In Which I Ride The Dream for 14 Miles

Fancy Bike in  bike rack at Warde Hall, MMU, today. Naturally back lit.

What is a commute like on Fancy Bike?

A dream, a dream within a dream, even a dweam within a dweam. It’s pretty good.

I took Jon’s Fancy Bike (a Cannondale, and why I didn't remember the brand name plastered so prominently on Fancy Bike earlier today, I don’t know) out of the garage this morning, lubed the chain and then pumped up the tires.

There was nowhere to put my briefcase, so I slung it over my shoulder. And I was off.

It took a few blocks to reacquaint myself with the gear shifts. And I’ll have to tighten Fancy Bike’s brakes, which you don’t really want to have very loose because if you start off on this horse, it’s going to want to gallop.

I like this style of handlebar. Many more ways to use.

And gallop it did. This Fancy Bike can run. While riding The Beast felt a bit slower than Francis, riding Fancy Bike is dramatically more different in the opposite direction. Several times I found myself thinking words like “sweet mother of Jesus that was fast, I better slow down” while riding Fancy Bike. I sometimes think things like that on Francis, but generally only on RAGBRAI and only on an impressive downhill stretch—not on my regular daily commute route.

I was still not the fastest bike on the trail during my afternoon ride home—one guy passed me riding a hybrid bike like Francis, and one very young buck even hurdled by on The Beast style mountain bike. But I was among the faster bikers and passed way more people than I usually do.

I only rode Fancy Bike 14 miles or so, because I had been busy and had less time today, but it was enough to boost my total miles in 2014 to more than 900. With luck, perhaps I will top 1,000 before May is over—that would take riding around 88 miles in two days—we shall see.

And when I ride to campus tomorrow? Sure, it will be on Fancy Bike. Later, if I tow some grandchildren using our bike trailer, it will be with either The Beast or Audrey’s bike. I’m not going to hitch a trailer to Fancy Bike. And if I do the Sac and Fox on Saturday, it will surely be on The Beast.

But I’m pretty happy that some of my biking miles while Francis is in the shop will be on Fancy Bike. I promise to both tighten the brakes and limit my use of Fancy Bike to only a few rides. But I am sure going to enjoy those rides.

The seat on Fancy Bike. Much more narrow than Francis, probably narrower than The Beast. Yet, almost as comfortable as Francis, and I am not sure why. Everything about Fancy Bike screams "cool," including the seat design.