Afternoon Ride

I figured it out

Morning Ride

Trigger warning: new bike deliberations.

I think I have solved my problem of whether to buy a new bike. Previously, I had been thinking about whether I wanted one or not, and like any want, it waxed and waned with time and blew about this way and that in the wind as I changed the weights assigned to the positives and negatives (especially, the cost, which rankles my West Michigan Dutch thriftiness). The problem was in thinking about this in terms of desire at all: it's not that I want a new bike. I need one.

I've been fiddling a lot with parameters after deciding to get a fit a month ago and one conclusion is that the frame size I bought three years ago when I wandered into the Trek Store in Ballwin, Missouri is one too big. At the time, I knew nothing about cycling, only that I wanted to ride every street in Baltimore. The rep who sold me the bike, remarkably, was at the top of the Wandrer leaderboard for St. Louis, and remains one of only four people to have broken 99% there. He also put me on a frame that makes sense for my height but maybe not for my inseam.

I was going to buy a frame on eBay but thought I'd do a test ride at the Trek store, first, and after doing it realized I don't want the hassle of swapping all the components and am just going to replace it. It'll be an upgrade from aluminum to carbon and from 58cm to 56cm. A side benefit is that I should be able to pack it better, since my current bike *barely* fits in my Orucase. I have a small wad of money from my employer that has to be spent on health-related matters, and also my birthday is coming up. I am no astrologer but it seems pretty clear to me that the arc of the universe is bending in favor of this decision.

I didn't do it yet, though, so there's still a chance I'll walk this back.

In other news, JHU started work on the DSAI center yesterday, and the row of trees has already been removed from Remington. They didn't waste any time with that. It's sad, but I have confidence the finished product will be better than what they took away, both for the neighborhood and the city.

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Matt Post

I figured it out

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I figured it out

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