The Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour May 16 2006

This is the bicycle ride we were invited to go on this weekend up in Red Wing, Minnesota:

The Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour

Now that the fourth 3-Speed Tour is history we have realized we have created something bigger than we thought possible. This is, arguably, the most memorable cycling event you’ll find. Why? It’s simple: time travel. If you are with us next May, you will be cycling through the Golden Era of English cycle touring: the 1930s.

The Lake Pepin 3-Speed Tour is based on cycle touring in pre-war England. It was a Gentlemanly time; few people owned a car and recreation based on automobiles was extremely limited. To get away for the weekend they would pack a few things, mount up and head to the country. Most every farmstead had refreshments or a room to rent, every little village had a family-run restaurant; just look for the “Cyclist Teas” or “CTC Recommended” sign. It’s a romantic image to be sure but firmly based in reality. It’s a reality that is fairly easy to reproduce given the right scenery, equipment and most important: attitude. One cyclist in a thousand will understand what I’m offering and that person, as you, will glaze over and say “I simply must go!”.

Now the funny thing is that I’ll be riding a racing-red Bianchi — kind of an entirely Italian bicycle, not English. Good thing Richard built a hub-shifting 3-speed and did a custom lacquered handlebar wrap for authenticity… 🙂

Should be a fun time for sure.

Update: Looks like we won’t be going after all due to some unavoidable work obligations for Richard and Chestnut. Hopefully next year will work out better!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 at 1:18 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.