Bicycle adventure.
On Wednesday, I finally managed to wrap up my bicycle shopping at Harris Cyclery in West Newton, and I bought a new bike, a 9-speed road-style bike with a setup meant for commuting. The ride home was a notable experience for me.
Having ridden my old bike to the store, I had to get two bikes home, so I made plans at the store to pick up the new bike on Thursday, and set out to ride the old bike home. The ride out had been a pleasant enough roughly-6-mile trip, with slightly cool weather, and lightly overcast skies. As I left the store, though, the temperature had dropped quite noticeably and the sky was getting dark. About a mile or so into the return trip, it had gotten dark enough that cars were turning on their headlights, and so I turned on my blinking bike lights. Then it started to rain, with large, frequent drops right away, and building quickly to a drenching downpour. After another mile or so, all of my clothes were soaked through; to my bike bag's great credit, everything inside it stayed dry, fortunately.
The rest of the ride home was kind of awesome in a way, though. The rain was cold, but I wasn't freezing because I was working pretty hard on the bike, and it made a neat tactile sensation on my arms and hands. The soaked clothing was uncomfortable, but once you're soaked through, there's a certain feeling of 'nothing left to lose'. The worst part about it, actually, was the taste of sunblock residue from my helmet being washed into my mouth by the rain. Towards the end, there was even a little thunder, which made the whole trip feel even more beatiful.
I was left with the thought that being caught outside in a downpour and getting soaked through is the kind of experience that I would miss if it didn't happen to me every few years. I'd almost want to suggest that everyone should get soaked in an unexpected downpour every few years, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who wouldn't find it enjoyable no matter what the other circumstances were.
Boring info about bike shopping, for people who like reading about bikes:
My 'old bike' is a Strida S3 folding bicycle. It's a great machine, but not so great for longer-distance rides; the ride to Harris Cyclery from where I live is something like 6 miles, making it one of the longer rides I've done on that bike.
For daily commuting, and to be able to effectively haul groceries or other loads, I've been wanting to get a full-sized bike, to equip with a rack and baskets. I began shopping several weeks ago, after I got doored riding the Strida. All I got from the collision was a bruised shoulder where I hit the door, but the right brake handle of the Strida was broken off, so it was out of commission while I ordered replacement parts from the UK. I test road the following bicycles at the following stores:
At Paramount Bicycle:
A Surly Crosscheck: a steel-frame cyclocross/all-purpose bike. The bike was not sized well for me, and the riding position was very agressive, but it was still an impressively wonderful ride.
At Harris Cyclery:
A Jamis Commuter, an aluminum-frame commmuter/comfort/hybrid-style bike with a wonderful 8-speed internal hub but uncomfortable moustache handlebars (this is not the bike I ended up buying)
At Cambridge Bicycle:
A older-style (but new manufacture) bike with a 3-speed hub that didn't perform very well.
A more conventional commuter-style bike that also failed to wow me with its ride.
At Broadway Bicycle School:
A Marin Larkspur, an aluminum-frame commuter bike, which was not bad but not remarkable.
A Marin Muir Woods, a steel-frame commuter bike, a little more mountain-bike-esque, and nice to ride, but still not very remarkable.
At Ace Wheelworks:
A Trek something-or-other. An aluminum-frame commuter bike, nothing special.
A Specialized Sirrus. This was a lightweight, more road-style bike, with an aluminum frame, and a carbon fork and carbon seat stays. This had toe clips on it when I rode it, and was very fast, responsive, and fun to ride. Too bad I don't want to own something made of aluminum or carbon fiber yet - by this point in my bicycle shopping I've decided that I really want something with a steel frame, for long-term durability/metallurgical reasons.
A Bianchi Bergamo. This was an aluminum frame bike in a road-ish commuter style with an aluminum frame. It wasn't quite as fast as the Specialized, but it was even more fun to ride. The Bergamo had a rather unusual gearing system, with the a single front chainring connecting to a 7-speed rear derailleur, on a wheel that also contained a 3-speed hub. So, the bike was a 21 speed, and all the shifting was done on the right side of the handle bar, with a twist-grip for the derailleur and a thumb-lever for the hub. The 3-speed hub was nice for downshifting while not pedaling at a stop, and it was also fun to set the derailleur at some gearing and then play around with the 3-speed hub from there. I would have been really tempted to get this bike if it weren't for the aluminum frame, but also, if I was going to get a bike with an multi-speed hub, I'd want one with just the hub (a 3-speed, or a 7 or 8-speed), not something with both a multi-speed hub and a derailleur.
Having ridden my old bike to the store, I had to get two bikes home, so I made plans at the store to pick up the new bike on Thursday, and set out to ride the old bike home. The ride out had been a pleasant enough roughly-6-mile trip, with slightly cool weather, and lightly overcast skies. As I left the store, though, the temperature had dropped quite noticeably and the sky was getting dark. About a mile or so into the return trip, it had gotten dark enough that cars were turning on their headlights, and so I turned on my blinking bike lights. Then it started to rain, with large, frequent drops right away, and building quickly to a drenching downpour. After another mile or so, all of my clothes were soaked through; to my bike bag's great credit, everything inside it stayed dry, fortunately.
The rest of the ride home was kind of awesome in a way, though. The rain was cold, but I wasn't freezing because I was working pretty hard on the bike, and it made a neat tactile sensation on my arms and hands. The soaked clothing was uncomfortable, but once you're soaked through, there's a certain feeling of 'nothing left to lose'. The worst part about it, actually, was the taste of sunblock residue from my helmet being washed into my mouth by the rain. Towards the end, there was even a little thunder, which made the whole trip feel even more beatiful.
I was left with the thought that being caught outside in a downpour and getting soaked through is the kind of experience that I would miss if it didn't happen to me every few years. I'd almost want to suggest that everyone should get soaked in an unexpected downpour every few years, but I'm sure there are plenty of people who wouldn't find it enjoyable no matter what the other circumstances were.
Boring info about bike shopping, for people who like reading about bikes:
My 'old bike' is a Strida S3 folding bicycle. It's a great machine, but not so great for longer-distance rides; the ride to Harris Cyclery from where I live is something like 6 miles, making it one of the longer rides I've done on that bike.
For daily commuting, and to be able to effectively haul groceries or other loads, I've been wanting to get a full-sized bike, to equip with a rack and baskets. I began shopping several weeks ago, after I got doored riding the Strida. All I got from the collision was a bruised shoulder where I hit the door, but the right brake handle of the Strida was broken off, so it was out of commission while I ordered replacement parts from the UK. I test road the following bicycles at the following stores:
At Paramount Bicycle:
At Harris Cyclery:
At Cambridge Bicycle:
At Broadway Bicycle School:
At Ace Wheelworks: