of the photos here, but I’ve started a Photo a Day set on my Flickr page and that is where they will be.

I rode the Goshen Road to Middle Road, back on River Road, back home on Goshen Road loop today (on page 33 of Delorme’s Vermont Atlas and Gazetteer) and that is where this photo was taken. About 36 miles and 4,000 feet of elevation gain, and with the exception of 3 miles or so, all on dirt. Rural Vermont riding at it’s best.

1985 Schwinn Cimarron Touring Bike Build Part 1

Posted on by Wandering by Bicycle

Oh the beauty of vintage bicycles. Jeff has a couple of Schwinn Cimarron mountain bikes, one of which he’s had since new, that he is looking to fix up. The Cimarron that is the subject of this build is is a Craigslist $100 find that’s being converted from a classic mountain bike to a still classic drop bar touring bike.

The Begining

It is 100% original, with the exception of the tires and the frame is lugged 4130 chromoly steel with a fillet brazed head tube.

Fillet Brazing

Jeff is converting this to 8 speed indexed shifting and swapping some parts for fit and reliability, but keeping the classic Shimano Deer Head derailleurs.

Deerhead RearDeerhead Front

Some of the parts that are being swapped off this bike are going to be used on the other Cimarron build still to come and the parts that are being reused are getting overhauled and cleaned.

Back Work

The stem that is going on is a Nitto Dirt Drop, the handlebar is a Velo Orange Grand Cru Chris’s Rando Handlebar, brake levers are Cane Creek SCR-5 and the cables are VO Metallic Braid.

Front Work

Lots of work still to come.

Loop through Plymouth Vermont

Posted on by Wandering by Bicycle

This past Saturday I awoke to a sunny sky, light wind and a meeting time of 6:00am. My friend and fellow Ripton bike commuter Jeff was riding down to Springfield, VT. to meet his traveling brother and asked if anyone was interested in riding along for some of the way. It was easy for me to say yes and and as a bonus, our friend Noah was going to ride as well. Noah, Jeff and I have been planning a good ride together for years, but have never been able to make it happen.

After rendezvousing in my driveway, we started off with a climb up and over Rt. 125 and a quick trip down Rt. 100 for breakfast at the Rochester Cafe and Country Store.

I highly recommend The Rochester breakfast, it’s a lot of fuel for a big ride.

With stomachs full and a light tail wind we make great time down Rt. 100 and took River Road, the short dirt cutoff, to Rt. 4.

The plan was for Noah and I to ride south to Rt. 100A and make a loop back to Ripton, while Jeff continued on to Springfield. Noah had a return time of around 1:30pm and the riding was flat, so this didn’t seem like a problem.

We hit the country store that has been closed since Hurricane Irene, just before the 100A intersection, around 10:15am and bid Jeff a bon voyage. This is where the riding changed. Turning onto Rt. 100A the first big climb appears. I’ll admit, I tend to look at directions on a map and ignore the contour lines. It adds a bit of spice to my rides. I also missed the point on the map referring to Plymouth Notch about 1 mile up Rt. 100A, so this climb was a surprise. The grade was pretty consistent, the views were great and there was no traffic, a perfect road. We rode past “Silent” Calvin Coolidge State Park and many well kept country homes. The decent was gradual down to Rt. 4 where we turned east and picked up North Bridgewater Rd. to take us to Rt. 12.

North Bridgewater Rd. is another perfect Vermont cycling road. No traffic, great views, smooth dirt and another steep climb with many false summits. Some people pay money to ride roads like this.

At this point we realized time was getting away from us (shocking) and we decided to take more direct route home. After a fast and smooth dirt decent we intersected Rt. 12 and took that north to Rt. 107.

From there we rode Rt. 107 to Rt. 100 and traced our steps over East Middlebury Gap (past a large bull moose near the top of the gap) back to my house.

Until I can find a better online mapping site (suggestions welcome), Google Maps will need to suffice. Great company, 107 miles and a bit of climbing makes for a great ride.

Where to next?

Posted on by Wandering by Bicycle

Map Bikepacking in Newfoundland for most of July on the T’Railway, an 883km Provincial Park linking linking urban, rural and wilderness areas across the island. The plan is to get a ride to the Canadian border (thanks Dad), ride to Montreal, take the overnight train to Truro Nova Scotia, ride to the ferry dock in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, then….. I’m not sure yet. Either take the shorter ferry to Port aux Basques, in southwestern Newfoundland or the longer ferry to Argentia in the southeast. Of course Gros Morne National Park can’t be missed and I plan on hitting the Cape Breton Highlands on my way back through Nova Scotia. Stay tuned.