Wooden Bike

As foretold by Cynthia in her Wednesday blip, we went downtown this evening for the Bellingham Bike-In. We arrived early and immediately ran into a friend, Jill, who joined us for happy hour at Bayou on Bay Oyster Bar. We sat outside enjoying the sunshine -- it was much hotter inside the restaurant.

I had a salmon taco beautifully adorned with tiny pieces of mango and other things that I can't remember, but it was all delicious, as were the two Virginica oysters on the half shell. Bayou is the only place in Bellingham I know of that serves a UK-size pint (20oz). Jill and I had the Stone IPA.

After the meal C and I wandered around looking at the wonderful assortment of bicycles while enjoying the live music.

This bicycle, made by Renovo in Portland, Oregon, was easily the most beautiful one I saw* -- though I must admit to a bias towards things made of wood. The species used in the frame of this custom-made beauty are Port Orford Cedar, black walnut, wenge (aka African Rosewood), and ash.

The Renovo website is informative and very well designed -- just like their bicycles. They make it very clear that, although their bikes are beautiful, there are very practical reasons why wood is their material of choice. They mention the legendary WWII Mosquito airplane as another example of successful wood fabrication.

For a contrast in design, there was a carbon-fiber tandem with a total weight of 27 pounds (12 kg).

There are a few more photos here.

* Not the most beautiful one in Cynthia's view.

P.S. The wooden frame is hollow.