On Friday, I head up to The Dalles, Oregon, to participate in the Oregon Randonneur’s Oregon Blue Mountains 1000k brevet. If all goes well, this will be my last brevet on The Pencil, my trusty Rivendell road bike. In September–or so–I’ll be taking delivery of a custom randonnee frame by Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles (details to follow).
Since I’m a slow randonneuse, I rarely spend time with other riders or their bikes (save for Pal Peg and her newly built Tony Pereira). I try to grab reference shots at the beginning of brevets or during rest controls. As I’ve already documented, I adore randonneuring bikes for their visual elegance, purpose built design, uber-durability and post-apocalyptic use value. I also love that a brevet bike is visually incomplete without a well made, canvas duck front handlebar bag.
Here are a few of my sample brevet bike snaps.


Peg’s Pereira (rare flat repair)
Tournesol after SIR Bremerton 400k
Jack’s vintage 650b Grand Jubile Motobecane
Amy P’s Rivendell Rambouillet (in ghoulish a.m. hotel light)
Tom’s custom Coho
Robin P’s Waterford custom (mark down for minimalist baggage)
Sara’s Velo-Orange Randonneuse (early Johnny Coast prototype)
Trusty Pencil on 3 Capes 300k

You’re getting a Vanilla?! Holy hockey-pucks! There won’t be Ray-Bans strong enough to even look at you! Damn. Congratulations!
I can’t wait to get a look at the Vanilla. Are we going to see Archival Clothing handlebar bags in the near future?
mine
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22253260@N00/4523364737/sizes/l/
mine
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22253260@N00/4523364737/sizes/l/