It may be better to look good than to feel good:
But as I mentioned Monday, thanks to tremendous advances in clothing technology, it is now possible to do both. And while you’re accessorizing, remember that pannier I mentioned the other day, the one my wife has been using for years and loves?
Well I just saw in the comments that it’s currently on sale in that color at a 40% discount!
Yes, it’s changed a bit in the interim, but I can only imagine the “2” in the name means it’s even better:
So there you go. Who knew there would ever come a time when you left this blog even classier than you were when you arrived? Indeed, there was once a time when my only purpose was to debase you…
Moving on, as the curator of many bicycles my riding invariably takes on a theme, and this week’s seems to be “triple cranks and cantilevers:”
When Classic Cycle first sent the American M-16 I had no idea it would become my “grab-and-go” bike, but that is in fact what it is. Flat pedals, gears, not too precious–and, most importantly, small, thanks to its diminutive-by-today’s-standards 26-inch wheels. For example, yesterday I decided I wanted to take the kids for a ride. However, flat, vast, car-free expanses are in short supply here in Upstate New York City. (Excluding the newly-paved Putnam Trail in Van Cortlandt Park, of course, but we ride that all the time.) So once they concluded their studies I threw our bikes on and in THE CAR THAT THE BANK NO LONGER OWNS BECAUSE I FINISHED PAYING THEM BACK as applicable and headed down to Randall’s Island:
Oh sure, I’ve lamented the preponderance of cyclists who drive to the ride, but it’s important to remember that not only am I a massive hypocrite, but I’ve also earned about ten zillion drive-to-the-ride credits by doing crazy stuff like spinning away at a tiny gear for hours on end just so I can ride my one-speed mountain bike on some singletrack. I regret nothing, either, beause even though it was cold and windy we enjoyed a delightful, scenic, flat (I can’t stress highly enough the importance of flat terrain when riding with kids), and virtually traffic-free ride around the island. And while I try not to put too many pictures of my children on the Internet (it’s not fair to either them or to you), I will happily feature our bikes. Here’s mine:
Here’s my older son’s:
And here’s my younger son’s:
Tremendous bike nerds will note that they’re all made from aluminum. My younger son’s bike was once my older son’s bike, and my older son’s bike is already getting too small for him, which means it’s only a matter of time before my bikes become my older son’s bikes. Also, a note to parents of young children: the Islabikes came with a pie plate, which I took off because obviously pie plates are like totally lame. This was incredibly stupid on my part, because kids drop their bikes all the time, which means their derailleurs take a lot of abuse and constantly go out of alignment, which in turn means he’s managed to shift off the large cog and jam the chain in between the cassette and the spokes like a million times. So what I’m saying is don’t take the pie plate off their bikes until they’re at least 26.
You’re welcome.