I often have to break it to would be bike buyers, that there is no such thing as a bike that does everything. While some bikes do many things well, the best solution is to have multiple, purposeful bikes (n+1 right?). Another option is to go with a trusty steed that is versatile. Not a thoroughbred in any one category, but something that is more like a riding mule, that packs, and still gets rad on the weekends.
Last winter, I was given a used bike as part of my Christmas bonus; one that I had been drooling over since it arrived in the shop. It's nothing fancy: a simple drop bar, steel, cyclocross bike. I added a front rack, swapped brakes, changed the gearing, and started riding.
While it's not the bike to rule them all, it does do a lot of things quite well: commute, haul, skid, jump, off road, on road: CHECK
Yesterday's events articulated this point:
- 9:00 a.m. Load bike with lunch and library books.
- 9:15Ride bike to courthouse, register to vote, browse library
- 10:00 Commute to bike shop. work...
- 6:00 p.m. Ride to trailhead. Load trail beer on rack.
- 6:20 Climb the flow trail. Enjoy beer at top.
- 6:30 Get rad on the flow trail. Clear the jumps. Feel like a kid with his first bike.
- 7:30 Commute home, stopping for a 6 pack.
- 8:00 Make plans to do it again tomorrow.
