In my second year of university, my new dormmate showed up with a brand new
Fuji America touring bike. On the weekends he'd load her up and off he'd go, exploring Wake County, camping and cycling through the countryside. I was completely envious.
I went home that following summer and quickly realised that I could not afford nearly $700 USD for a bicycle. However, I discovered a new bike brand (new to me) in the shop window at my LBS (Toga Bike shop, no longer in business) which was much more affordable and it looked fantastic. I was hooked. I put $50 down and paid her off over the next few months as I worked several summer jobs.
For her first nine years "Lizzie" cycled mostly around North and South Carolina, sometimes into Virginia. From the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Outer Banks, it was her early years of cycle touring and she did her best to see as much as she could. In 1984-85, the Suntour derailleurs, Diacomp brakes, and SR crankset were replaced and upgraded to a full Shimano 600 groupset (including the infamous Biopace crankset!)
In 1988 she moved to Manhattan where on the weekends she could be found tucked on the Amtrak train heading north into the Hudson Highlands to Harrimon State Park and Bear Mountain, discovering small roads and towns of the Catskills and Adirondacks. At times it was difficult time for a touring bike in a big city, unfriendly to cycling in general, but she did her best — whenever she could get away to spend time exploring the New England countryside.
In 1995, she escaped "Gotham" and spent a wonderful "summer of love" wandering the Mission District of San Francisco and climbing San Bruno Mountain. She then re-located to Chicago in 1996 where she had a brief love-affair with Lake Shore Drive and Michigan Avenue. After that, she then spent a couple of years wandering through Connecticut and New England again, visiting the colonial shipping ports between Bar Harbor and New Haven (we almost lost her in Nantucket!) In 1997 the Shimano 600 hubs had worn out and were replaced with lovely new Campagnola hubs on Wolber GTX 2 rims!
But by 1998 and nearly 20 years, the miles had taken its toll on her natural good looks. I sent her back down to
Cycles de Oro in Greenboro, North Carolina - back to Dale Brown, the very man from whom she was purchased (then at Toga Bike Shop). Dale went to work on the girl, adding cable guides to the top tube & bottom bracket, integrated rack mounts, additional water bottle mounts, and finally topped it off with a sparkling new re-spray. She was reborn!
In 2002, she left the "Nutmeg State" and returned to the "Tarheel State" where she resumed her rambling along the back country roads she had first discovered. During a lengthy ride along the Outer Banks in 2003, the return spring in the Shimano 600 rear derailleur snapped, so I replaced both the front and rear derailleurs with a NOS Shimano Deore set I stumbled across in a little bike shop in Surf City, NC. It was a lucky find!
However, within a few years she was no longer content with the rolling hills of the Piedmont. In 2005 I boxed her up and flew her down to Cancun where she had a passionate summer exploring Playa del Carma, Tulum, and the Yucatan Pennisula of Mexico. She then embarked on a long coastal drive down the Eastern Seaboard to the Florida Keys in 2006 for a wonderful three months wandering the antebellum towns of Charleston, Savannah, and St. Augustine. Bigger and longer rides were now top-most on her agenda and the mileage began to accumulate.
In 2009, she made her first trip abroad; visiting Wales for three weeks and rolling along the Gower, the Pembrokeshire Coast, and climbing the mountains of the Brecon Beacons. Before her return trip the following year, a new Sugino triple-crankset (with better gearing for the hills - 46/36/26) was installed and she then spent another two weeks exploring the Welsh countryside. These two trips confirmed her desire and by 2011, I could not hold her back. I packed up all she could carry (even adding a Burley trailer), sold everything else and made the move to the UK.
She's been wandering the Valleys of South East Wales ever since.
20 years of loaded touring finally wore out the Campagnola hubs during the summer of 2021 and the decision was made to change over to 700c rims (she had been running 27" rims for nearly 43 years!) New Tectro (dual pivot/long-reach) calipers were aquired to match the new Exal rims and Zenith hubs. A final touch of Giles Berthoud mudguards trimmed her out nicely.
Today, I only ride her during the summer months, when the weather is good, and keep her annual milage around 1k. She's got a relaxed life now riding along the quiet country lanes of Wales.
Lizzie seems to thrive here (... as do I).
Read more about classic TREKs at:
Vintage TREK Bikes
