Sorted in: personal
Whether it be a 70+ mile ride from Central Park to Nyack and back or 20+ miles in Central Park, in an effort to clear my head, I’ve been focusing on my bike.
Foregoing conventional thinking, I’ve decided to remove the front brake on the bike. I know it sounds crazy, but riding brakeless isn’t as bad as you might think. If anything it heightens your awareness with relevance to you, cars, doors, buses, pedestrians and anything else. I’ve gotten much better with my skip-skidding and slow, controlled stops. When I get a proper road bike, I’ll utilize the brakes. Until then, while I’m riding a fixed-gear bike, I’ll stay brakeless.
The drive train on my bike was updated with a new 45T chainring and a 18T cog. This gives me a super spinny, great for winter and commuting 65.9 gear-inches. Burst speed is great and hill climbs are a breeze. Downhills are a bit of an issue with such a low gearing, but it does force me to utilize my quadriceps and hamstrings much more to slow my rate of decent.
I guess that is more or less an update to things. I’ve just really been stressed with Cass’ passing. Doing everything I can to not think about it. Trying to remember I can’t call her, I can’t email her…it’s really hard. I look at my own children and think, “Please, babies, don’t leave your daddy.” So tough…
Anyway, the takeaway here is, get off your butt, get on a bike and ride.
