Love is….
I finished building this early 90s bike yesterday morning and went for a spin. It is a version of the steed I raced for a few years as an earlier me. Love is going for another spin later in the day, in crisp air just as the sun had set.
Thoughts whizzed-
I don’t remember the wheels being that bendy or the brake pads being made from a hard cheese.
The stem has the lateral stiffness of penne pasta on the boil.
When you’re not racing- 8 speed is loads. 23c tyres are only for the velodrome.
It is the sweetest thing I’ve seen since tapping on a maternity window.
I may only ride it thrice a year, in the sun but I look forward to that easy Thursday evening. N+1 is rubbish. My mountain bike will do everything just as well as my gravel bike. I know this bike will live mostly on a dusty hook, but there is a feeling when I open the bike shed and stare at the hooks. Life has let me out for a spin. I look at these splendid hooks and ponder where I can venture.
N+1 is rubbish, It is the road- not the ride. I know it is the descent not what you descend on- but the feeling of thinking, reliving or planning the ride and what Bike to ride it on- does make my free time better.
