Incredibly, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show was held in Richmond Virginia this year. I say “incredibly” because this is a high-profile event in the cycling world and RVA isn’t necessarily known for getting this kind of thing. Kudos to whoever pulled this off.

Frame makers came from all over the world to display their work and to line up new customers. The level of detail and care that go into these frames is amazing. I went on Saturday and was blown away by the offerings. I didn’t take many photos, but the worthwhile ones I got can be found here. The bike-mad corner of the internet is going to be buried under photos of this thing later this week but you can go here to whet your whistle.

I’m probably 3-4 years away from making any kind of move for a custom, hand-built frame but the offerings on display this weekend were all the encouragement I need to go the bespoke route when that time comes.

I just spent the morning booking spots in some fun Springtime events:

Pedal Power 2010, March 20, 2010: Pedal Power is an event that promotes moving to a more sustainable lifestyle and taking simple steps to reduce energy consumption coupled with an electricity-generating contest among 2-person teams of cyclists. There are demonstrators on site with information about sustainability and conservation as well as promoting fitness through cycling. I did it last year and it was a lot of fun. Ethan Seltzer, the guy who came up with the idea and puts on the event, is a good guy and a pal of mine.

Monument Av. 10k, March 27, 2010: With over 35,000 entrants and prizes offered for best costume, this is much more of an event than an actual race. Yes, there are real racers that sign up and compete but the fun of the morning, for me, is in getting out for a good run and taking in the sights along Monument Avenue. I used to run this alongside Michelle as pace support but I made the switch last year to see how fast I could run it at my own pace. This year, I am spending some time training and I hope to cut a good chunk of time off of last year’s result.

Cycle North Carolina Spring Ride April 9-11, 2010: I rode this last year for the first time and it was an absolute blast. CNC sponsors a Fall ride that runs from the Western mountains of NC to the beach on the East Coast. It’s a bicycle tour of the state stopping in small towns for the night along the week long tour. The Spring ride is different in that there is one host town and all of the rides begin and end from the same place. It’s a 4-day, 3-night weekend of camping and riding and nothing else. It’s a pretty exciting feeling to wake up in the morning and not have anything to do but eat, drink, and ride bike. I’m looking forward to this one most of all.

I have a pretty ambitious event schedule I’d like to follow through on in 2010. This is the just the first leg. It’s going to be a good time.

I’ve been a fan of the “hey, here’s a nice scene” photos over at Eco Velo for some time now and this is my first meager attempt at one. I forget where I read it, but someone suggested that you should leave for your commute 20 minutes earlier than you think so if you see something cool you can stop and take a photo of it. Tonight I saw the nearly-full moon and a good spot to get my bike in a shot so i stopped and took it because I had time. I should start taking along a better camera.

I finally finally caught some serious road bike time this weekend since it wasn’t raining here in RVA for the first weekend all year. It was tough going for a couple of reasons:

1) I haven’t been on the bike for any meaningful miles in well over a month and I am woefully out of shape. This was surprising because I didn’t realize I had gotten into any kind of shape that I might fall out of. I have a feeling the first 100 miles of 2010 will be the toughest.

2) it was cold, and riding when the temperature is wearing a 30-handle isn’t necessarily conducive to strong, deep breaths. Luckily for me, I ride with some good people so the conversation is usually a great distraction from the cold air freezing my lungs and the snot running freely into my moustache and beard. You’re welcome.

While I was suffering up one of the lesser climbs yesterday, and swearing liberally between wheezes, I took some solace in the fact that time spent climbing in the January cold will mean strong legs and lungs in May. There isn’t a short cut to getting better at climbing. Or, as the Noob says, “To get better on hills — ride hills!”.

This point was reiterated, along with another good one, when I read this post over at the Bike Noob.

The other notable fact being “The quickest way to lighten your bike is to lighten yourself”. I joke all the time about how I could eat salad for a month and make as much of a difference to my GRW (Gross Ride Weight, and I do mean gross) as I could by switching to a carbon frame. I just don’t like salad enough to commit to it for a month.

My takeaways from here are to have an occasional salad and to embrace the hills.

I would love to take a 4- or 5-day tour along the length of the Great Allegheny Passage that runs from Washington DC to just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. It’s 300+ miles of old coal train route that’s been converted to bike trail. I’ve only been on a couple of multi-day rides but I have found that having nothing to do but ride bike makes getting out of bed very easy.

Here’s a good read from NYT on the route.

I’ve spent a good chunk of time at Bunny Hop. Luke’s a good guy and I highly recommend him for work.

Welcome to RVA – The Fan (Part 1, Bunnyhop) from RVA TV on Vimeo.

Excellent reworking of an iconic bit of type.

Sticker packs available here, t-shirts here.

I’m going to take a couple of touring rides next year, even if I have to just make them up on my own and go by myself. Virginia has a ton of places to see that would be neat to roll by on a bike.

I finally got around to tightening up the chain on my single-speed bike last night but I must not have tightened the bolts well enough because the rear wheel slipped and the chain jumped off about half way to work this morning. Luckily I had my Trixie bolted on the bike. I was able to get the wheel and the chain back where they belonged so I could get rolling again with a minimum of trouble.

It’s made more for fixed-gear riders, but I need the 15mm wrench, the cleverly built 8,9,10mm box end wrenches, and the bottle opener as much as those guys might. It bolts right into unused bottle cage bosses with the included wing nuts so it sits right on the frame in a low-profile position that’s never in the way. I’m a fan.

I’ve got my tickets. This looks pretty damn cool.