What a difference

So this weekend I went and stopped by Tim's Bike Shop to see if he had a metal rear fender. I was in luck this day. He had an old fender from a big ol' beach cruiser. I was able to pick it up for a very good price. I was not sure if my idea would work or not, but I was hoping. being that I ride in the rain and I was sick of having a wet ass, a fender was what I needed to do. I also got to go down to the big city and visit a new shop called Counterbalance Bicycles. Wow what a shop. I was very impressed with the shop and the guys that work there. M was the guy that helped me out with all of my questions about single speeds, and also let me ride my first fixed gear bike.

Wow what a difference in the way they ride. First off, the fact that the pedals are always going regardless if you are pedaling or not is different. Second, when you go to slow down, the pedals are still going forward. So when you put the brakes on, hang on. It bucked me right out of the saddle. If M. had not told to pay attention I would have been thrown to the ground. Riding this bike was the first time I have felt scared getting on. For one I did not have the money to buy the bike if I broke. Secondly The way you have to ride this bike is different. You have to be aware of what you are doing. What was the most amazing thing about this fixed gear was the silence. I loved how quite this bike ran. The only thing you hear is the chain gliding by and the wind in your face.

But back to the fender issue. I got the fender back to the house and went down stairs to cut it apart and modified it so that it would fit my bike. It did not take long to trim it down enough to fit. It did take some time to make the support bars that go from the fender to the frame. being that this bike was not supposed to have this style of rear fender, it took a little thinking. But I got it on there. I was trying to keep the amount of fender used pretty small and ended up using the whole thing. It is different looking. But what a difference it was coming to work this morning and not having a wet ass. I will talk more about how I made the fender later.