Candy Cranks

I apologize this is not fresh post about Nagoya but I’d still like to share this with you here. I currently live in Berlin now (moved in 5 days before Japan got tsunami) This was my last event I organized in Nagoya before I left Japan.

Our first annual Nagoya Tweed Ride was held on February 19. We are not sure but it seems like any other city in all of Japan don’t do Tweed Run. We always like to do different things and need to feel different kinds of cycling culture from the world. So we decided that we needed a Tweed Run but not just as a part of fashion show bike run, we also wanted to understand the English cycling tradition with the London Tweed Run respect.

I worried how many people would be interested in, we didn’t have enough announcement and it was hard to find 19th century tweed clothing here in Nagoya. I was surprised and impressed that we had turn out of over 50 participates dressed up in their tweed outfits. We took place at night and had about 2 hours group riding in Nagoya city. We could appeal some cars in traffics that cars occupied road now but the road was originally made for a bicycle first not for a car so we dressed up back in century and rode for respecting people at that time.

There was also a Best Mustache Contest at the after party but not everyone could have real facial hair, you know we are Japanese. GOOD TIMES, GOOD EXPERIENCE.

Thank you for sharing.

More photos HERE.

I was doing some Christmas shopping on one of my favorite sites for handmade items:  www.etsy.com.  There were so many beautiful items, but this one really caught my eye.

Isabel Lucas looking cute on her vintage dragster.

I put a basket on the front of my geared bike. It’s not my daily ride, but it has its uses.

Like hauling beer…

Before

Just over a year ago I rescued this bike from my great aunt’s garage. It is an old steel frame single speed Raleigh road bike. Its around 40/50 years old (I think!) It was in terrible condition as you can see from the picture.

I thought it would be a great project to bring it back to life but at the time I found it I was saving up to go traveling so I couldn’t afford to do anything with it. So it was left to sit for another year :/ until a few weekends ago when I stripped it down with the help of my boyfriend and we painstakingly put it back together. It was actually lots of fun.

Here are some pics of the work we did:

I didn't realise there were so many parts!

We started off by dismantling the bike completely and cleaning each part. Lots of tea breaks were required Our aim was to re-use and salvage as many of the original parts as possible.

the rim tape had seen better days!

We took the wheels down to the local bicycle shop and bought some new tires, rim tape and tubes for them. We used a metal polish and wire wool to clean all the crome parts of the bike – the wheels were particularly bad!

before and after

the frame ready for a good clean

We were going to re-spray the frame but the paintwork wasn’t actually as bad as we thought so we just gave it a good clean instead.

the bottom bracket all cleaned and ready to go

all the hard work is done - now to put it back together!

all finished!

All finished and ready to go. I managed to find an old saddle in good condition on ebay which was great as the original saddle was gone beyond repair. I found an old basket in the garage which fits perfectly on the front of the bike and everything else is original! Success!

The only think I am having trouble with is the rod brakes. The front one is working fine but the spring is gone on the back brake and I haven’t been able to find a replacement yet. I’ll have to google it more!

Name: Kim Cavanaugh

Nickname: Cupcake, Mrs. Cavanaugh

Star sign/Blood type: Aries/O+

Birthday: April 12, 1987

Current city: Houston, Texas

What’s the bike scene like in Houston for females?
It’s pretty chill. We have the girls ride that is a blast. Within the last couple years the bike scene has really blown up in Houston. It’s become very “hip” to be on a bike none the less a fixie so you see a lot of folks just riding it to be hip. When the fad dies we will see who is still in it for the joy of riding versus a fashion statement.

What’s your favourite ride right now? My Nishiki ☺ I call her Peaches.

Where’s your favourite place to ride? Through downtown during rush hour and around 3am when the streets are empty. It’s one or the other.

Favourite riding outfit: Shorts and tank.

Favourite food: Cupcakes and pizza.

Favourite movie: Blow.

Favourite book: Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass.

What makes you laugh? Hipsters, Jackass, the dudesons, etc….

What makes you angry? Not being on time and dudes/chicks in their 30s still acting 18 get a real life and grow the hell up.

What are you listening to on your I-pod? Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, a lot of classic rock.

Do you have any pets? Yes, two dachshunds. Puff is a standard size longhair/shorthair combo black and tan and Churro is a mini longhair that is a squirrel like color scheme (brown/red).

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