New Bike

In starting to get ready for the trip I realized my old bike with the skinny tires wasn't going to be appropriate. The trip is going to take place on rail trails. In Pennsylvania the surface will be mostly crushed limestone. Once I cross the state border to the C&O Canal Trail the surface will become dirt. In parts it hasn't been finished and is unimproved. If it rains the trail becomes rutted and muddy. If there is one thing you can count on in Western Pennsylvania in the Spring and Summer, it's rain on the weekends.

This new bike is perfect for this kind of trip and has several advantages over a traditional road bike or mountain bike. Unlike a road bike, which is designed to go fast on paved surfaces, the new bike, which is a Motobecane Fantom Cross Cyclocross Bike, is designed to go fast on any surfaces. It's light like a road bike, about 20 lbs, but it has knobby, gripping tires like a mountain bike, the frame is a little beefier to take more pounding, while still being very light. The handle bars are drop handle bars like a road bike, but there is also a second set of brake levers that are like those on a mountain bike. The second set lets the rider be in an upright, heads up position. The bike also allows the option to attach racks on the front or back, so you can take bags with you.

For January the weather has been unseasonably warm. Hopefully I will be able to take the new bike out for a few training rides before spring. It seems to have the feel of a racing bike, with the flexability of a hybrid or mountain bike.