The best bicycle, like the best camera, the best fitness club, the best …. anything …. is the one that you’ll use. The hard part is figuring out what it is that determines that you will use it!

In earlier times of my life I found that the exercise regimen that I enjoyed most was riding my bicycle, but somewhere in the passage of time I stopped riding and started doing other life things. I attribute this shift to my own changing motivations and interests, but in recent years I found myself returning to some earlier interests – one of them, riding a bicycle.

A New Bicycle to Replace the Old Bicycle

I still have the bicycle I bought in the late 1980’s; a Bridgestone T-700 touring bike that never actually went on a bike tour but which was ridden a fair amount in northwest Oregon where I lived at the time.

However, bicycle technology and choices have advanced since those days – disc brakes, indexed shifters, 11+ speed cassettes, etc.

There are also new riding venues; in addition to riding on streets and roads, new bicycle technologies include mountain bikes to ride on rough trails as well as bikes specially designed for gravel roads.

With all that, in 2018 I decided to buy a new bicycle.

But Which Bike?

At this time in my life, I find that I’m not interested in long-distance road riding/touring. Even with the added infrastructure of bike lanes and such, I think sharing the road with automobiles is more dangerous than ever – primarily due to distracted drivers. But there are options other than riding on roads…

Ultimately, for reasons I elucidate on below, I selected a Trek Checkpoint ALR5 gravel bicycle, and in Fall of 2018, I ordered one from my local bike shop. Here is a photo of Señor Trail picking up his first new bike in 35 years!

Why This Bike?

In the past 20 years a movement has emerged and expanded to convert abandoned railroad rights of way to trails for pedestrian, cycling and equestrian use. These “rail trails” exist throughout the United States, with more being created every year. You can see if any are near you at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

I found the prospect of riding on rail trails compelling. Rail trails have no automobile traffic. Additionally, trains can go up long shallow grades, but they can’t go up steep ones, so on a rail trail you are guaranteed to not have steep “chain-dropper” hills.

Because rail trails can have either a paved or a gravel surface, this narrowed bicycle selection criteria to the gravel bike genre which can be ridden comfortably on either surface.

I’ve always had good experiences with Trek bicycles, and they have an excellent line of gravel bikes, so I chose one that fit both me and my budget.

What About an E-bike?

I decided against an E-bike because I don’t need one yet. I anticipate a time in the future when I will get one, but the longer I can use the Checkpoint, the better it will be for me physically and the better the E-bike technology will get. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

What’s Next After the Purchase?

Since buying the Checkpoint, I’ve ridden it on rail trails in Alabama, Georgia, South Dakota, Washington State, Idaho, Montana, and Missouri, on some safe local roads, and in bicycle events in several other states.

I’ll be writing about those trips in subsequent posts.