So I’m back, feeling 100% better and darned glad not be sick anymore. I was able to get some riding in this weekend and loved it. For the 1st time in weeks I was able to turn out some miles without the fear of freezing or slipping and thus falling on the ice. I rode “Cherry” over the weekend.
Cherry is my fixed gear circa 1984 specialized stumpjumper that’s gotta weigh in at close to 30 lbs or so. She’s punk cool, a nice touch of rust here and there on her stock grey paint (She’ll look sexy cool in a gloss black powdercoat some day) Oh ya.. she’s still sporting the big fat knobbies with snow studs…. Translation: she doesn’t coast EVER plus the killa rolling resistance of the studs gives me the sensation of constantly riding UPHILL! I know.. I’m nutty but I like the pain.. err.. work out that I get when I’m on her. We have an interesting relationship…. I’d have to categorize it as the classic love hate relationship. I love to ride her, she’s got sexy classic lines, she’s strong, agile and I trust her to never let me down. I hate her because she doesn’t accept my laziness (no cutting corners, no coasting, no falling asleep at the wheel, and I must always be engaged). She brings out the best in me. I gain clarity, peace of mind and health through riding/dancing with her.
In my mind I very often equate riding a fixie with dancing. You have to be engaged mentally and physically. While on the road there’s no stopping on a dime, so you gotta constantly be planning your route and keeping your eye out for potholes, ruts and not to forget about all the Jackholes on cell phones sharing the road with me. Not to mention that in order to pedal efficiently your body is engaged with the bike. I pedal and kick, squeeze my abbs, fluid shoulders, loosen my hips, lean and hold the saddle with my thighs, breath deeply and charge down the road eye’s WIDE… we are dancing together.. we are as one.. it’s action and reaction.. I zig and she zags, I kick the pedals and she spins up the momentum… kinda ying yang.
So.. I’m sore. I rode 16 miles on Saturday and Sunday. No big deal on a geared ride.. but on Cherry no free lunch. But I love it so much, pushing and kicking up and down the hills. Riding Cherry allows me to quench my thirst for being a bit odd/different (the punk in me) while not burning fossil fuels in the pursuit of leisure. No one ever says it.. but all the roadies check out each others bikes. I almost always get double takes like “what the hell is that?” Funny to see a rusty, fender wearing snow studded, single speed with a 240lb dude passing you on the hills isn’t it my roadie friends… One thing about riding Cherry…. She’s perfectly geared for my big meat legs to go crushing up the hills.. it’s always my lungs that check out before my legs and booty have the chance to show the white flag and surrender. Well at least for a while until my conditioning is where I want it.. then it’ll be the meat grinder for the legs etc.. something tells me I have a few months before I start blowing up my legs… Come mid March I’ll be in the right body/mind/spirit to start attacking the real mtns here in
I always consider it a pride and honor “thing” when I ride. I’m a bit competitive and I like to attack on the hills, especially when the opportunity of catching a road cyclist who just blew past me on the down hill and now I get to catch and pass them on the hill…I know I’m not allowing myself to evolve much when I pull meat headesque competitive moves like this.. oh well.. forgive me…. so if you are gonna pass this fatty.. ya better keep kicking because I’m not letting up. This leads into my mind set/matra that I embrace while in the saddle and training. I always work hard and when I’m hurting I scream to myself “WITH PRIDE”. My Dad always suggested that you should never sell yourself short and to have “pride” in one’s actions. Well…. by me doing my best to maintain proper form: breathing completely, loosy goosy torso, full leg extensions in the saddle, focus on my “line” AND ABSOLUTELY NO rocking the bike side to side = efficiency at it’s best. I dub this “riding lazy”. I call it this because I enjoy being lazy, thus I don’t want to have to pedal 110 strokes up the hill when I could have only pedaled 100 = I’m lazy I only want to do the minimum to get the job done so I can have more time/energy for more riding. I know it’s a bit odd and maybe backwards to some, but it’s my motivator…. well that and honoring Cherry by doing my best for her because she always does her best for me.
So.. there’s a glimpse into the mind of a old punk like me. I feel good, sore legs and butt, lungs are getting into shape and I’m loosing some extra weight.. all is good..
OH ya.. Avi can identify and say ALL THE ABC’s, plus numbers 1~9. We’ve been working on numbers and letters outside the alphabet arena.. like signs, mailbox #’s etc.. he’s friggin sharp for being 20months old.. GO AVI!!.. I’m so happy and proud for him…
~Dan
