the kid with the shaggy hair stood in front of the neighborhood coffee shop with his bicycle. it was a beautiful road bicycle - lugged steel, overtly long cables, and stocky 27-inch tires. he was soon joined by a girl, on an equally gorgeous fixed gear conversion bicycle - custom painted. the twosome reminded me of the friendships I made while in college. it was a time when all my friends built their bicycles out of miscellaneous parts and if it rolled forward we would ride throughout town as if the city were paved with golden bike lanes.
what the funk changed - at what point did we all stop riding hastily built and/or donated bicycles? the last time I ventured to the university many of the bicycle racks were adorned with boutique bicycles that seemed to be funded by the banks of dubai. there were still department store beach cruisers, but there was nary the sight of a bicycle put together in a garage.
since zebulon brown’s temporary relocation to san diego, I have been without a consistent riding partner. coupled with the purchase of a kinetic trainer, there has been minimal outdoor cycling besides commuting and the occasional cambiamento d’ andaturo team ride. this weekend I finally began doing laps on tantalus - having not done so since spring - and it was pure sufferfest. despite all the weeks zeb and I rode the hill, the prolonged departure had exposed the weakness of my condition.
but goodness gracious did the suffering feel good. and despite my fatigue I noticed that I had managed to do most of the laps with a much taller cog then previously. summer has arrived, and it's apparently time to take the bicycles off the trainers (photo by jorge portillo).
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