Never Say Never
“I never thought”…many things; like I never thought I’d live in Texas, but I did. I never thought I’d be an artist, but I am. I never thought I’d develop a taste for ginger, but I did. I never thought I’d like a single speed road bike, but I do. I like it a lot.
When I first started riding as an adult, geared mountain biking was the thing for me. I spent a couple of decades enjoying the long, slow climbs and technical descents on full suspension, everywhere from the deserts in Moab to the tropics of Nevis. Then I became chronically ill. It’s one of those divisions in time that you use as a reference, like “before the kids were born” or “after 9/11”. Since the onset of Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) and Fibromyalgia, mountain biking has not been high on my list of things for which I choose to use my small amount of energy. It also causes pain during the ride, sometimes lasting for days.
So 3 years ago I did something I never thought I would do… I went to the dark side and bought a road bike. I’ve really enjoyed the fitness and social aspects of road cycling without as much pain and recovery issues as I had with mountain biking.
Then Lenny encouraged me to buy a single speed road bike, and once again I did something I never thought I would. It’s really pretty; a Specialized Langster Tokyo. It’s painted red, gold, and black and has flowers and pheasants painted on it. It even says “Specialized” in Japanese symbols on the top tube, and “Tokyo” on the chainstay. Or so they tell me. I got some bull horn handlebars with cheater brakes, and I added my brass bell that says, “Japan” on it.
Tokyo Rose
A few weeks ago Tokyo Rose and I went out on our maiden voyage. We rode up and down Tramway and just did 12 miles on the flats to get used to each other. That worked out swell. Next, Lenny & I joined a group of friends for a longer ride around town until I got a flat and was just worn out after only 30 miles. I had been having a health setback, and the original track handlebars were causing me great pain and fatigue. Lucky for me Tokyo Rose waited until we were at the Flying Star to have a mechanical, so we stopped and I had some really fine mac n’ cheese with my friends, while Lenny sprinted home to get the van to pick me up. You see we hadn’t remembered to bring with us the wrench necessary to remove the wheel because it didn’t come with quick release hubs. A few days later I just did 20 miles on the Bosque Trail to test out my new bull horn handlebars. This was a much needed improvement. After that Lenny switched out the hubs, and changed the gear to a 19 so I could try to climb a little. The following Saturday I did a bit more flat riding, but threw in one climb up Simms Road. I was interrupted by a visit by my daughter, so the harder climbing would have to wait. Finally it was Sunday, and although I never thought I could climb well on a single speed; I managed a strong, 3 hours of climbing the north fingers! This was a 35 mile ride with 3,000 ft. of climbing, and I liked it a lot.
March 18th, 2009 at 11:40 am
yay!!!! you have a wonderful story, and many more rides ahead of you!!!
Best, Angie
March 21st, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Awesome! One gear climbing is the best kind of riding in my opinion. Glad to see you enjoy the new bike!