This week is going to be a stressful one and rather than stew indoors, listening to the news, last night I hollered at Bailey to see if he wanted to commemorate International Singlespeed Day on our neighborhood trails…

Bailey rode his Moné, his do-it-all bike, and I rode my recently retrofitted Retrotec.

Our local trail organization, the Fat Tire Society, recently re-built a flow trail called Hustle n Flow. My idea was to get some berm ripping and some panning jump shots of Bailey on his bike because if anyone should celebrate ISSD, it’s him.

Bailey got me into riding SS again and it’s not like he told me I should, or guilted me into it, or made fun of me for my 12-speed cassette. He just made it look fun. The simplicity is one thing but the thing I like the most about singlespeed riding is how it represents a sliding scale for your personal fitness. I used to need an 18t cog, now I run a 16t. I used to walk up some sections, now I can ride them. I used to only ride the low-country trails, now I climb into the mountains.

I’ve yet to make it up to Tesuque Peak on my Retrotec and with snow already capping it, it’s not gonna happen this year but I have something to work up to…

Thanks to Paul from Paul Component for putting this fun day, and a much-needed distraction, together!