Miles 4 Melanoma

Yesterday, I took the inaugural shakedown cruise on my new Diamondback Transporter, the bike donated by Raleigh Bicycles that I’ll be riding on the Pan-American Ride. I spent the past couple of weeks since I received it getting it ready for third-world touring. First, I completely disassembled it down to the bare frame, and gave it a couple coats of rust-proofing inside, then put it all back together. Here it is next to Kendall Lake in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park:

The Brooks leather saddle and ergo-bend handlebars are not the original ones that came with the bike; I’m testing out some alternatives, but already I’m inclined to switch back to something more traditional. I also added the cargo racks, which are the Jandd Expedition Rear Rack, and the Jandd Extreme Front Rack.

However, the bike performed great, and it was a soggy Northeast Ohio day to give it a good true test, especially for the fenders which kept me pretty much splatter-free. I rode a total of 59 comfortable miles.

Filed under: Pan-American Ride |