Daily Archives: May 15, 2021

May 2021

I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I unboxed my Betty Foy from Rivendell. My Betty is my daily ride and was my only bike til recently. I have an old Schwinn Mesa Runner that I use when I’m out of town on the weekends. I set it up like my Betty and like that it basically the same and I can always pull the parts if I’m desperate.

I do ride my Betty daily – about 360 days/year. I use it for all my errands and wherever I want to go. I did travel by Amtrak pre-COVID. And I’ve flown it boxed on American since it’s only a normal bag fee (no oversize charge anymore). I’ve done S24O trips and am slowly using it more for longer trips. I’m up to 2 nights camping and would like to go for 3 or more soon. Maybe this year.

I’m not sorry about all the scratches and beausage.  I remember every one. Each time I locked at a bad bike rack or street sign and it shifted and scraped the paint off the top tube. When I was adjusting my seat and the hex wrench slipped. When I parked on some cart return because there’s no bike rack… I ride daily and I always lock up. I never leave it unlocked.

I keep track of the mileage for maintenance purposes and I like to try to get full utility out of all my components. I had been trying to get more chains per cassette but I’m so bad about it that I think I’ve given up and will just wear them out together. I think I’ll try to get 5,000 out of them. I’ll see how that goes. I’ve used Schwalbe Marathon Supremes and usually get about 12,000 miles without a flat. They have wear indicators now which are helpful.

Miles : 58,529
Highest annual mileage : 9,000
Most daily miles: 80

Riding in NC

• Charlotte (Amtrak roll on service)
• Raleigh (Amtrak roll on service)
• Apex
• Cary (Amtrak roll on service)
• Durham (Amtrak roll on service)
• Asheville 
• Belmont
• Pinnacle
• Greensboro (Amtrak roll on service) to Apex
• Newton to Lake James
• Rocky Mount (Amtrak roll on service) to Elizabeth City
• Cycle NC ride 2019 from Clayton (Amtrak roll on service) to Atlantic Beach
• Rodanthe to Ocracoke

Outside of NC:

• Philadelphia, PA (Amtrak roll on service)
• Glacier National Park (Amtrak roll on service)
• Portland, OR (checked in box on American)
• Seattle, WA (Amtrak roll on service)
• Washington, DC (Amtrak roll on service)
• Orlando, FL (Amtrak roll on service)

Annual mileage

• 2011 : 1,818* (May -Dec)
• 2012 : 3,756
• 2013 : 4,294
• 2014 : 4,669
• 2015 : 5,169
• 2016 : 5,439
• 2017 : 5,064
• 2018 : 5,251
• 2019 : 9,014
• 2020 : 6,613
• 2021 : 2,008* (Jan- Apr)
• *partial year

Original equipment:

My Betty and I have gone so many places together and made so many friends and have had so many good times.  And we’ll have many more miles and trips and meet so many people. Bikes are made for riding. Go ride!

p.s. I matched some nail polish to the paint but since it doesn’t have a UV coating, it fades out. So some of the touch ups look white. I’m switching to clear nail polish now.

p.p.s. Plan all routes with Ride With GPS, write route on a 3×5 index card. No cell phone.