Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Porsche Bike X is on its way!


Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean is a 2004 Porsche Bike X making its way to the USA and more specifically Truckee, California. This ultra rare Porsche hybrid bicycle is all black, even the Porsche name and bike logo, on a road bike frame, road bike rims but with front shocks, seat post shock and mountain bike-type tires. The mix of road and mountain bike features is what constitutes a hybrid bike. Half mountain, half road bike. I'd probably call it more of a cross bike, as hybrid now seems to mean pedal and electric power to me. But back in 2004 when this bike was produced an electric assist bike didn't exist!

The Porsche Bike X could arrive as early as next Monday or Tuesday. International shipping takes time though and I am patient. I look forward to opening the box and letting the set up begin.

My goal is to turn this hybrid Bike X into a hill climbing monster. I plan to do the work this winter while riding some long distance mileage down in Sacramento. The changes I intend to make will take a few months to track down the parts.

The frame, rims and gearing are perfect for what I need. The seat post, seat, front fork, tires and handlebar grips will all be replaced with more modern, lighter and all German components. My goal is to build a lighter mountain climbing bike but as close to all original as possible.

All of this effort is to prepare for the July 8, 2017 Death Ride. The Death Ride is a 125-mile, 5 mountain pass organized bike ride event in the California Alps in the South Lake Tahoe area.

I look forward to the next eight months!

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Friday, October 21, 2016

Porsche Bike X

My German friend who is shipping me the Porsche Bike X also today emailed me the 2004 "update" document for the Porsche Bike X. This two page document (below) includes all the specifications for the 2004 Bike R, FS, S, CS and the Bike X. Just a week ago I didn't know a Bike X even existed. Now I have one on it's way to California to join my Porsche collection!  


Thursday, October 20, 2016

I'M BACK!!!!!


Who am I kidding? I can't stop cycling! I'm back on a Porsche bike and ready for the next challenge!

I just found a 2004 Porsche Bike X in Germany that I intend to ride in the 2017 125-mile Death Ride in the South Lake Tahoe area.

I just ordered the bike from a super nice gentlemen in Germany. He is an automobile bicycle collector and has all the original brochures. He is very knowledge about Porsche bikes and provided me with all sorts of new information to share through this blog!

The Porsche Bike X is ultra rare. Never sold in the United States. Only in Germany. The Bike X is made by the German bicycle company Storck

My 1998 Bike S was commissioned by Porsche and built by Votec. The Bike S was 100% mountain bike and this Bike X is more of a road bike with front shocks. The Bike X has more gears, bigger rims/tires, thinner frame and updated shifting.

I paid for the bike today and hope it will arrive by the end of the month. Shipping from Germany takes time. My goal is to go over the bike thoroughly this winter and begin riding up the many Tahoe mountains in the spring.

2004 Porsche Bike X

Frame height 57 cm 
28 inches 
Ideal for all 170-195 cm 
Shimano 27 speed 
Adjustable VDO Syntace stem 
Sprung seat post 
Racks and fenders are available 
Color: Black 
Frame: Aluminium 
Size: L 57 cm 
Fork: Insync Odesa 
Crank: Truvativ Firex Team Switches
Workshop: Shimano XT
Brake: Shimano Deore
Tyres: Continental 
Stem: Syntace VRO ecolite

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

End of the road for the 1998 Porsche Bike S adventure

Saturday's Sacramento 100 Mile Century ride marks the end of my year long Porsche Bike S journey. And with the end of my riding, comes the end of this blog.

I rode a total of 2473 miles in that timeframe and shared almost every mile on this blog. People from all over the world have visited this site in the last year. This blog was also referenced on other websites as an expert in Porsche bikes. I have been honored to bring a little knowledge about the Porsche Bike S to the world. I intend to leave this site active to tell the story about my year long journey for years to come. But I won't be posting - that part of the Bike S story is now completed. Time to move on to the next Porsche adventure.

I would like to thank Niello Porsche in Rocklin, California for sponsoring me and my riding. And thank Damon Lowney for running my stories in the Porsche Club of America weekly e-newsletter.

Who knows, maybe next year I'll ride a new Porsche bike on the Death Ride and have to start an entirely new blog.

Jim Hemig, signing off.
Safe riding!

Monday, October 3, 2016

Sacramento Century Porsche Bike S photos

I just downloaded the professional photos taken at the Sacramento Century ride. These are the best two photos.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

100 miles on a 1998 Porsche Bike S



Call it a personal best, personal record or what I like to call a world record, I rode my 1998 Porsche Bike S 100 miles in the Sacramento Century yesterday. The jaunt took me just over 7 hours, averaging 14.1 miles per hour. Not too shabby considering I had 3 rest stops and had to wait for a ferry and a drawbridge to cross the Sacramento River - all adding to the charm of this amazing ride.

