Pc Perk

Is it Love or Obsession with bikes? Which is it?

First off, In the United States today, it is Father’s Day. I would like to take a moment to celebrate Fathers. Most of our fathers know when the obsession with bicycles starts. It’s a young child’s dream, and fathers helped build it. Watching your father tinker with things around the house and wanting to tinker with something yourself. mimicking your father, working on the yard, or working on the lawn mower, or the car. His tools, his way. We all took something from it. We all learned how men think, how they value that time when they are lost in their own work. You wondered as a child- watching this man teach you and what are they thinking, they are so smart, so super heroish. We would turn our bike upside down on the pavement, and act like we were working on it, just trying to be like them.

Then as you get older, you look back. They were teaching, they probably wanted to be by themselves and think, but they allowed us around because that was their quality/teaching time. They were silent, but you know a lot weighed on their mind. They never let it show. They worked and taught you silently and showed you what hard work was. I would grab my father’s tools while he was working an act like they were dinosaurs; the pliers were a Pterodactyl the big wrench was a T-Rex. He never told me to stop or put them back, he let my imagination run wild. I just want to say Happy Father’s Day to the fathers who taught us in silence, who taught us by example. Love isn’t always vocal, love is felt. A personal Thank you to my Father. I remember all the times and all the love you showed. You always have had my best interest in heart, and I saw that then and I see it now. Love ya Dad!

Is bicycling a hobby or a lifestyle?

Well, its Sunday morning, the week has been blah, you were busy yesterday, doing “life” things.  You have just got up, the house is quiet, calm.  That Sunday morning vibe.

 Your coffee is brewed, either the k-cup, or you brewed a pot.  For me, I’m all about the k-cup this morning, not sure if I will be around all morning to have 2 cups. 

What did I brew you ask? 

Well, my K-cup is something from the local store up here called Market Basket.  It’s a New England chain of grocery stores.  I have been all about their Lighthouse Blend.  I like it, it’s smooth, it’s tart enough to……..hold up, let me explain “Tart”. 

Tart is a word we used where I grew up.  It means a few things, The first word to describe “Tart”  is sour.  The other word to describe it is- not sour, okay that doesn’t make sense…… let me say,…… to give you that taste of sourness, but not squint your eyes or make a funny face lemon sour, a good sour, just enough tartness to enjoy.  Get it?

The other way to describe Tart, now this is kind of bad.  If somebody smells “Tart”; now, growing up in Texas, it got hot, and the Houston area it wasn’t just hot, it was 100 degrees with a 100% humidity hot.  So sticky, uncomfortable, head scratching hot, so from time to time you would come across somebody who had been out in the hot sticky humidity heat all day, where they would smell “Tart” Almost body odor, but not full-fledged B.O. but like a vinegar type smell….

In the sense I am using it today, it is tart where it is almost sour, but a good sour…..A coffee sour, that we look for some mornings.  Ok like always I go off on some side conversation, but hey it’s Sunday morning, we have a little time to kill..

Bicycles–

Bicycles, what is it about bicycles?  You either love them, hate them or are obsessed with them.  You know the way Joe from the Netflix show “You”, is obsessed with women.  Well, that is how bicycles are, you love them or hate them… some folks have different strokes, and in the bicycle community that’s how we roll….Get it?  Roll…

Me personally, I love bicycles.  Not obsessed…. okay to be real, maybe obsessed a little at one point.  Now, I just am in love, the honeymoon phase is over.  I will think about bicycles daily, when I walk out to my garage and see all my bicycles.  You are going to laugh a little, but I have let’s see…

uh… 6 functional bikes, 1 E-bike and 2 bikes I am building.

  I am a realist, I understand how this must look to the eye of an outsider.

Pat..That’s an obsession!

“NO!”  In the words of Chandler Bing from friends…..  “SITTING IN A CHAIR!”    Now that is the response me and my buddy say when we don’t know what to say when we get called out on something!   You have to watch “Friends” to understand the context..

Moving on from your judgement of my obsession, ooops– my love for bicycles- Like I was saying before, I think daily about riding, about my bicycles, and “Bike Life”. 

Out of all those bicycles, I ride 2.  Now 1 of my bikes is an antique that is beautiful, worth a bit of money.  It comes from a day when bicycles were like buying a car.  It’s from England but made from the American Machine and Foundry Company.  It was built in 60’s, and when ordered, you choose each individual part for the bicycle.  The catalog is like a car brochure you see at the dealership. This comes from a day when cycling was a means of transportation in the city.   Here is the pic of my bike

The bikes I ride—

 So, when I said I only ride 2 bikes, I meant it.  The other bikes I have are almost like show bikes, although I only show them to myself.  I have a lowrider type bike that looks like an old-school motorcycle, then I have an adult BMX bike, that I have ridden on group rides.  (those get crazy, and I don’t really enjoy those much anymore) 

The other 3 are for sale.  They are bikes I have repurposed from good bikes that were sold cheap at a garage sale or two.  I usually convert those bicycles to single speed when I repurpose.  I will get into why in a bit.

