Occasionally on should use a weekend for something other than multiday trips. Thankfully the weather gave me a respite from the past month. It had been above freezing high up into the mountains for a week, was 45 and drizzly in the valley, and rivers were starting to rise. Good hiking destinations aren’t yet in shape, the skiing was sure to suck, and boating seems a bit premature. The solution: install a new cog and ride sticky singletrack until the legs don’t work.
With the Grizzlyman Adventure Race on hiatus this year, I have no compelling need for gears, and the Karate Monkey can return to the form it which it rides best. I’ll try not to get too poetic about the ruthless economy of effort or aesthetics of singlespeeding, I’ll just say that I’d missed it.
The new gear is 36:22, a hair lighter than the 30:18 which was standard back when I knew how to ride a bike. I’ve become a firm believer that more teeth in the system pedal better. Otherwise it’s all the stuff that’s worked for the past ~six years. The bike is a good reminder that I could buy less new stuff and usually do just as good.
Bedrock & Paradox 
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