Why a world record? Well, I have scoured the Internet and cannot find anyone that has ridden a Porsche bicycle this far in a single day. Since I'm a Porsche nut, I am self-labeling my 100 miles a world record on a Porsche bike hoping someone will challenge me!

The Sacramento Century started downtown Sacramento at the Capital Mall. I headed out right at the 7am start knowing the later the start the more wind develops along the delta. The sun hadn't yet shown itself and the 50 degree temperature felt chilly. I elected to ride with just shorts and a jersey knowing once the sun came up it would warm up fast. So the first hour I was rather cold.

The well-organized ride headed west from downtown Sacramento and very quickly picked up the Sacramento River. Most of the ride was on a river levy road or along roads through corn, grapes or other Central Valley agriculture. All providing great views and quiet riding.

Some of the levy roads were well maintained and some were broken up pretty badly. My 1998 Porsche Bike S mountain bike performed perfectly on these mixed surfaces. The front shocks with the firm elastomers absorbed the rough bumps and the smooth slick tires rolled effortlessly for the entire 100 miles. I noticed groups of riders stopped while one of their party fixed a flat. The road took it’s toll. But my Porsche bike just kept on riding without incident.

Sure, I got passed by some of the people on the newer and lighter road bikes, but I passed them back with my short "pit stop" strategy only spending a few minutes at each rest stop - again to shorten my overall time and avoid the afternoon wind.

At mile 8 I unknowingly rode into the first water stop as I noticed others were bypassing. I didn’t need water after only 8 miles so I turned around only to lose ground on people I had just recently passed.

More levy roads and more great Sacramento River scenery until the mile 28 rest stop. By now I was hungry. But wanting to make a quick “pit stop” I ate half a bagel with cream cheese, stuffed another half bagel in my back jersey pocket and jumped back on the bike.

The ride began to move further south into delta country and with it a little wind. So far it was mostly a tail wind, and with warming temps, felt good as it pushed me south. Riding up to the river ferry was an odd sight. I just missed the previous river crossing, so I had to wait a bit. I noticed a stream of bikes coming up behind me - again my lead was gone.

I was the third rider on and off the ferry, which was fun, as I had a great view crossing the Sacramento River.

On the other side we all rode forward into Isleton as a group. At this point, mile 58, I was getting hungry and weak. The single bagel apparently wasn’t enough. The Isleton lunch was surreal. Downtown Isleton looked like it was quite a neat place, maybe 20-40 years ago. Now it looks run down a bit, but had this very cool charm about it. Local Rotary members were hosting lunch. I had a quick ham sandwich they were making for the riders, filled up my water bottle, used the porta potty and took off riding as quick as I could.

Heading out of Isleton I got stuck at a drawbridge. I rode up just as the light flashed and road closed. Again waiting, a group of bikers caught up to me. Standing with my bike, I could see all the boats cruising by. A fun sight for sure. I even saw a guy on a boat catch a big large mouth bass.

The ham sandwich did it’s job and propelled me through mile after mile of agricultural land and wineries. I didn’t know that the Sacramento area had so many wineries! At this point though, I was over halfway and heading north - into the wind. The light headwind did slow me down and made my legs feel heavy.

The next rest stop was at Bogle Winery at mile 81. Cyclists and wine tasters intermingled in the vineyard parking lot. I got another bagel for energy, banana for potassium and helped a couple in a newer 981 yellow Boxster find a shady place to park.

At this winery rest stop I had already ridden further than ever before. But the 100 mile mission wasn’t complete quite yet. The last stretch of miles remained.

The last 18 miles was a mix of river levy roads, and getting back into Sacramento, some neighborhoods and business districts. As I got closer to the finish line I already had 100 miles on my GPS and I realized I was going to end up over the Century mark. The final mile count was 101.81 by my Adidas GPS app.

At the finish I got off my bike to find my legs and lower back screaming at me. The sense of completion trumped the worn out body and I celebrated with a dark beer in the finish line Oktoberfest.

Thinking back about all the training and bike work I did over the last 12 months to prepare for this single day of riding, I felt proud of my accomplishment. I started with a bike in pieces in a delivery box and was only able to ride 3 miles before my legs and butt hurt.

Yesterday I successfully rode my rebuilt 1998 Porsche Bike S 100 miles in a single day. After a year of dreaming, planning, building and training: Mission Accomplished.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Porsche Bike S: Mission Accomplished

Today I finished my year long journey to ride my 1998 Porsche Bike S 100 miles. It was a long year of training and a long 100 miles. Tomorrow I'll provide a full report. But now, I'm going to sit in the hot tub!

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 ...