Porsche Bike R Coast & Coast Adventure completed

With a bit of luck, last year I was able to buy a well-used 1999 Porsche Bike R. I have wanted a Porsche road bike for sometime, but they are super rare and very expensive. I thought I’d have to settle for my Bike S mountain bike and Bike X touring bike for Porsche cycling enjoyment. Then, on the Porsche Bike Group Facebook page I started, someone offered me a blue/purple and yellow Bike R at a price I couldn’t say no to.

Almost immediately driving into Pennsylvania to pick up the bike, I realized this vintage bike needed some refurbishing. The tires were flat, frame scratched up, and shifters bent. Once home I started planning a complete overhaul.

About a month later, I had finished the work including new tubes, tires, brake pads, chain, cassette, all cables, shifters, bar tape and touch up paint. The bike looked and performed as if new again.

With the rebuild finished, I wanted to set out for some rides worthy of this amazing road bike. The 1999 Porsche Bike R has a lightweight aluminum frame and top-of-line (for 1999) Shimano Dura-Ace brakes and gears. And the bike listed for $10k back in 1999.

Researching fun rides, I found the Sea Gull Century in Maryland and the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. I liked the sound/theme of the Coast & Coast Sea Gull and Sea Otter bookend rides to celebrate this new Porsche Bike in my garage.

Last fall I completed the Sea Gull Century … a 100 miles mostly in the rain! Here is the complete story.

And last weekend on April 20, 2024, I was able to complete the 48-mile Sea Otter Classic Gran Fondo Pacifico to wrap up the bookend Coast & Coast Adventure.

The Sea Otter Classic is an amazing cycling event, with professional road, dirt, and gravel races, fun rides, bike vendor exhibits. food, camping, and anything and everything that has to do with bicycles. The event is located at the Laguna Seca race track … my home track growing up and also the location of last year’s Rennsport Reunion hosted by Porsche. I signed up for the Pacifico because I love the California coast and have long wanted to ride along the Pacific Ocean.

The Gran Fondo Pacifico started on the Laguna Seca race track, rode down the famous corkscrew, exited the track by pit lance, down to the coast on backroads, along the ocean to 17-mile drive and returned to the track for 48 miles total. The weather was great and views of Monterey Bay were spectacular. The ride back up the hills to Laguna Seca were super challenging though.

The ride was amazing and at the finish line, I got a Sea Otter medal which felt like a reward for completing both Atlantic and Pacific coast rides. This effort was nearly a yearlong activity, with the bike rebuild, many hours of training, the century ride, dragging the Bike R on the plane to California, and of course, riding the Pacifico Gran Fondo. What an amazing time I had!

Not sure what's next or how to top this experience!

And I must mention that during all of the training and these two epic rides, the 1999 Porsche Bike R performed perfectly! Fast, smooth, reliable and fun to ride. Porsche makes some great bicycles.

Phase One Complete: Sea Gull Century x 1999 Porsche Bike R

Last Saturday I rode the recently refurbished 1999 Porsche Bike R on the 104-mile Sea Gull Century in Eastern Maryland. This ride was the culmination of months of mechanic work to bring the Bike R back to like-new performance standards and many training miles to test both bike and body for 100 miles. Yet, this ride was also just the beginning of my two-part “Coast & Coast” Porsche Bike R cycling adventure. To complete the C&C, the next ride is the Sea Otter Classic along the California coast in Monterey, California. Sea Gull to Sea Otter has a nice ring to it, and what sold me on making this a bucket list must-do.

Before I get into the Sea Gull Century ride recap, I’d like to share what led to the Bike R purchase and rebuild to begin with. I have ridden my 1998 Porsche Bike S mountain bike on two 100 milers and the 2004 Porsche Bike X (converted into a road bike) on one 100-mile Century and the 129-mile Death Ride. But I have long wanted the road-racing and purple/blue and yellow Porsche Bike R from the late 1990s. This bicycle had a retail price of $10,000 back then, was super rare, and not many are seen for sale these days. Then in June this year, I got a message through the Porsche Bike Group Facebook page that someone wanted to sell a 1999 Bike R. I tried to find a buyer for what the bike was worth. It was in well-used condition, but even so, these rare bikes are still worth some money. When I couldn’t find a suitable buyer, the seller offered to me for a price I couldn’t turn down.

Not only was the price too good to pass on, but the bike was also a large frame size and was two hours from my house. All of this was too good to be true. Quickly picking it up, I realized I had some work on my hands to get it rideable. The bike had two flat tires, didn’t shift well, and was dusty and dirty.

I spent the next couple of months working on the Bike R. I changed the tubes, tires, saddle, brake pads, chain, cassette, shifters, bar tape, all cables, and pedals. I also added some touch paint, and washed and waxed the bike. Everything I changed or added were OEM parts and matched the original bike colors.

Once the bicycle was road-worthy, I started testing and training. Switching from the mountain bike Bike S and touring bike Bike X to a full racing, drop bar road bike was a mind scramble. The Bike R is ultra-light, fast and super-maneuverable. It was like going from a Porsche Cayenne to a Porsche Boxster. This bike is amazing, smooth, and fast to ride.

With testing wrapping up, it was time to dream up a ride worthy of this bike. After a bunch of web research, I came up with the Coast & Coast idea … Sea Gull Century in October 2023 and the Sea Otter Classic in April 2024. Since I’m no stranger to long distance riding, I knew what training I needed to complete, and I got to work.

