The Utah Randonneur

In the little information I’ve been able to find out about this marque I have heard it described as being in “Holy Grail” territory for bicycles. The fine craftsmanship and attention to detail by Gianni Sancineto make them a highly desirable rider. This time you won’t get a step by step account of the bike build. I gathered all of the parts over the past few months and just put it together. The intended style of this bike is kind of a Nuovo-Retro build. I have a number of older period-correct bikes already so this time I thought some newer components on an older frame would be cool. I am not exactly sure of the age of this frame but I believe it to be a 1991 model. It has 130 mm rear spacing so that pretty much pegs it at 1990 or later.  It is very hard to find any information on this marque even though they have been producing bikes for almost 100 years! I will keep researching to find out what I can. The Columbus Aelle tubing places it in the Sport Bike category I believe but the nice lugwork and fine details make it a very nice example of that!

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I occaisionally have the chance to ride with the Oregon Randonneurs and this event fit into my schedule pretty well this year. I think this ride may have at one time been called the Covered Bridges 400 which is a good name as there were many covered bridges on this ride. I am not exactly sure what the name “Eden’s Gate” is in reference to.

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A few weeks ago I was contacted by Motorola. They asked if I was willing to do some product testing on a new training device they are offering and then write my impressions of it on my blog. I agreed and they shipped the device out to me which was received within a couple of days.

It is an interesting device which records a surprising amount of data, that can then be uploaded later for analysis. It can track via GPS, your speed, elevation and plot your track! Then with other inputs such as a heart rate monitor and cadence sensor it can give you much more data to analyze including calories burned. If that wasn’t enough it is also an MP3 player which will not only hold 6GB or so of music or podcasts but it will compare your performance to your favorite workout tunes and tell you which you perform the best to!

Now, I am not much of a tech geek when it comes to my riding but this device seemed interesting to me. I think the MP3 player was the main attraction for me but as an aging cyclist I was also interested in looking at my heart-rate as well as my caloric burn rate. I thought that I would give the device a chance and see what it could do for me.

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Just finished my Mooto XZ 29’er XC bike. I bought it, frame only, late last year and I’ve been working on it for a few months now. I have aquired the parts from different sources along the way and now it is complete and ready to ride. I have only taken it on some driveway laps so far to get it set up, but this weekend should be the real shakedown ride!

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