Everyone hates a flat tire. They’re messy, they interrupt a ride, they are sometimes tricky to fix. But while flats may be unavoidable, they need not be dreaded. Our BikeFitness/Blazing Saddles Bike Club bike repair expert gives us a trailside lesson – and some of her own tips – on how to fix a flat.
Come Ride With Us
Vassar and Frankenmuth Ride for Saturday July 31
Ready for a nice fast, flat and scenic ride through some delightful farm country with a visit to Frankenmuth? It’s the Cass River Habitat Ride for Home and there are 10, 15, 32, 64 mile routes to choose from. The ride raises funds for the Cass River Habitat for Humanity. Start time is 8 am, [...]
The Michigander is next up
Here we go… it’s time for the Michigander, with a great circle route in Northwest Michigan July 17-23 Many of the Blazing Saddles/Bike Fitness regulars ride this every year and it truly is one of the state’s best organized tours. There’s still time to ride it if you are in shape as on site new [...]
One Helluv a Ride Saturday July 10
Here’s the last long Saturday ride before the Michigander starts: The One Helluv a Ride in Chelsea, sponsored by the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society. There’s a choice of 6 scenic paved routes: 15- or 30-mile Fun Rides 39 miles 64 miles 76 miles 100 miles Lunch and snack stops Entertainment Embroidered patch SAG support [...]
Saturday July 3: The Algonac Pickerel Festival 40 miler
Our next Blazing Saddles Saturday ride will be July 3 in Algonac, where we’ll do a great ride that takes us across to and around Harsen’s Island. It’s the annual Algonac Pickerel Festival Ride and it seems like a perfect event for our weekly long ride. There are two routes, a 25 Mile and 40 [...]
What’s a little rain?
Radar shows a band of showers hitting the area now and for the next hour or so… then it looks like there’s a pretty big clearing. The heavy stuff will be to our south. I’m heading out anyway. That’s what raincoats are for.
Saturday June 26: We ride dirt!
We ride dirt Saturday June 26. We’ll do the Polly Ann Trail from Oxford up to the end and then some back roads on a meandering course led by the intrepid Pat Benson. Plan on anywhere from 20-40 miles, whatever you want and however the weather affects us. But at least 20 – unless it [...]
Mike on a Bike
How to Change a Flat Tire
Everyone hates a flat tire. They’re messy, they interrupt a ride, they are sometimes tricky to fix. But while flats may be unavoidable, they need not be dreaded. Our BikeFitness/Blazing Saddles Bike Club bike repair expert gives us a trailside lesson – and some of her own tips – on how to fix a flat.
Michigander 2010 photo Album
Here is a collection of all the photos I took on the 2010 Michigander. If you want to save any, just click to see full size, then right clock to save it to your hard drive.
Michigander 2010 – Friday July 23 Final Day
I was up early, shortly after 5 am, and I biked over to the main camp for a final breakfast before setting out at first light, around 6:25 am, for the last 40 miles back east, then south to Indian River, the starting point of our circle tour a week ago. I rode alone because [...]
Michigander 2010 – Thursday July 22
Today is a layover day in Mackinaw City and while most riders slept in with plans to visit Mackinac Island in the afternoon, a group of us – Patty, John, Lynne, Pat, Ann, Gary and Mike – set off bright and early for a brisk 23 mile loop before heading back to camp, showering and [...]
Michigander 2010 – Wednesday July 21
And we thought yesterday was beautiful. Today’s 45-miler up the Lake Michigan Shore from Harbor Springs to Mackinaw City set the standard for a perfect bicycle ride, weather-wise and scenery-wise. For starters there was the fabled 25-mile long Tunnel of Trees, that rolling, winding quiet little two-lane that runs on a ridge overlooking the lake [...]
Michigander 2010 – Tuesday July 20
Living in the here and now. That’s why over 700 of us have given up vacation time to pedal across long stretches of northern Michigan every day. There’s no work waiting. No meetings. No phone calls. Just riding. Enjoying the stunning beauty of God’s creation and the joy of health that lets us power ourselves [...]
