Thursday, October 18, 2018

Go away or I shall taunt you a second time.

It's autumn here in whatever hemisphere this is, and the temperature has finally fallen to match.  It's also stopped raining, and the trails have more or less dried out.  This means I can finally de-couple from Fred-dom and enjoy the decadence of riding an all-terrain bicycle without putting on special clothes.

Not only have I been enjoying the decadence of just hopping on the bike and going without putting on my Underoos, but I've also been taking the simplicty all the way by riding a bicycle that is not equipped with any sort of mechanism for changing gear ratios.  Such bikes are not for everybody, and one can make a fairly strong argument that they're kinda stupid, but when I get on mine I'm this kid again (well, except for the crisp Lee jeans):


On Tuesday I darted down to Highbridge:


And yesterday I went a bit further afield and tackled the forbidding [open dripping blood letters tag] Trails Behind The Mall [close dripping blood letters tag]:


Eveybody knows that one (1) singlespeed mile is like four (4) Fred bike miles, which means that I basically rode 100 miles.  Also, whenever I post a picture of this bike there's always some doofus (whether it's the same doofus or not I have no idea) who comments on the angle of my brake levers, as though I don't know where I fucking want them.  First of all, when you have an old-timey road bike-like bar drop as I do here, it's nice to angle your levers down so your hands aren't at a right angle like you're doing a push-up.  Second of all, when I wear artisanal hand-painted gloves like the ones pictured above, I want to get that whole "French taunting" effect:


As for the gloves, Barry Wicks sent them to me, as he sells them on Etsy.  And since it's peak Riding In Street Clothes season I may have to get a pair of cufflinks from him so I can also ride in a collared shirt:


So there you are, you're totally up to speed.  As you can see, mine is a life of heroic cycling exploits and mind-bending sartorial considerations.  How I manage to get out of bed in the morning, much less get dressed without showering and fuck off for a bike ride, is beyond me.  

I guess I need another ride today to figure it out.


from Bike Snob NYC https://ift.tt/2P58lnI

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