Biking in Florida

The orange blossoms are in bloom. And, the weather is spectacular. Sunsets? Like you've never seen before...

A bicycle is one of the best ways to experience nature at its fullest. After a long days work, I rode out to a nearby lake to watch the sunset. No fancy camera necessary. I caught this fiery sunset with an iPhone. I was recently in Crested Butte, Colorado. Talk about a contrast in climate. It was generally in the teens, Fahrenheit.

This was the view from my window a few weeks ago at 9,000 feet elevation in Crested Butte.

Crested Butte is a magical place. In the winter, Mt Crested Butte reflects the sunset like a molten volcano.
For years, I had admired my friend Bruce's Bianchi. Ever since a sunny day when he lent it to me and a group of us rode down a beautiful trail during the wildflower season. I asked about it this visit and Bruce said "You want it?" You know what the answer was! I managed to find an old bike box and a few wrenches. Packed it up and shipped it parcel post back to Florida.

So, here it is: a vintage Bianchi Gran Sport.

And, here's the Bianchi back home in Florida. Click on the photo to see a detailed set of "before" pictures. Bruce said someone gave this bike to his dad years ago. It has a few broken spokes and quite a bit of surface rust from the snow. But, I always remembered how smoothly it rode. I posted a link to these pictures on a bike forum and asked if anyone knew about this particular model. Almost immediately, I got this response "It is a mid-level bike, ca. 1964 vintage. "Gran Sport" refers to the Campagnolo derailleur group. I am guessing it has a plain gauge carbon steel frame, because of the lack of a derailleur hanger and the very plain head lugs. The fork crown looks very much like the one on my first (1962) Bianchi. The right crank and spider look like a single unit -- in fact, the crankset looks identical to the Agrati set on my 1960 Capo, although Bianchi may have had yours privately labeled (I cannot read the brand name of your crank). Although it is not a high-end Specialissima, its geometry probably makes it a great rider. You may be able to find date codes on the rear derailleur, the cranks, or the hubs."

And, another reader said "I'm not sure how many road models Bianchi had at the time but the Specialissima was the top of the line. The Competizone (sp?) was next down, and shared the same frame as the Specialissima but had steel cranks, and some lesser parts.

The Gran Sport was probably next (maybe 2) down the line, but it does not share the high-end frame. It's straight guage tubing and does not have forged drop-outs. But it does have the cool "integrated" headset like the race bikes, and the same color scheme.

Yours is definitely worth putting back to original spec, although I would upgrade to alloy rims, the seel ones on your bike look like the originals. Nice that you have the high-flange 3-piece Gran Sport hubs. Polish those beauties up, they are some of the sexiest Campy ever made!

Find a nice 60's Ambosio stem and bars, and a easy to find Brooks B-17 would be a good upgrade on the original "Export" saddle. You could have a real nice bike there!"

Later, I stopped by a coffee shop and met the guys from local group "Tam Tam The Sandwich Man". Bike enthusiasts! They told me about local bike groups Orlando Critical Mass, 407 Fixed Gear (referring to Orlando's 407 telephone area code), and The Rusted Chain Bike Collective. "The objective of the Rusted Chain Bike Collective is to offer educational, recreational, and career-building opportunities through bicycling. We will provide access to space, tools, and experience in a safe environment free of discrimination. The Rusted Chain Bike Collective will promote interdependency through cycling, encourage movement towards environmental sustainability, and foster local unity."

Know any more groups and biking events we'd be interested in?

And, so it goes!