The Ride

Entry 3 - the ride
Since the fixed gear is a new experience. Bud added some sweet Yin Yang flat pedals to increase the learning curve of his new experience and add a little confidence.

After about 10 rides Bud should be able to share some of his observations. Bud has now ridden the bike about 3 rides to and from spin class, a couple of rides in the neighborhood to run errands, 3 or 4 beach cruises, an urban ride, a killer crash, and an all out 1 hour effort through varied terrain in his super hero tights.

Why so many rides? It’s difficult for Bud to gauge the bike as a whole since the fixed gear single speed experience is totally new to him. However, Bud can certainly provide valuable frame integrity output at this point.

First words that come to mind or should he say sounds? Quiet, noiseless, a mechanical zen come to mind. Every time a noise has occurred, which is rare, it was mechanical error, aka Bud Baker skill-less mechanical prowess as the culprit.

Bud’s initial concerns before riding the bike would have been the geometry, balance, and alignment of an imperfect material of non man made origin. Bud envisioned riding in non intentional circles, serpentine like patterns of his path left behind, or wobbles from flawed geometry. Not the case. The bike tracks perfectly. It has tight maneuverable handling with a feeling of crisp flowing exuberance. Oh yes, the CRASH! It occurred in a transition from light to dark while simultaneously going from pavement to dirt. He was going about 15 miles per hour and thought he saw a root. His instincts took over at that point. He stood up And locked his legs with feet parallel to flow over the root out of the saddle. OOOOOPS! It’s a fixed gear! Suddenly, wheels stopped rolling and bamboo bike started rolling. Bud tried to break the fall with his bad finger, bad wrist, aka club hand, bad shoulder, and face, but the frame still took quite a blow. Bud weighs about 185 pounds and was carrying about 20 pounds of backpack from spin class. Bud hurt physically for about a week from it. However, emotional scars remain. After careful review of the bike, the saddle and handlebar needed adjustment. Sweet cork grips required replacement. A flat tire needed repair. Since then he has added cyclocross tires to add confidence plus reduce flats on varied terrain. After some careful soul searching, and a few more rides, Bud can assure you the frame is entirely intact and as sturdy as any other frame he has owned.