My Everyday Bikes-

The 2 bikes I ride daily or weekly depending on the weather. 

My single speed, I have made that one from the frame up.  I bought the frame from a Company I do a lot of business with, “City Grounds.”  They are a company out of California, and I trust them, they have done what a company is supposed to do, give me good prices, ship and deliver when said and has cool stuff that I am into.  Boooyah

The reason I have a single speed.  It’s simple, has less issues, and the simple look of the bike is appealing.  I started in my 20’s with fixed gear bikes.  It was a big thing in Big Cities with bike messengers.  They would customize their bikes, for ease of use.  The Fixed Gear means that no matter what the pedals/chain move as long as the bike tire is moving.  No gears, No brakes, to stop you would force the pedals to slow down so you could slow down or stop.   It’s a tough way, but fixed gear riders are probably the most fluid, strong cyclist you will come across.  They ride crazy, but they ride like a beast.  One gear, for any hill, any terrain, that’s all they have got.  It is a fascinating culture if you ever investigate it.  Their bikes are probably some of the coolest, and functional you will come across.  When you get the chance look into Fixed Gear Culture.  It will amaze you that you have never heard of it.  I have since changed to a Single Speed bike.  The fixed Gear, let’s just say I got too old for the style.  My legs are not what they used to be. My single speed resembles a fixed gear style.  I still have one gear, but I have freewheel, so the pedals only move when I am pedaling, and that cool sound of freewheel when I don’t pedal.  The single gear concept is you only have one gear, and hills suck.  Hills become a game though, you try and get up them and if you can’t, you lose, you have to try again another day, no other gear to rely on.  The simplicity of the bike is what draws me to the single speed bicycle.  It just looks symmetrical and neat.  You are one with the bike.  Sounds funny, kind of creepy, but that’s way it feels.  The bonus is, you get faster as a cyclist riding one of these.   Here is my single speed.  If you want, hit me up to ask more about fixed gear/single speed bikes.  It is a fascinating subject…

My all-around bicycle used for everything–

This bicycle is like a mix of an old school mountain bike, a hybrid bike and a BMX bicycle.  That’s the best way I can describe it. 

It has 7 gears.  It is belt driven, with no chain, but a belt.  It has internal hub gears, so that means it doesn’t have a derailleur on the back.  The gears shift inside the hub, so in regular terms inside the rear wheel axle.  Here is a pic of my bike

The Priority Hot Sauce- 7 speed

This bicycle has 27.5-inch wheels.  7 gears, and tires that function good on and off road.  I have only added pedals and hand grips to the bike.  That’s weird for me, I usually change everything.  This bike has satisfied every need.  I won’t go hardcore mountain biking on this thing, but how many of us will do that. 

I ride the streets, rail trails and commute with this one.  It is honestly one of the most comfortable bicycles I have ever been on.  This bicycle has it all.  It’s like a transformer, changing into anything I want it to be.  The belt drive is different than a chain, has less maintenance, no grease and rides smoothly.  Changing gears is smooth, overall smooth is the best way to describe this bike from Priority. 

The price tag on this was if I remember correctly around $800-900.  Well worth it.  This bike is solid, and I have had more expensive bicycles that were not this good, solid or smooth. 

I have had nothing but great experiences with this bike.  I love it and do not plan to get another daily bike for a long time.  Once again, you don’t know me personally, but let me just say, that is saying a lot.  I have no desire to move on from this bike.

Before I end this, let me go back to the why I choose to refurbish old bikes and turn them into single speeds. 

I do this because

• it keeps the cost down for me and for whoever is buying it.
• I buy my used bicycles from garage sales; I usually will only buy reputable brands because I know the frames are strong and dependable.
• Less maintenance for people and less things that could go wrong after they buy, and I don’t want them to lose out on a purchase because my bike mechanical skills are not professional, it’s more of a hobby although I get better every time, I stick to what I know.  So, I keep it simple.
• I love the life of Fixed Gear/Single Speed.  I believe it is the purest form of cycling. 
• You are super-fast!!!   It is a blast; it brings cycling back to childhood.
• It is easy to work on yourself.  The only thing you would have to really work on with a single speed/fixed gear bike, is brakes, lubrication of the chain and tires.. Easy Peasey

So once again thanks for spending time with me on this beautiful Sunday morning, I have one more cup of coffee, and look up Fixed gear bikes, see how cool they look, you never know, this might be a new obsession,,,,whoops, I mean a new love..

“Sitting in a chair!”

–Talk to ya’ll later

Pat