In lock spin

 After mentioning my repeat fixed gear century contemplation, I realized I hadn't ridden a bike with my feet locked to the the rear wheel since I broke my neck.  OK, sure, it's been even longer than that, but I prefer how fittingly dubious it sounds when I make the statement that way.  Fixed gears may be a bit like heroin, although I'm unqualified to say for certain as I'm still many years shy of my pact to start using at 80.  Both can be oddly attractive despite the knowledge that either could bring about one's eventual downfall.  I will say, that despite all the potential negatives of eschewing coasting technology, dirt roads ride that little bit more wonderful on a fixed gear and I hypothesis that is the result of the drivetrain and legs adding to the rotational momentum of the system.  When the road gets bumpy, P is your friend (and also the symbol for momentum in physics--giggle).

So, after a morning errand on a more typical bike that coasts and even changes gears, I departed after lunch on my cobbled together fixed gear, as opposed to one of my other cobbled bikes.  I passed the first test by actually being able to flip into the toe clips in just a few tries, which is a wee more challenging when the pedals never stop turning, but having also tried open and clipless pedals on bikes of that non-coasting type, I find toe clips are the right-for-me balance of connection and give.  And I continued to pass, bypassing Harris Street for the the more vertically benign loop around the Holyoke Range ridge.  From there, I dropped down through Belchertown to confirm that the eastern end of the Norwottuck Trail was still closed for water company construction and then rode the rather hilly detour to more than undo any elevation avoidance I had managed by skipping Harris Street.

Trains and fixed gears both prefer gentle grades, so trails made from converted railroads are pretty much the perfect environment for these bikes.  Unfortunately, that is also the prime environment for people who avoid roads due to nearly completely lacking situation awareness, but I'm aware of that fact, stay alert for the unaware biker headed straight toward me, and take some solace in the idea that I can better sustain a head-on impact from 200 pounds of rider and bike than from 3,000 pounds of steel, rubber, plastic, and glass.  I passed a few more tests, instead of running head-on into them, and was enjoying the path enough to ride into into Northampton and back to South Amherst where I rejoined the roadway to head for the notch on route 116 and join Dan for a run on much rockier, uneven trails.

Yesterday may have surpassed warm and nudged into hot, which is particularly noticeable when one steps, or runs, away from the speed efficiency of a bicycle, even one that doesn't allow for coasting.  Dan had posted the "last minute" run invitation in the morning, acknowledging a likely sweat factor, and he noted that is was just the two old guys (he's in his 40s) who had shown up.  To that observation, I was able to point out, "And one of them has brain damage.  I have the brain scans to prove it!"

So we ran, and we sweated, and then Dan kept running after maybe 45 minutes in, when I noted the first feelings of not-cooling-quite-as-well and decided it was the smart time to loop back for my return trip via the upper pond of Earl's Trails for a dip.  Sometimes I don't just note smart ideas, but actually execute them, and half way back to the pond, my distinct drop-off of pace on the uphills confirmed I'd noted correctly.  Water, especially the not salinated kind that hasn't exited your pores, is wonderful on a hot day, and boy, and girl, that swim felt wonderful.  When back up to the notch I saw a friend as part of a mountain biking group, I was hardly jealous of their increased cooling air flow.  Plus, I was about to spin my legs out rolling, but not coasting, down home from the notch.