Day 24 – Our Heroes

Thursday, November 13th

Clearwater, FL to St. Petersburg, FL and back

We were thrilled to make our own hot breakfast again this morning – eggs, sausage, oatmeal and coffee – and though we got a late start, the weather was still pleasant as we headed South on the Pinellas Trail. Dad had been in contact with Mike Wilkerson at Bacchetta headquarters via email and had asked if we could stop by to see the warehouse while we were in the area. He’d been anticipating this part of the trip for several weeks, so today’s trip was a huge part of our journey.

Dad flew off down the road as usual, but I lagged behind for most of the trip, low on energy or gumption or something. I could tell Dad was really enjoying the ride when I stopped at our turnoff while he sped down the Trail. I pulled over and enjoyed a short break before Dad realized I was missing, came back around, asking worriedly, “What’s wrong?”

“This is our turn.”

“Oh. . . . I thought we had a while to go.” That’s the story of Dad and his Corsa; they’re always sad to leave a good road.

We turned South on 95th St and Dad took the lead. Now on the lookout for the Bacchetta warehouse, Dad zoomed down the street while I counted addresses. Seeing the Bacchetta sign on the side of the building, I turned into their parking lot, and signaled to Dad who was already half a block down the road, having too much fun going fast to spot the turn.

When he joined me in the parking lot, we parked the bikes and wandered into the lobby shared by Bacchetta and a home theater seating company. There were several kinds of home theater seats and two Bacchetta prototypes on display, but no one manning the reception desk. We waited for a bit then peeked into the Bacchetta offices and waved at a guy who looked up from his telephone call.

Waiting for the guy to finish his call, we paced around the lobby, too sweaty to try out any of the theater seats. When he joined us, he introduced himself as Mark Colliton.  He seemed a little surprised to have visitors, but we introduced ourselves and told him that Mike Wilkerson was expecting us. When we described the gist of our trip and mentioned we rode our bikes down the Pinellas Trail to visit them, Mark went outside to check them out.

After examining some of Dad’s modifications on the Agio, he took us back and introduced us to Mike and their financial officer, Jeremy Massey. Mark showed us the warehouse and their new carbon bike prototype (beautiful and, of course, impressively lightweight), then we brought our bikes into the warehouse so Mark, Mike and Jeremy could look over our Agio and Corsa. Someone commented on my pedals (Shimano A530s with SPD cleats on one side and a platform on the other) saying they hadn’t seen that version before,  and though I almost piped up to tell them those were my training pedals, I figured that’s not something I should be boasting about. (However, Hank of Helotes Bicycle, who ordered them for me would be proud to know I don’t use the platform side anymore.)

Mike noticed the weight my kickstand supported had strained and bent it into an unstable position. I agreed and told him every time we park, we have to plan ahead and position the bike with the kickstand uphill so the it won’t topple. He offered to replace it with one of their new, adjustable kickstands (sleek, black and much sturdier) and also offered to take a look at a problem he noticed with Dad’s rear brake caliper.

While Mike worked on our bikes, Mark lent us to two yellow Bellas to test drive down the Trail. Crossing the Trail’s bridge over the bay, we encountered a headwind, and without clipped pedals I couldn’t make much power; I couldn’t even get it into the top gear in the middle chain ring. So at the end of the bridge, we turned around and Dad helped me adjust my seat: we lowered the angle of the back and scooted the seat forward and it made a huge difference. I took off across the bridge, giddy with new-found speed (especially since I wasn’t toting 45 lbs of motor and batteries). We slipped back into the warehouse as they were removing my old kickstand and found that Mike had already worked his magic on Dad’s brake problem.  Thank you Mike!

He found out we didn’t have any Bacchetta shirts and set us up with Killer B t-shirts (we asked for yellow, of course) then Mark invited us to lunch at a nearby diner. When the three of us walked to the diner, Mark, a regular, was enthusiastically greeted by almost the entire staff. Hearing that Dad and I were first timers to the diner, the cook agreed to go easy on us. We sat in a booth toward the back of the restaurant and Mark sold us on the turkey bacon wraps, then while sipping our drinks and waiting for the food, John Schlitter walked in and came over to join us.

