Rockyesque biking
Posted July 2, 2008 by SteveCategories: Uncategorized
I’ve been riding the Electra Amsterdam three-speed Dutch-style bicycle for some three months now (maybe I should stop and take a rest
). Its quite the clunker and any size hill makes you appreciate a mountain bike if you’ve ever owned one. But I really love the riding position, and find that the bike is just plain fun…ergo, I ride more often. Anyway, a couple of days ago I popped a rear spoke and the wheel started to wobble dangerously. The bike shop promised it “in a couple of days”, so I’ve been “forced” to ride my Gary Fisher Sugar 2 mountain bike instead of the Dutch Devil.
I’m not sure which Rocky movie it was, but I’m thinking of the one where Sly is up against this enormous Russian steroid boxing machine. While the Rusky is training with the latest high-tech equipment and the best coaches, Rocky goes to a farm, somewhere in Siberia it looks like, and begins to cut and haul lumber and move enormous boulders in order to get in shape. Well, you can probably guess the rest even if you haven’t seen the movie….Rocky trounces his opponent by using the absolute lowest-tech real-man training methods.
So here I am, first time on the Gary Fisher uber-bike after a year’s absense and I’m flying! Hills that I used to struggle to get up even on this bike, seem easy and banal. I realize that three months of hauling that 50 pound hunk of ersatz Dutch steel has really built up my leg muscles. Nasdrovya!



