30th Century Bicycle

The touring presentation last night was good clean fun.  We were treated to some beautiful photos and cold beers, as well as a few shocking stories.  Gorilla Gluing a stem into place on a loaded touring bike, for instance.

We now return our attention to the ongoings of the shop.  It seems that every time we turn around a few more new bikes sneak in.  Some of the beauties include:

The Bianchi Iseo for in-town commuting as well as longer, speedier road rides.

The Marin Muirwoods urban 29er, fully geared for versatility.

Or, if all you need is a couple gears on your urban 29er, the Marin Hamilton has a Sturmey Archer 2-speed kickback hub.

Or, if a 29er just isn’t quite enough, there’s always another option.

And, we have some of the last Milanos available in the US.  A variety of gear options found among the Alfine, the Citta, and the Parco.

Back in 2008 we had to go to a retirement party so we did a nice 8 day tour over almost to lake Michigan and back.

We had some rough roads in Iowa due to the flooding that year.

And this one time it stormed really hard while we were trying to eat our lunch.

But sometimes the weather was beautiful, and oatmeal for breakfast before an all day ride was not just all we could ask for, but all we needed as well.

To get us all in the mood for Thursday night’s bicycle touring presentation, a full week of pictures from bike tours gone by!

This is from a 3 day tour we did in 2007 with Ira Ryan.  We rode from Portland, OR, out to the coast and back.  We rode a tandem, which we had never done before, and used a big WALD basket up front which turned out to be pretty awesome for touring.

Shawn Granton and his intrepid partner, April, have been riding their bikes around North America for 3 months and are still going! They started from Portland, OR and worked their way to the Midwest via the Canadian Rockies. Join us next Thursday, Sept. 22nd at 6pm as they swing through Iowa City and kindly share road stories, photos, and tips for your next tour.

To learn more about these folks or just to read their firsthand accounts, check out their blogs.  April’s is at http://aprillikesbikes.wordpress.com/ and Shawn’s is at urbanadventureleague.blogspot.com.

Today we got a bicycle delivery of a big box of 30th Century Bicycle t shirts!

Made in the USA cotton/poly blend,  screenprinted right here in Iowa City by White Rabbit.

A bike ride to work can increase your health and decrease your stress, and occasionally you get paid in cash money.  Really!

On my ride to the shop this morning I got paid 10¢.  Don’t delay, ride your bike to work today – thar’s dimes in them thar bike paths!

Over the long weekend (2 days for us!) we took another overnight bike camping trip.

The bikes were almost the same, but Cody got fenders on the Big Dummy, and converted it to a drop bar set up.  Look at all the bottles that rig can carry!

We rode to some beautiful land that a friend of ours was nice enough to let us stay at.

It was a great night for it, the overnight temp dropped below 50 and we were happy to have a fire.

Look how happy bike camping can make people, the season is not over, there is still time to grab your bike and a bag and get out there!