My bike has been built up to a minimum configuration and I’m ready to start tooling around the neighborhood. I lack even the most basic of accessories (like, y’know, reflectors or lights), but I’m not concerned about that since I’m not going to be riding at night yet. I took the bike with me on the bus today, which was educational — the bike racks on the front of the bus are fairly simple, but I still couldn’t quite figure out the wheel lock. I got it eventually. Being able to zip down to the office on the bike was much more fun than walking. It didn’t make a lot of difference on time, as far as I can tell, but it sure was a blast.

I still have a few bugs to work out of the system. For instance, I’m noticing that when I change gears the chain doesn’t always move right away. What happens is I’ll be pedaling along, hit the shift lever, and immediately my pedaling loses all resistance. I don’t know if that makes any sense. It feels like instead of pushing against something when I pedal I’m spinning in thin air, like there’s no chain attached to the pedals. Eventually the chain will switch to the next gear, but sometimes I have to hit the lever a few times to make it work. It’s pretty frustrating. If anyone has any insight, please comment and let me know what you think.

I’m also thinking I may have to change out the saddle — it is not comfortable. This is probably exacerbated by the fact that I am out of shape and adjusting to riding — I hear it’s normal for your ass to hurt at first. I’ll give that some time to see if goes away. Also still trying to figure out how to adjust the seatpost. It looks like it’s a quick release, but I can’t get the post to budge by fucking around with the quick release. So many neato things to learn.

I haven’t been on a bike in probably 20 years. I am so very rusty at this. But it’s a lot of fun!

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