OK, now I’m done messing with this. I found this Huffy bicycle on the side of a road. Aside from trashed tires and one flat tube, it mostly needed just a cleaning to make it presentable. The final result is here. I shelled out for two new, slightly wider tires (no whitewalls), tubes, and handlebar grips, removed the decals, and added a bell and reflectors I already had. The front fork and chainguard were a very dull silver (a.k.a., gray) that detracted from the look of the chrome fenders, so I sprayed on two coats of Rustoleum gloss white. I believe it’s ready for a boardwalk.
Finally received new grips for the handlebars of the Huffy Santa Fe Cruiser. The old foam grips were easy to remove (one was already ripped) and the new leather-look grips went on easily with the help of some rubbing alcohol. Pretty soon I’ll stop messing with this bike.
The Adventure Cycling Association and other groups are developing a bicycle trail along the route of historic Route 66.
Stephanie Garber owns an RV park in Carthage, Missouri, along USBR 66. Although most of her customers arrive in motor homes or towing campers, so many cyclists now pass through that she created tent camping spaces specifically for them.
But making the route suitable for cyclists was no small task, and choosing the roads to include on the route meant balancing safety, tourism, and history. In addition to assessing factors like traffic volume and speed limits, staying close to the original highway and its Americana was paramount.
Back in 1996, Volkswagen partnered with Trek bicycles, offering a special VW Jetta Trek edition that came with a Trek mountain bike and a roof rack to put it on. The following year, they also offered a VW Trek Golf. One of those bikes turned up at a charity bike store, and, although I’ve never owned a VW, I picked it up because, as it says on the frame, it’s a Limited Edition.
The 1996 Jetta Trek Limited Edition Sedan started under $16,000 and came with either a five speed manual or four speed automatic. The VW Trek bike came with 21 speeds and custom seat, handgrips, and special graphics: a dude on a multi-colored rocket, orbiting the VW logo, and holding…something?
Details on the bikes are a bit harder to find. The 1996 ones had a steel frame, but this one has an aluminum frame, which may be the 1997 version. The OCLV on the rocket stands for Trek’s patented carbon fiber, but it’s unlikely that there’s any of it on this bike. A few parts had been replaced in the past twenty years, including the saddle (which also would have had that rocket boy logo), but it still has the original VW hand grips.
It’s definitely in better shape than some of the Trek Edition automobiles out there: Junkyard Gem.
