Detoxing from Fred-dom

Firstly, late on Friday, Outside published my latest column which is all about that idiot Amy Alkon and how she thinks carrying kids on your bike is child engangerment:

Comments on their Facebook page range from claims that children should wear helmets while being carried slowly in box bikes to whatever the hell this is:

Aaron Daney It's ironic that Outside Magazine promotes unrelated liberal agendas while at the same time writing on topic pieces poo pooing the types of agendas that liberals promote. It's like the stripper that knows she's crazy but will put a 4" heel through your skull if you actually call her crazy.

That's not even a word salad.  That's a word purée.

Secondly, you'll be pleased to know I finished throwing together some "road" wheels for Ol' Piney and the results are, well, rather unattractive:

In fact it looks very much like a New York City food delivery bike:

Rest assured I do not mean that as an affront to New York City food delivery riders, who work harder on the bike than just about anybody.  Still, that doesn't mean I have to find their bikes attractive, nor is it in any way at odds with my respect for them.  Sure, I'll never understand the high fender thing, but presumably they have their reasons:

Anyway, back to Ol' Piney, I'm afraid I didn't have time to put in a proper ride on it in that configuration.  Also, it was like 15 degrees and there's still a ton of snow on the ground, so I'd be lying if I said I was inclined to make time.  However, a quick spin around the neighborhood reveals that, aesthetic configurations aside, it feels quite comfy and nimble with the "skinny" tires on it:

At some point I'll try to work out a better fender solution--preferably one that provides for full coverage yet isn't too onerous to install and remove--but for the time being it is what it is.

In any case, my hope is that between the two pairs of wheels I'll be covered for everything from full-on offroad rides to longer mixed-terrain rambles with a fair amount of pavement.  Will I look terminally uncool when the bike is in jacked-up hybrid mode?  Absolutely.  But part of the one-bike-for-a-year* experiment is about attempting to cure myself of those concerns once and for all.

*[With plenty of convenient exceptions, of course.]

Finally, by way of a teaser, this past weekend this guy I know who used to race bikes invited me to a screening of this:

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about both it and the "epic" Citi Bike ride I undertook to get there.