As I continue to live in the midst of an ongoing hot tub installation project, my day-to-day affairs are in slightly more disarray than usual. However, limited time and frigid temperatures provide me with a perfect excuse to nip over to the park and trot around for a little bit:
Such forays are not, strictly speaking, legal, but inasmuch as the First Commandment by which I live my life is “Thou Shalt Ride,” I am beholden to defer to God’s law over man’s law. Anyway, when it’s Nineteen American Freedom Degrees out I’m certainly not bothering anybody, the ground is frozen solid, and it seems foolish not to enjoy one of my favorite sounds, that being the crunchy sound of icy snow beneath high-volume tires:
Also, it beats riding on the road, where you’re more likely to hear the squishy sound of moist rodent:
That rat really should have been wearing a helmet.
Meanwhile, last week I mentioned my attempt to eliminate the play from the rear hub of the Eye of the Tiger Bike:
Well, I rode the bike twice over the weekend, and I’m sorry to report it’s now got more play in it than The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare:
I’ve long been considering upgrading this bike to Shimano Hyperglide compatibility to avail myself not only of the wider cassette compatibility but also the improved shifting, and this was precisely the excuse I needed. “A wheel, a wheel, a kingdom for a wheel!,” I cried to Paul at Classic Cycle, and it looks as though one or perhaps even two may be forthcoming. This makes me exceedingly happy, as the RockCombo has proven to be an ideal winter all-rounder.
In the meantime, I’ve also got another small project in the offing:
Not too long ago, Passchier, a maker of bamboo handlebars, asked me if I’d like to try some, so I replied in the affirmative. When they arrived, in light of my recent flat pedal pivot, I thought it would be fun use them as an excuse to change the vibe of my singlespeed mountain bike somewhat. The orange is admittedly somewhat “flambullient” for me, but it seemed like it would go with the bars, and anyway a little color never hurt anybody, except of course when it has.
I’ll let you now when I’ve got everything buttoned up, and we’ll see whether it makes the bike look whimsical or like a corny Halloween nightmare.