I definitely rode today, since I got myself a wondrous new toy (a Bianchi Pista fixed gear track bike, which I had fitted with a front brake). My first twenty minutes on the bike made me doubt that I'd ever really master it. I had repeated near falls. Sometime during the second twenty minutes I got used to the fact that all the circumstances one habitually coasts on a road bike (and there are an amazing number of those I discovered) just have to be met with modified behavior (always involving the admonition "Just keep pedaling you idiot!!!!"). After about an hour of cycling I was comfortable with it, and started really playing around with the advantages of fixed gearing. I started cycling really slowly like a track racer does before the sprints, nearly did a track stand (I need a bit more work, but at least I didn't fall over). Finally I starting trying to not depend on the brake as much, and to do most of my deceleration by controlling the pedaling (I'm not ready for a skid stop). Then I tried riding really fast (so I could learn to control the stops).



Overall I rode for about three hours.