Rosetucky on hold

My new band that started in the summer of 2009 is on hold for now. I'm not sure if the bass player Rocky and I will get back together or not. We haven't practiced regularly for some time now. The band's name Rosetucky was Rocky's idea, as he grew up in Roseburg, Oregon. More than half our songs were his original tunes. We also did a few of my originals and a couple of songs from my days with R Band back in the early 1990s. It looks like The Bicycling Guitarist is going to have to be a solo act and not part of a band, at least for now. Best wishes for Rocky.

It's too cold and wet these days for me to ride and play much. Cold and wet weather is not good for the wood of the guitar. The cold isn't too good for my fingers either. Also, when the pavement is wet the skinny tires of my vintage ten-speed bicycle can slip and skid, and braking is more difficult too when the rims are wet. At least now I have alloy rims on my Schwinn instead of slick chrome steel. It used to be I couldn't stop at all when the rims were wet!

My Schwinn is tuned up

The weather lately has been perfect for bicycle guitaring: slightly cool but not cold, warm in the afternoons but not hot, little wind. A couple days ago I left my Schwinn at the local bicycle shop for its annual tune-up and for them to check how true the recently-built new wheels are. I just picked it up today, and it is sweet. All the cables are adjusted for smooth and easy shifting and braking. The chain was cleaned and lubricated. My Super Sportabout tracks straight and true when I ride "no hands" playing guitar on it.

Last night I played solo guitar at my bass player's house. Rocky had a few of his friends and family over, and a good time was had by all.

My bicycle will have a good home when I die

Since the early 1980s I have ridden the same Schwinn ten-speed bicycle many thousands of miles while simultaneously playing a Fender Stratocaster guitar, sometimes with a small battery-powered amplifier clamped to the seat post or carried on a rack over the rear wheel. I'm pushing fifty years old now, and thought to contact The Bicycle Museum of America yesterday to see if they would be interested in preserving or even displaying my bicycle after I die.

To quote the Wikipedia article about this place:

The Bicycle Museum of America is a small museum nested inside the village of New Bremen, Ohio, United States. The museum, one of the largest private collections of bicycles in the world, is located at 7 West Monroe Street.

I was delighted when Annette Thompson of the museum wrote me back within a couple of hours. She said:

This would make an interesting story for our museum. Yes, we would enjoy having the bike.

I forwarded her email to one of my sisters and I am posting this blog entry as well to make my wishes known. Of course, this assumes I don't die ON the bicycle. If I do, it might not be a pretty museum display! I am locally famous, but if my fame ever spreads my bicycle may end up in the Smithsonian or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Even if that doesn't happen though, I rest easier knowing my bicycle will be well taken care of after I am gone.

Plans for my Schwinn ten-speed bicycle

When I upgraded my 1977 Schwinn Sportabout to a "Sportinental" by converting to quick release wheels and centerpull brakes from the fancier Schwinn Continental model, I didn't change to the Continental's aluminum stem and handlebar but kept the steel stem and handlebar of the Sportabout. In the Suggestions to upgrade my Schwinn Sportabout page, Raleigh D. says that would have been the very first change he would have done to save pounds of weight. I hope to do this someday, but I don't have a Continental stem and handlebar yet. Raleigh D. also suggested I change from steel to aluminum wheel rims.



For several years 27" bicycle wheels were out of fashion, but apparently they are being made again. I hope someday to get a pair of Sun CR-18 27" rims and have this pair of vintage Schwinn-Approved Quick Release hubs from a Continental laced to them with brand-new spokes. These came from Craig Morrow who runs an online store on eBay specializing in vintage Schwinns.

What's going on

It's been more than a month since my last posting. In mid-April I received a series of emails from a bicycle enthusiast who offered more information about the history of Schwinn lightweight bicycles and suggestions for how to improve my ride. With his permission, I edited and posted his content on my web site. The new pages are

Schwinn lightweight bicycles history

Suggestions to upgrade my Schwinn Sportabout

My 1965 Ford Falcon Ranchero is still sitting in the driveway with a bent driveshaft as it has since the summer of 2007, but last month I got a replacement tailgate skin for it (not yet installed) and this month I got a spare hood. Both parts were very reasonably priced from a local man who had them left over from his own ranchero restoration project.

Namaste TBG

New Front Derailleur on my Schwinn

It really is new too, still in the original package. Of course the package is more than thirty years old, but it had never been opened. On June 11, 2008 the old Shimano Positron front derailleur on my 1977 Schwinn Sportabout was replaced by this NOS (new old stock) SunTour "Spirt" front derailleur. The clamp was a bit too big around and needed a shim to fit my seat post.

I have also polished the metal parts of my bicycle the past few days so everything is very shiny. I will put a web page up eventually to show this, hopefully not before all the shininess fades.

new lights for my Schwinn ten-speed bicycle

Cateye EL530 headlight and LD1100 taillight are the brightest battery-powered bicycle lights available. The EL530 is 1500 candlepower (50% brighter than the 2005 model). The LD1100 (new for 2008) is 100% brighter than the 2007 model. I placed a special order for them today from the local bicycle store. I also ordered a cam lock mount for the headlight, because I read of many complaints about the stock mount being flimsy.

These will be a vast improvement over the Cateye lights I bought five years ago that are currently mounted on my Schwinn. Bicycle light technology has advanced considerably in the past five years.

A Sunny Day

After weeks of cold and wet, today was really nice outside. My bicycle had its chain cleaned and lubed for a quite noticeable improvement in performance. I am amazed at how much easier it is to pedal the bicycle afterwards compared to before the chain was cleaned and lubed. Some people in passing cars waved and honked at me when they saw me riding the bicycle while playing guitar.

I rode to the store to get something. First a little dog chased me and tried to bite me. I kicked at it, twice, then turned the bicycle and chased the little dog back to its yard. A few blocks on, a little kid (about ten years old) chased me yelling "Give me that guitar" and "I want to kill you." As before, I turned and rode back towards him. He and his friends gathered around and I played a couple of riffs on the guitar for them. He said he wanted to steal the guitar. I told him I hope he gets one someday. He might be a great rocker.