Dad’s followed John’s racing career for a while and kept me up to speed on his progress in this years RAAM. In case John reads this, I shouldn’t give too much away, but when John walked up, Dad went wide-eyed, enthralled to meet such an inspiring cyclist and celebrity.

After the food arrived, talk over our tasty lunch turned to Hank, our hometown supplier, local legend and a recent addition to Bacchetta’s base of dealers. John had visited Hank and his shop shortly after we left on our trip, and we enjoyed hearing about the visit.  We talked about how Hank is different than any other bike shop owner we’ve known, about how his vast collection of bicycles (several significant to the evolution of bikes) and his extensive knowledge of bicycle history and repair makes him somewhat of an anachronism.  Even his business values are more old-fashioned and neighborly than today’s typical bicycle franchise, and his customers appreciate that along with his lovable eccentricities.

We had to thank the guys over and over again for making such a wonderful set of products in the Bacchetta line.  Neither Dad nor I would have attempted this trip, much less do a century a day for two weeks, if the bikes hadn’t been so comfortable, reliable, and fast.  Every day we are amazed at what we can do with these vehicles.

Back at the shop, we didn’t want to take up more of their time, so we loaded the bikes, took some pictures, said our goodbyes and rode off waving, both worried we’d pull an Arte Johnson riding out of the parking lot.

Dad and the Bacchetta guys, left to right: Jeremy Massey, Mark Colliton, (Dad,) Mike Wilkerson (secret identity: Nathan Petrelli), and John Schlitter. (Maybe we can get them to autograph a copy!)

Returning along the trail we approached a guy on a beach bike while topping one of the overpasses. As Dad picked up speed, coasting down the other side of the overpass, the guy tried to keep up. He pumped his legs as fast as he could, and when Dad saw this in his mirror, he decided to show off his Corsa. Needless to say, he jetted off at nearly 30 mph and I had to struggle to catch up. Beach bike guy gave up pretty quickly.

Invigorated by our exciting morning, we decided to stop by Clearwater Cycling to pick up Dad’s chain ring instead of going home. I tested my new kickstand and marveled at how well it worked on the crushed-shell fill used in the shop’s parking lot.  We picked up a patch kit along with the chain ring, then rode back to my uncle’s house.

We talked about going to the beach, but after I showered, I sat on the couch and mentioned something about maybe needing a nap and quickly passed out. I slept dreamlessly for about an hour then, awake and refreshed, drove us to the beach. Again, driving the car was frightening! Everything moves so fast! I was going the speed limit, 30 mph, with a car riding my bumper and it still felt too fast. We were driving a sky blue town car which probably blends into Florida’s sky blue sky because it felt like no one could see me. We should paint this thing yellow! I felt so lopsided, too; I’m used to being centered on my vehicle, but this was like I having a huge growth pushing out to my right, unbalancing me, and it took quite a bit of concentration to compensate for that. I was paying more attention to my surroundings than I ever have in a car and it began to give me a headache.

We made it to the beach and walked to a CVS to get change. We looked for postcards, but couldn’t find any we liked (the choices were aerial shots of Clearwater or ladies in skimpy bathing suits, neither really appropriate for purposes). We bought an ice cream instead: a delicious, mind-melting ice cream sandwich made with Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. It was amazing! Try one if you get the chance! We also bought a map of Pinellas County to help us plan our route home.

The sun set as we walked along the beach and though the water was cold, it felt wonderful on our tired feet. Nearing dinnertime, we returned home in the terrifying car. After dinner, I was working on this post when Dad called my name. I found him in the TV room and asked, “What’s up?”

“Have you ever seen the ‘Lost in Space’ series?”

“No.”

“You gotta watch this.”

So I sat down and watched the episode with a character we dubbed The Space Sand Flea – a giant goat-faced bear with under-eye hair that rose up out of a sand- and fog-filled crater. It quickly turned into an MST3K night.

Today’s Quick Stats:

Bike              Distance (mi)    Average Speed (mph)

MiniWini            27.77                   14.5

Sti(ck/g)           28.64                   14.7

Stampedes: 2

Roadside Pees: 1