The Way

Bicycle Way of Life Blog

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Make shopping easy for your friends and family this holiday season with "My Bicycle Way Wish List," our customer gift registry. Just visit our stores, and show our team what your heart desires! Then tell your friends you're listed and we'll help them shop. Nice. Easy. Tip: share this post as a hint!

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25th Anniversary Schwinn Paramount w/ Dura-Ace 7400

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Wolf Rock, part 2. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13904687

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Wolf rock part 1. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13904687

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Paul Adkins bicycle way of life is the pinnacle to which we should all aspire. His family of five was car-free for at least a dozen years. Using trailers, triples, tag-alongs and tykes with atypically high aptitude for active transportation, Paul and his wife Monica continue to set the standard for healthy transportation choices. Though they recently invested in a motor vehicle, it happens to be a vintage wagon, which they've converted to run on vegetable oil. Paul was especially excited to visit our in-shop studio to celebrate his the first birthday of his new bike, a custom, lugged-steel all-road crafted by none other than our own Rod Bautista (BWOL staff for over a decade, now lead fabricator at Arcimoto). "I'll really be sad if this one gets stolen," he began, adding, "though that's not likely. I'm actually at +2 for stolen bikes right now. I helped recover one, and another time caught a thief in my own backyard. All our bikes were locked and he had Allen wrenches and was trying to steal saddles when I ran out with a baseball bat. He ran off before the cops got there, but they caught him down the street. He also left the [presumably stolen] bike he rode in on." Paul added that all you have to do to keep a bike, no matter how nice, is to use a u-lock (correctly) and not leave it out overnight. Paul is the captain of his office's Business Commute Challenge team at CAWOOD, and hopes his example to inspire others to live their own bicycle way.

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From our customer, John B:

This was my birthday trip. Every year since I hit 60, I've aimed at a 6 day ride that's 6 times my age. (I missed the target one year when it rained 5" in 2 days and another year when I had 3 flats in 3 days.) For this year, the target was 67x6 = 402. I ended up doing 413 miles. I took my usual route out to Florence -- Roosevelt and Fern Ridge paths to Royal, Fir Butte, Clear Lake, Lawrence, and then 36 to Mapleton and 126 into Florence. From Florence, I took Rhododendron Drive out of town and then mostly followed the official Oregon State Coast Route north: 101 to Newport, city streets on the west side of Newport, back to 101, off on Otter Creek Loop, back to 101 and north through Depoe Bay and Lincoln City. Old Coast Highway and Slab Creek Rd around the back side of Cascade Head, 101 to the Pacific City area. Then I took the 3 capes route -- Cape Kiwanda, Cape Lookout, and Cape Meares. Road is closed north of Cape Meares, but a bike can get through it, and I rode from there out to Tillamook, where I picked up 101 again. Detoured through Cannon Beach, but otherwise all 101 until I got to the Fort Stevens area, where I took a short side trip. From Fort Stevens, I rode into Astoria, and took the bridge across the Columbia to Washington. Rode highways 401 and 4 to Cathlamet, where I caught the ferry back over to Oregon. Took Highway 30, mixed in with some back roads around Clatskanie and Rainier, into Portland, where I caught the train back to Eugene. 

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So I had the exceptional pleasure of taking a Domane SLR for a 135-mile test ride from Eugene to Portland last week. I went with my friends Gravity and Lucas, who rode an older Madone 5.2 and a steel track bike, respectively. 

From this experience, I learned three things:

1.) A “century-plus” is not the ideal ride to gauge one’s fitness after a winter without any consistent training.

2.) An MTB’r on a carbon road bike and a messenger on a track bike are tricky pace-mates.

3.) The new Domane SLR is a like big, comfy carbon fiber recliner that clears 38c tires.

Though my legs felt like overcooked spaghetti at the end of the day, the joint fatigue and numb extremities that I typically expect after a too-much too-soon ride were strangely absent. Chalk it up to Trek’s new rear decoupler and the Compass extralight 38c tires. 

-Al

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John Blonigen's Bicycle Way of Life 

John isn't easy on his bike. When I met him last summer, he had replaced or re-laced one wheel for each year he had owned his Trek 520. "I destroy wheels," were the words I recall him using. It was a rim-brake bike, and John is a daily commuter and seasonal cyclotourist. The Oregon Coast is his favorite place to visit: 

"Every year since I hit 60, I've aimed at a 6 day ride that's 6 times my age. (I missed the target one year when it rained 5" in 2 days and another year when I had 3 flats in 3 days.)" 

 Last year, instead of replacing his wheels, John replaced his 520 with a custom-built Soma Saga with a very sturdy set of 36-hole Velocity Chukker rims laced to Shimano disc hubs. Though the rest of his bike shows considerable wear since we set it up almost a year ago, the wheels are solid as the day they were built!

Watch here for more on John and his most recent tour.

-Al

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Darin Lomdalen has been living the Bicycle Way of Life since he moved to Eugene. Here are two of his favorite rides, handmade steel frames made in Oregon by now-defunct builder "Luna." He cherishes his machines as much as we do his business, so we took a few minutes recently to take his portrait with them.

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How do I get to the river from your shop?

https://goo.gl/maps/RA5eyH2ZCFm

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ACM photos part 2

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ACM photos part 1

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Raleigh Competition GS. Circa 1975.

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Happy Winter Solstice, Eugene! One-day web-only special: 22% off all lights! Restrictions apply. Visit or phone either of our stores for details. #wintersolstice #eugeneoregon #shortestday (at Mount Baldy)

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Old meets new.