Last year, Felkerino and I started running into seeing Scott G. on D.C. Randonneurs rides and spent a lot of time following him and his friend Charlie around the Endless Mountains 1000K course.

Scott is an international randonneur, having lived and ridden in Canada, Australia, and various parts of the United States.

Since Scott has completed lots of brevets in lots of places, I wanted to know more about what he chose to ride and why. I asked him to be part of Bikes to Like, and here is what he told me about his brevet bike of choice.

1. What kind of bike do you have?

It is a Gunnar Sport bike in black with stealth Gunnar logos (just the outline of the name, not the inside). I built it up with various bits. A combination of stuff I had around the bike bins (Old Dura ace d/t shifters, a Ritchey compact crank) but I did buy some new bits to hang on it as well.

2. Where do you ride it?

I ride it around Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania with the occasional foray into West Virginia. I do lots of mid-week rides in the Potomac area, ’cause it’s close to home.

It wants to travel more, I think. I’d like to take it back to BC to do Van Isle or up to Wisconsin again for some rides there.

3. What do you like about your bike?

What I like about my bike is that it is comfy. I can ride it all day long without any complaints from me or it.

4. If you could describe your bike in one word, what would it be?

Souplesse – a french term for smoothness and suppleness.

5. Fenders or no fenders?

Yes to fenders. I grew up in Vancouver BC (That’s BC not DC) and if you didn’t have fenders you didn’t ride much of the year. Plus the BC rando’s had a rule until the mid 2000’s that fenders were mandatory for rides.

After the rule was removed, peer pressure was/is pretty strong and for the early season rides, most folks have fenders out of consideration for themselves and other riders in the group.

6. Does your bike have a name? If so, what is it?

Not really. I named previous bikes, but I try not to get too sentimental about the bike in case something happens to it 😦

7. What is your favorite accessory on your bike and why?

My favourite accessory is my Carousel seat pack– a virtual black hole that holds everything I need for a brevet. It’s lightweight and hand made in California.

8. What is your favorite photo of your bike/your bike and you?

This picture of my bike from the Endless Mountains 1240K. It was day two, I think, and this was just before a summit. The trees had a lovely orange tinge to them- really pretty.

9. What did I forget to ask you want to tell me about your bike?

This bike was the result of lots of thought in terms of materials and components. I’ve ridden brevets since 2003 and I’ve watched and talked to a lot of other riders in BC, Australia, and the US.A.

I tried to make this bike be the best bike for me after absorbing all the information from other folks plus my own experience. I only own two bikes and this one gets practically all the mileage now.

Thanks, Scott. It’s been great getting to know you the past couple of years, and now I know your bike a little more, too! See you on the road.