It's a long way to the top

  That is every bit as true today as when AC-DC sang it many years ago.

 In that song there is the line, "I tell you folks, it's harder than it looks".

That's what I was thinking today as I went for a little ride on the new bike.

Yup, a new bike, one with a flip-flop hub

I had a few errands to run today.  What better chance to go for a maiden voyage than a short distance easy ride?  I couldn't find any hipster fashions in the closet, but went for a ride anyway.  What good is a fixie if not a chance to show off your  track-stand skills?

  I can do a pretty decent track stand on my geared bikes, thought the additional control of a fixie would make this easy.

  Well, as Bon Scott sang, I tell you folks, it's harder than it looks!  I found that I didn't have the leg strength to move the pedals back and forth fast enough to react to the need for balancing.  I can balance my geared bikes at a stop far longer than I could on the fixie today.  I guess practice is what's called for. I got 6 miles in.

EVENING UPDATE:

I went out for a little evening ride.  Just goofing around, I rode to Memorial Park in Wilsonville.  I puttered around the paths and trails.

I had one tense moment as I rolled down an incline.  I was coming to an intersection where either I had to turn sharply or go straight ahead into gravel.  Despite my best efforts to control my forward progress I was gaining speed.  I finally had to "bail out" and use the brakes.  If I were a true fixie rider I would have been able to lock that back wheel up and stop, but alas.

I played tourist a bit and read about the historic barns of the area.

I also took a look at the community gardens.

I finally decided I had better get back home as the sky was beginning to darken and a few large drops of rain fell.  It looked as if a thunderstorm might have been imminent.

I made it home before getting wet and ended up with an additional 7 miles.


 ................road bike.......rollers.........mtb.....lifecycle.....total Today.............13...............0.............0..........0.............13 Jan..................93..............0..............0.........0..............93 Feb................411..............0..............0.........0............411 March.............653..............0.............0.........0............653 April..............217.............0...............0.........0............217 Total.............1377.............0...............0.........0..........1377