Meet Banner...
And Her Namesake
Banner is my new bike, a belated birthday gift or early Christmas gift.
Now, I am not a dealer or paid for my support by Tommasini, who made both my bikes. But in this era of enshitification, it’s nice to know about companies doing quality work at a fair price. Money talks, and all too often, we are scammed and coerced into spouting garbage with our good money.
So this paragraph is a short commercial. If you’re looking for a good go-fast bike, you know what they cost, and you’re comfortable with the price, tell Greg at Red Rose Imports in Lancaster, PA, that Erin said to call, and you want a Tommasini. It’s an honored firm owned by women, and they do custom sizing and paint at no extra charge. PA doesn’t charge sales tax if the item is shipped out of state, so have the frame and whatever else shipped to your local bike shop, and have them add your seat, seat post, front stem, handlebars, and pedals, then get it ready to ride. You’ll get a better, prettier bike for probably less than the carbon fiber equivalent at a “Big Box” bike store. Only drawback? It takes 3-4 months between the time you order your bike and the time you get it. These frames are hand-built by skilled craftspeople in Italy, not on an assembly line in China. They are durable goods, not throwaway items.
Tommasina, below, is a Tecno, their “entry-level” steel road bike. Put about 2600 miles on her last year, including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Scenic Shore fundraiser: I rode 100 miles on Day One and 73 on Day Two. I ended the summer riding the Apple Cider Century.
Obviously, I like the bike. A lot. So why do I “need” another?
Well, I have ridden Tommasina places you generally don’t ride road bikes (Hi, Des Plaines River Trail, start to finish) then I decided to cycle cross-country to raise funds to help research a cure for multiple sclerosis (MS) and support those living with it.
In addition to being old, slow, and weak, I have some accumulated wear and tear. And I plan to ride 3785 miles, with 164,365 feet of elevation change, in 65 days (59 riding days). That’s an average of 65 miles a day, day after day after day, an entirely different effort than 173 miles in two days.
Banner is a gravel bike, meaning slightly more relaxed geometry than the road bike, and it’s titanium with a carbon fork, rather than steel with a steel fork. Quality steel, like Tommasina’s Columbus tubing, has a crisp, lively road feel. Titanium is more elastic than steel and while lively and responsive, has a somewhat floatier feel, and the carbon fork and wider tires add to rider comfort. The differences are minor but noticeable, and they will cumulate over the weeks and the miles.
I named her Banner after my first horse, a little (barely 14.2 when she needed a trim) chestnut Arab mare who changed her own name to Banner. As one should, we were walking back toward the stable area one cold, wet Pacific Northwest winter day after running trails, when she collected herself up. Suddenly I had the whole, entire horse between my hand and my leg, swaggering into the slow, powerful, elevated trot known as the passage. I looked back to see she had plumed her tail and was carrying it like a banner.
Banner was kind, wise, brave, and honest, a fantastic trail horse and a dear friend who got me out of a broken back (yes, she understood what was happening). With the right training, she would have made a hell of a dressage / trail horse. Her extended trot going down trails with roots and rocks and things was so smooth I could barely post it. When the spirit moved her, she did flying changes of lead (changing the sequence in which her feet struck ground at the canter, from right to left, while in suspension), cantered in place, and passaged. These movements, requiring great strength and coordination, were entirely her idea. They certainly weren’t the result of my training and riding! She also thought the arena was stupid, so we did an enormous amount of seat-of-the-pants trail riding in an old Passier close contact dressage saddle, no blocks, only pencil knee rolls, and smooth leather. She never saw a trail she didn’t want to explore or a hill she didn’t want to climb, and she loved a good view: I could feel her happiness when she enjoyed one.
Banner had an undiagnosed neurological problem (diagnostics in 2008 not being what they are now) that was costing her the ability to walk. We rode as long as we could, and then I spent several months hand-grazing her, and then, after seeing her legs do strange and terrible things on a regular basis, I euthanized her on a good day. She died warm, well-fed, unafraid, and without pain. I wasn’t having her dying in the cold mud of a Pacific Northwest winter, unable to rise, terrified a bear or cougar would come down from the tree line to eat her alive. She deserved better of me. We all deserve better of each other, which too many Americans hate to admit.
Banner would have loved travelling cross-country, and given her neuro issues, she’d have been delighted to help fund research into, and help people with, MS. So while I will never, ever have the skills, or the horse, to ride across America, Banner is coming with, in a bracelet made from her tail hair.
Banner the bike is an indulgence, as Banner herself was, and the ride is an extreme indulgence, not merely of money but of time. But some people indulge themselves with rape and racism; invading other countries for oil; gutting medical research, foreign aid, and climate science, cuts which have already cost in the neighborhood of 1 million deaths, and will cost millions more. I’m indulging myself by riding cross-country to raise funds to help others—gotta put my rage to good use—even if sleeping in city, state, and national parks, churches, fire stations, college dorms, community centers, hostels and the occasional hotel room might not be your idea of indulgence.
I donated more than the fundraising minimum myself because I don’t want other people funding my indulgences. I understand many people can’t do that, and absolutely no shade on them: they’re riding and raising money and awareness, and that’s plenty. But I can so I should.
I’ll be writing about working up to the ride, and then the ride itself, because I’m not sure I can stand to write publicly about the daily horrors we are living through. If you’d like to support me, all donations, large and small, will be gratefully accepted. Bike the US for MS is a registered 501 (c) 3 and your donations are tax-deductible.
Bless you each!
I'm glad Banner will be with you and New Banner, in spirit, as you trek across the country. Very good channeling! Tommasina looks incredible. Those tires!!