Originally uploaded by theplainjaneart
It was a bad week for work but I rode every day, each with more intensity. Monday was an easy jaunt on the Katy Trail and around uptown on the fixie (including the steepest hill I’ve done on it–good thing for the front brake). Tuesday was the birthday trip with the camera and the dogs to the new(ish) trail in the Cliff. Wednesday was back at the same trail with Alison for a little bit more serious trip around all four open loops. Wednesday was also the day of two flats–I had one from the day before that had deflated over night, and Alison got one on the trail.
Thursday was a very interesting day. I met someone online in the morning, a fixed gear riding musician recently re-located here after 10 years in Chicago. He found me through some Twitter search engine thing looking for “Dallas” and “bikes” or some such. I was already planning on riding the fixie to and around the lake, so he, Danielle and I met at the lake and did a leisurely loop, then he rode back to uptown with me and we ended up hanging out and talking bikes and music for about 3-4 hours.
Today I needed a pill that I never did end up taking, me and the kid both in all kinds of sorts. He went to the doctor and I pealed my depressed ass off the futon and fought traffic, managing to get to–yes the same trail in the Cliff–by 5:45 or so.
I did a pretty quick ride through all the loops, clearing some features I had yet to clear, and then at the point in the trail where all the loops join I ran into two other guys. They were discussing if they were going to go do more loops or not, and I was considering the same thing as I was just starting to work the prior 4 day’s mileage out of my legs. They headed down loop one for the cars and I figured I’d do the same–I had Pavlov waiting in the car for a quick sprint around loop one anyway. But when they did get back to the cars they decided to do 1-4 again. And. They were fast. It was nice to be pushed both physically and technically–they had me on both counts but I probably have a few miles on them, lifetime, and even though that was over a decade ago there are some nerves and muscle cells that just never forget, which is nice.
I did go head first into a tree once, but in one section I actually took the lead and left them in the dust for a bit. Turns out the single speed on the mountain bike forces you to turn it over on the gradual inclines, where these guys were going into their granny gear. Psst!
We pretty much get screwed out of fall and spring here, so might as well take advantage of the few weeks of pleasant weather.
I’m posting this picture just because I like it, even though it probably represents everything I hate about the hipster co-option of the fixed gear culture. Every once and a while I’ll lose an hour in the Single speed / fixed gear Flickr group.