that makes you want to hop on and ride them, for no reason at all, at the weirdest of hours.

Went out drinking with a friend tonight. Bars closed at 2:00, soon after which I was headed home. Little buzzed, but not hammered. 'bout halfway home I take a detour through little side-streets I rarely travel, checking out all the cute little (and not so little) houses, and realize I don't *want* to be home yet. I've already decided to blow off racing tomorrow, no reason not to stay out late and sleep in late.

Call my buddy who I figure is probably sobering up at Denny's prior to his drive home (Sadly, I have no kindred bicycle-junkie spirits in this little 'burbclave. Unless you count the training/racing buddies I go out and hammer with. They don't see a bike as transportation, so much as a toy. My bike is generally the only one, or maybe one of two, locked up out in front of the bar.). Sure enough, he's there. Tell him to order me something greasy and I'll be right there. So I sit and shoot the bull some more, eat greasy eggs, and leave.

I'm *still* not ready to go home. So off I go, no particular destination in mind. Just exploring little side streets and neighborhoods not a mile away, but somehow never previously explored, and many that are a bit more than a mile away. Eventually find myself up in the hills among all the multi-million dollar homes, cruising up the route that I kill myself on, on tuesday nights trying, and generally failing, to battle with the local roadie hotshots. Turn off that route onto more previously unexplored streets. Turn downhill on some random street and suddenly it gets *steep*. Every other pedal stroke is a short skid just to keep speed in check. Remember the bare patches on the rear tire, the fact that I have no tools with me, and nothing to prove and drag the front brake down the rest of the hill. Keep cruising, pride still intact 'cause who gives a f*, I'm just out for a cruise. I have the streets, warm night air, and nearly-full moon to myself. More exploration, more deserted streets, more views of the moonlight and glittering valley below.

20 miles and two hours (did I mention i was cruuuiiising?), I'm *finally* back home and ready to call it a night.

Dunno what it is about fixies...

-Trevor

Dunno, but I've been doing the same thing only on trails the last couple of weeks... Just ride and ride and ride...

It's good.

Every sunday I have a little 'date' with myself. I get on the fixie, and go check out the dumpsters of some bike shops for goodies. But the goodies are just the excuse, really I just want to ride around.

Sounds like you had a good cruise.

peace,
sam

Good stuff!

in santa cruz every other friday we have a midnight mystery ride (and the other fridays we have bike gang/dodge ball/swimming rides)... last night the 40 of us were going up the parking garage and i hit a wet spot on a corner and crashed like a sack of potatos... too hungover to check for problems... but... i know what you mean! whenever we are sitting around waiting i usually start practicing my backwardsness or epic stands and then my roadie friends say "HEY WHY R U ALWAYS SHOWING OFF" and i tell them "THIS IS FUN **** OFF!!!"

Hey Trevor, where in SoCal are you? I'm in Santa Barbara.

And it sounds like I should move to Santa Cruz... If I had a midnight mystery ride here, it'd consist of me and my friend...

Someone said to me once, after riding my fixie, that it's like having sex without a condom.... i completely agree....

Ah. Word.

Sleepy little college town in the "inland empire", called Redlands. The heat has been oppressive here the past couple weeks (Triple-digits nearly every day, and it shows no sign of letting up. We're probably in for this until about October.), so that might've been part of the impetus behind the ride. It was finally pleasant out (75 or so, slight breeze.) to ride by 3 a.m.

-Trevor

nite rides are great here in NYC. No worries about tons of cars on the road. The air isnt as humid, etc.. Id say. Sunrise is great and late nite is better.

I just did a 14-mile ride this morning that i never would have done on any bike, and there I was on a 70" fixed gear slogging up the steep backside of El Sobrante ridge and thinking "this is crazy." The first three miles was a 600-foot climb, standing on the pedals nearly the whole way. I had to stop every half mile or so to catch my breath and at one point thought I was going to throw up. And then there was the ride down into Berkeley, when I was spinning so fast it seemed like I was going to travel through time.

Right after I thought "this is crazy," I thought, "I gotta do this again." We're going to try and do that ride every week until it's not such a beast. The strange thing is, I've been riding a bike for transportation my whole life, but I haven't gone on recreational rides since I was a teenager (20 yrs ago). Now I can't wait for our next bike ride.

I don't know what it is, but there is absolutely nothing like it.

I'm all about the late night rides. I have an aversion to the sun anyway. Esspecially when it is 100K degrees outside in the sun.

When it is late and quite out all you hear is the sound of the cranks and wheels going round.

That is what I like. . .rythm.

Such a great story! Thanks for sharing! I totally understand how you feel. I have also started to "cruise" around alot more when I got my fixie done.