spring and back to the gears

here's a song about my joyous new experience though: on the first day of christmas my true love gave to me...a bike with no gears! so the song goes on, but not far from the new years mark, my first fixed excursion came last winter, (oddly, yet somehow blessedly, enough)... and on the second day of christmas i rode my single geared racelight dynamo down the street in about minus ten and ten cm of powder! on the third day of christmas i learned how to skid boss-like on the beautiful frozen puddles and some vast, glassy mid-winter ice sheets sprawled upon the asphalt all around town. alas. on about day 64 bike stolen. again. before learning skids on the tarmac...

zen and synchronously finding a shiny new wrench on the road while contemplating this book:)

okay so i've been thinking of the idea of a bike barometer, well whatever. just saying to anyone who knows what i mean. there is riding with the wind, there is reading against the wind, but then there is those magical low(no?) pressure rides, where basically, you just effin' fly going up, down, or around!

....ah yes and then there is some of the not so little things...
did you know that often the pack and the planning takes a lot more time then the ride does? Don't forget; when you put the pedal to the metal bikes really do fly...however packing the right necessities to be transported when attempting to travel feather light is no small matter! so take heart! the biggest legitimate fear of cycling really is getting out of the house! this brings me to rule number one: whatever you pack on a bike will also fly. That's right, if there is any remote chance of slippage, rattleage, or otherwise dangerous situations waiting to happen; just try securing something to your bicycle improperly. Let me save you some time, money, or pain right now, with the old adage caps locked  here> in bold...MOVE IT OR LOSE IT.
holey font change batman!

shoulder checking

here is a great thing i've learned: shoulder checking to the right...its really simple, but if you ride like a maniac where things happen really quickly on the streets, or even if you don't ride like a maniac, things happen really quickly on the streets so listen up! the right side shoulder check. you've probably heard it said before that your body follows your head. i've noticed every time i do a shoulder check for traffic, as i don't have room, or time, for mirrors, my body naturally floats a bit to the left. Way too many times this has resulted in a horrendous whoosh that just about sends you reeling into the abyss, with  a resonating "YES" a car WAS coming. so basically, perhaps still a dangerous maneuver notwithstanding, the right side shoulder check might seem like a pain in the neck ( haha-ha heehee-hoo!!!!!!!!!!!) but it works just as well, and i don't know about you but i'd rather pick sand , muskrats, or road crew signs out of my teeth than bumpers out of my buttcheeks...(how's my score anyway, should I quit the day job yet?)