Wow, man. I’ve never been a racer. Do racers still push high gears like those? I mean look at the chainrings and that rear cluster!

I know higher cadences are more popular now… Do racers typically spin more or are hteir bike like that still?

That’s a straight block and yes those are the gears you raced back in the day. This was before my time, but there was no “spinning” like you’d think of with Lance or his contemporaries.

There’s a blog for that.

I don’t know how I had never bumped into Doug Siple’s photostream before, but he’s part of the family that started the Tour of the Scioto River Valley in 1962. The Columbus-to-Portsmouth on Saturday, Portsmouth-to-Columbus on Sunday ride has spawned similar rides in Florida (“Tour of Springtime Rural Vistas”), Montana (TOSRV West), and Vermont (TOSRV East, “Tour of Soggy Rainy Vermont”).

At one time, Ohio’s TOSRV grew to almost 7,000 riders spending Mother’s Day weekend following the old Ohio & Erie Canal paths on a fairly easy route that’s often (always?) complicated by Ohio’s unpredictable springtime weather (floods, 40-degree rains, headwinds both days, etc.).

For a guy racing in Central Ohio, a straight block would be all you need—the glaciers made sure of that.

Noticed the totally pro accessory on his bike—a stopwatch. Riding the clock.