I ride a Fixie (Kona Paddy Wagon) and it is my only bike. Not sure why I started – I blame Warren Edwards mostly – but the more I ride it the more I love it. I guess it’s the simplicity. I also have a supremely comfortable Brooks saddle on it that looks pretty retro mixed in with a sprinkling of carbon on a modern frame

Nonetheless, I can’t decide if I have left it too late – training wise – to enter the London to Brussels 24h ride with David Newton. A triathlete that i swim with told me that as long as I can endure 8h in the saddle then the rest is mental. It’s not a race win but a finish that I am after.

I think the mere act of writing this post is a sort of displacement activity as if I say yes then some pretty serious training needs to be undertaken in the next 145 days. I will also need new cycle clothing (was 4st heavier the last time I bought stuff so it hangs from me now in a comical way), a proper bike fit to stop from being too easily crippled, 700c x 28 tires and some more bits of carbon (seatpost, stem and possibly bars) as it damps road vibes beautifully. Actually, looking on the bright side I get way more bike bling!

Any thoughts?

Henri Desgrange on a bicycle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five.
Isn’t it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer?
We are getting soft…As for me, give me a fixed gear!

—Henri Desgrange, L’Équipe article of 1902