On the day of the Sea Gull Century ride, the weather forecast showed morning intermittent rain turning into full rain by the afternoon. I estimated the 100 miles to take about 6-6.5 hours. Starting at 7AM (earliest start time allowed) I would finish around 1-1:30PM … right into the heavy rain.

The Sea Gull Century is famous for its mostly flat and fast course through amazing rural and farming country, with a rest stop at the Atlantic Ocean. Starting early at the Salisbury University campus, I decided to ride as fast I could, only stopping at the rest stops for as short as possible and try to beat the rain. At first, the weather was cool with only a little bit of light rain. I made some good time. I even jumped into some pace lines to get a draft from some of the faster cyclists.

Starting early, I was hopeful to miss the worst of the rain … but with about 20 or so miles left the rain started to pour. A soggy finish was unavoidable. I was in bad spirits that last hour or so. I couldn’t see through my cycling glasses, so I had to take them off and just squint to see. My body was soaked to the core. 

Even though the Sea Gull course is generally flat, the rain and wind made it challenging. My training carried me to the finish with a total ride time of 6 hours and 14 minutes.

I was hyper-focused on my speed, ride time and the weather. But once I was finished, I realized the 1999 Porsche Bike R performed perfectly. It was fast, smooth, reliable, and best of all it didn’t have one flat, didn’t miss one shift and could keep up with modern bikes without issue.

I consider this entire rebuild, training and century ride among some of my most epic Porsche Bike efforts. Next up is the off season training and aim for the Sea Otter Classic to finish the Coast & Coast adventure!

SeaGull Century Bike R endurance test ride

Today was a 100-mile SeaGull Century endurance test for my bike and myself. I wanted to try out everything I could that I'm planning to wear, eat, drink and of course the 1999 Porsche Bike R set up. I rode the Baltimore to Annapolis Rail Trail four times to get 100 miles wearing my yellow Porsche jersey and full bike-matching kit, of course! Since I can't guarantee I'll get food/drink at the rest stops during the October Century ride, I brought along and only needed to eat two Cliff Bars and two Gaterade bottles. So I now know I can make 100 miles with what I can carry, if needed. My kit, my body and the Porsche Bike all performed as well as I could have ever hoped for. If anyone thinks these bikes are toys and not real performance bicycles, Strava said I did one of the B&A out-and-backs 6th fastest of all time. Not bad for a 57 year old dude on a 24 year old bike. Now that I have completed a 100-mile ride on the Bike R, its time to switch to some speed training to finish the final preparation before the October 14 SeaGull Century.

Bike R upgrades

The yellow shifter hoods arrived today. Changing out from the black hoods sure makes a lot of yellow on the 1999 Porsche Bike R. To add more (too much?) yellow, I just ordered a FIZIK ARIONE special series saddle provided to pro teams for the wearer of the Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France. Hope the saddle arrives in time for the Seagull Century!

Seagull Century training

Gearing up for the October Seagull Century on the 1999 Porsche Bike R required some long-distance training. 60, 70, and 80 mile rides so far. Might try to complete a 90 miler before tapering. 

Sea Gull Century

My event numbers and info for the October 14 Sea Gull Century ride arrived yesterday. Looking forward to this first organized ride with the recently refreshed 1999 Porsche Bike R.

Porsche Bike RSR

Daydreaming yesterday, I started thinking about a possible next bike idea. Let’s call it … project Porsche Bike RSR. 

While I enjoy riding my current Porsche Bikes, they are over 20 years old and I fear the aluminum frames won’t last forever. I might have some years left. But likely not another decade. Plus, I’m really enjoying riding the Bike R road racing bike. Never had a bike that fast, going back to a heavier/slower bike doesn’t interest me.

So, what to do? How about taking one of the newer Porsche carbon fiber frames and turning it into a road racing bike? The frame from the Bike RS could be ideal. The RS only weighs 19 pounds and that’s with heavier tires. But the Bike RS has a flat handlebar, the wrong gears for road racing and those fatter tires. Plus the front forks are too tall. 

Daydreaming about building the ultimate Porsche road bike, here’s what I came up with. Find a recent Bike RS, preferably one of the most recent black frame versions. Strip the bike of basically everything and replace with the latest road bike gear. Switch from the RS mountain bike gears to an electric shifting Shimano Ultegra road racing groupset with carbon fiber drop handlebars. Also change the rims to carbon aero rims and 700c x 28 tires with a low profile front fork to create a more aggressive stance. 

I bet this would at least maintain the same 19 lb. weight, if not even a little less. This Bike RS with components similar to the Bike R of the late 1990s and early 2000s, would be a true racing bike … hence the rename to Porsche Bike RSR. 

Using a little Photoshop imagination, here’s what it could look like.

Short ride before travel

 

Short ride before heading west to Monterey car week. 

Morning ride

 

Another great morning ride on the newly refreshed 1999 Porsche Bike R. 

Long Bike R test ride

First long distance 1999 Porsche Bike R test ride yesterday. 55 mile round trip to Annapolis. Bike held together with the exception of a couple front chainring inner chain drops. Some adjustments needed. But other than that, riding smooth. I got 34 Strava achievements … easy because the Bike R is so much faster than the Porsche Bike X and Bike S.

Rinse and repeat

A couple more 16 mile test rides this week on the 1999 Porsche Bike R. Off to a good start on testing and training. Hoping for a 50 miler this weekend.