Surf N' Turf

You'll be pleased to know that during a little upstate getaway this past weekend I finally found my new bicycle:

It was a bargain at $2,200:

Though of course I talked the shopkeeper up to three grand because buying expensive things makes me feel special.  You'll also note that it's a "signed edition," and while I have no idea by whom it was signed, this only contributes to its mystique.  Anyway, while the rest of you suckers pay city prices for your vintage wares, I'm upstate finding the real bargains.

Speaking of artisanal bikes, this past Friday I indulged in a ride on my hand-curated singlespeed mountain bicycle:

Not only that, but I did so after riding a bicycle with those curly-type handlebars like they use in the Tour de France earlier that morning.  Doubling up like that is something I hadn't done for quite awhile, and there are few things more satisfying than chasing a road ride with a mountain bike ride.  It's basically the cycling equivalent of ordering the surf and turf platter.  Cunningham Park in Queens is also an exceptionally enjoyable place to ride a singlespeed, and probably the most fun place in the whole city to ride a bicycle.  Sure, you won't get to justify your overwrought suspension bike or indulge in that Instagrammable bikepacking bro-down, but despite the park's diminutive size and manageable scale they just keep managing to add more trail in there which makes it the perfect place for a stress-free pop-in ride.  

Of course, to me it seems like only yesterday that the trails at Cunningham Park opened, but in fact it was way back in 2007, a simpler time when the fixies roamed free and cowardly anonymous bloggers emerged to cash in on the phenomenon by making fun of them.  Also in those days the 29-inch wheel was still cutting edge, and wide tires meant anything over two inches:

Now everything's 27.5+ and my singlespeed wouldn't even qualify as a gravel bike.

Nevertheless, I regret nothing.  Indeed I'm glad I preserved the platonic ideal of the mid-aughts 29-inch rigid singlespeed in amber by ordering a custom designer version of it, because I love riding them, and now that they're out of fashion they're getting harder and harder to come by.  I suppose for me it's because I'll always be this doofus:

Though I'm not quite enough of a doofus to go out and buy a BMX at my age.  

Yet.

Speaking of trends, a commenter recently alerted me to this:

And it's been hard not to notice that riding in sandals is now very much in fashion:

Ridiculous as that may sound, signs of change are a(bare)foot — beloved B-list Instagram cycle-touring celeb-influencer Ultraromance has done the seemingly impossible in raising Bedrock Sandals to a status of coolness in certain circles. Stranger things!

B-list?  I'd say Ultraromance is an A-lister by cycling standards.  Everybody knows the B-list is populated by retired pros and washed-up bike bloggers.  In any case, as a bit of an open-toed shoe apologist myself it's good to see people moving past the "OH MY GOD YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE ALL YOUR TOES!" attitude when it comes to riding bikes in sandals, flip-flops, or what have you.

Finally, congratulations to Manual For Speed for accomplishing the unthinkable:

Yes, somehow you managed to turn an interview with the world's most exciting pro cyclist into a video nobody could possibly sit through in its entirety.

Well done.