Smug As A Bug In A Rug

It's been rather cold here in New York:

This is a good thing, because after months of heavy rain the ground is now frozen, meaning I can finally do some proper rides on the Jones Plus SWB Complete.  So this past weekend that's what I did:

With just a short time to ride on Saturday morning, and with temperatures well below 30 American Freedom Degrees™, the prospect of a road ride seemed terribly unappealing and I didn't have enough time to ride to and from the nearest mountain bicycling trails.  So in a great big selfish "Fuck You!" to the environment, the streets of New York City, and smugness in general I fired up THE CAR THAT THE BANK OWNS UNTIL I FINISH PAYING THEM BACK and drove my lazy ass to Queens--utilizing the Saris SuperClamp EX of course, with which I remain quite pleased:

"Queens?!?," you say.  Indeed.  For Queens is the home of Cunningham Park, which contains a compact yet tremendously enjoyable network of all-terrain bicycling pathways:

I almost always ride a singlespeed at Cunningham because the smooth, rolling terrain is ideal for riding without shifting.  However, this time I took the Jones, and I'm glad I did, because there were lots of frozen ruts left behind from people riding in the mud and I was able to float right over them thanks to those plush, grippy, and apparently out-of-style plus-sized tires.

Hey, my wheel size may be the stylistic equivalent of some doofus in dad jeans and white Under Armor sneakers, but I'm okay with that because rigid bikes with plush tires are awesome.

Anyway, I rode for about an hour and a half:

And spent the drive home repeating the Act of Contrition to the David Byrne bobblehead I keep on the dashboard:

Sunday I had a bit more time, so I once again took up the Jones, though I had the luxury of doing so without resorting to the use of an automobile.  Heading north on the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail for about 10 miles:

I then headed due east and entered the forbidding Trails Behind The Mall:

And by the time I got home I'd described a pleasant 20-ish mile loop of mostly dirt that hit the sweet spot between easy and "epic":

Anyway, I've said it enough times you're tired of hearing it, and I've even filed an official review, but I'll reiterate anyway that you should buy one of these bikes--unless of course you don't want one.  I should also add that at no point during this weekend's exploits did I wear any Lycra, which I think deserves some sort of prize.  (A tube of fungicide seems appropriate.)  So there you go.

Finally, in other major cycling news, esteemed commenter CommieCanuck informs me that Peter Sagan will be riding a bicycle made out of (gasp!) metal:


Wait a minute, you can make racing bicycles out of metal?!?

This changes everything!!!

from Bike Snob NYC http://bit.ly/2sqQvyH