I don’t know why we get Presidents Day off and not MLK day. I don’t. But I was grateful I had today off. It was beautiful out. Just incredible. Monica put out an open invite for a ride out to West Seattle and since I had nothing better to do, took her up on it. We met at the Shanty Cafe around 1pm and rode out to West Seattle to meet Andre, and the three of us tooled around Alkai Beach on bikes, working our way around to Lincoln Park and eventually to Aarons BIcycle Repair.
Ro joined us there to say hello, Monica wanted to talk to Aaron about brakes, and I had Mike go over the Pacer while I had it there. Again I learned some things. Shifting’s been really hard between gears, so I’d shut the index shifting off and have been running on friction shifting. After a bit of fiddling around with it, turns out I again had the derailleur cable clamps in the wrong direction, pinching the cable in the wrong way. For the life of me I do not know how this impacts the shifting, but it does. Greatly. Derailleurs are fickle beasts it would appear. Anyhow, the Pacer is really riding and shifting quite nicely now and I’m glad I had them look at it. I’m much more confident in it now, and feel like I’m ready to take it on the FHR this weekend coming up.
After Aarons, we wandered over to the Matador for happy hour food and beer, and then over to Andre’s house via the biggest steepest fucking hill I’ve ever been on. I gotta tell you about this hill. Google Maps/Images link there doesn’t do it a lot of service, but you know how photographs get. Just keep in mind that the ground image they show you there is the beginning of that incredible incline. I still get the willies thinking about it, but basically you must absolutely just bomb the fucker. Drop into your highest gear, get in the drops, and forget about your brakes because if you have to hit them you’ll die. Fortunately it’s butted up against a park on the right, and it’s a very low traffic road to begin with. According to my computer we hit a top speed of 43mph without pedaling. So. Much. Fun. ZOMG. I didn’t want to move my hands for anything.
We got to Andre’s, had a beer and some icecream, BS’d for a bit and then hit the road. It was dark when Monica and I wandered back to the city, stopped for a quick second at Krispy Kreme donuts for a fresh hot glazed donut, then split ways at 3rd and Pine and went home.
Days like today make me love riding all over again. It’s going to be a good year this year. I can feel it.
Onward.
Crazy you rode down that hill. That’s where my buddy Matt crashed (brain surgery and stuff). He lived on Genesee and 30th but he’s in Pennsylvania now. 43mph is fast!
Your buddy Matt is a fucking idiot. Taking a fixie down that hill without a helmet..? No wonder he spent the last 6 months eating out of a straw. I think the general consensus was he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and had an accident. Not that he threw himself down a hill he had no business being on in the first place without even the most minimal of protective garb.
You read that blog his mom put together of her sitting by his bedside for months. I mean shit dude. Who does that to his mom?
Idiot. I’m glad he’s alive.
I agree with Scott, but I don’t think Matt was on a fixie. Still no excuse not to wear a helmet. From what I understand the kid lived on that street, at the bottom of the hill.
That detail would temper my feelings on the topic some – not that I have anything against fixies, but that hill on a fixie without an helmet and but a single front brake makes me cringe thinking about it.