Videos
What to carry for on-the-trail bike repairs
Ever been caught on a long ride without the tools you need to handle a breakdown? Blazing Saddles regular Tina Laurie gives us a demonstration of what tools bikers should carry with them for emergency repairs.
Now there are doped bicycles
This is a very big deal in Europe, where at least one key pro bicycle rider has been linked to allegations that he may have a secret motor installed in the tubes of his bike that crank at very fast speeds. The problem is serious enough that Tour de France riders are going to have [...]
Getting the proper bicycle fit
On a bike ride this week with Chris Olivero, we got talking about the proper fit for a bicycle, how even the slightest adjustment can affect not just comfort but performance. Chris had just had her bike fitted from Fraser Bicycle. So when I got home I dug through my YouTube vids and found the [...]
A video tour of Oakland Township’s planned “Loop”
Oakland Township, home of the Paint Creek Trail, has some big plans for bike trails. Here’s a video preview and bike tour of what will someday be part of “The Loop” – a 24 mile tail that circles Oakland Township.
The Bicycle Ambassador of Paint Creek
If you ride Paint Creek Trail in the summer, you’ve no doubt met him. His name is David Moultrie and he wears a bright yellow shirt. A retired teacher, he helps by removing debris from the trail, handling minor emergencies, sharing info on Michigan’s first rails-to-trail route.
Why doesn’t Michigan have more bike lanes?
It’s no secret that Michigan roads are terrible. And there are very few bike lanes. Here’s a quick look at Florida to illustrate how much better it could be if Michigan would just get with it.
Past Rides
Hot and humid
We had a great 43 miler this Saturday, joined by two new riders – Matt and Larry. Larry rode a recumbent, the rest an assortment of road bikes and crossovers. Water was welcome today, with temps on their way to 90, humidity levels high, the wind stiff and challenging and lots of sunshine. I went [...]
Another Bloody Saturday
Keeping our “if we ride dirt, there must be blood” rule intact, we had lots of fun on our tour of three parks (Stony Creek, Bloomer and Bear Creek) and three trails (Paint Creek, Clinton River and Macomb Orchard). Thanks to Tim “Free Fall Sausch” there was blood from two of his limbs after a [...]
Why the Brooks B-17 is such a great saddle
I’ve been asked several times this week about the Brooks B-17 that I now have on all three of my bikes. If you’re looking for informaton on Brooks, check this helpful post from the people at Wallingford Bicycle Parts. The official Brooks site is at www.brookssaddles.com Essentially Brooks has been around since 1866. Each saddle [...]
My new Brooks saddle
My new Brooks saddle arrived today and will go on my Gary Fisher Superfly mountain bike. I have the B-17 on my Trek Madone 5.5 and my Bianchi Axis and after riding the Michigander bicycle tour last week with perfect comfort I want the same on the ‘Fly. The down side was I’ll have to [...]
Homemade bike camper
We’ve all seen truck campers, right? How about a bike camper? On the Michigander last week, I ran into Willie Hatfield, a 23-year-old University of Michigan grad who quit his day job as an engineer to travel the country by bicycle. Except he has a very unusual bike. It’s a bike camper, made out of [...]
Back in the Saddle Again
A week ago, we were pedaling 62 miles to Bay City on the Michigander. This morning, after a weekend off, I was back on the bike missing my fellow riders but delighted to again be riding on such a nice day. I perked up, though, when I ran into Annie on Paint Creek Trail. She [...]
Other Recent Articles
Off and pedaling on the Michigander
Michigander race director Barry Culhan told us that 775 riders have registered for this year’s Michigander Bicycle Tour. The weekend and seven day riders started today. The six day riders tomorrow, heading from Indian River to Gaylord. We all have our fingers crossed for good weather. Showers are possible Sunday. Tonight at Indian River, it [...]
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