THE HALL PASS

Last April, I was lucky enough to get hold of a Bridgestone Anchor UC-9 touring bicycle. It was equipped with a decent, but rather worn out Shimano Sora 3400 3x9 groupset, mismatched Tektro cantilever brakes and 700c x 32 hybrid tires. With some tinkering done by the sages at John Wilkie, I was able to resurrect the bike and have it running decently. However, I had this nagging voice in my head telling me to bring the bike up another notch. Something in the area of… gravel. Say whaaa? Yep, a hybrid-touring/gravel bike, or something in that configuration. I had the basic foundations – a chromoly frame with a relaxed geometry, bosses for cantilever brake bosses, and tire clearance that can accommodate 35+mm tires. So maybe, just maybe this little experiment might work. Keep you guys posted.

Doing long rides is like meditating. For almost eight hours. On two wheels. While trying your best not to get hurt. After yesterday's long ride to Tagaytay, I've come to think that I may have strayed off course from my original plan of getting fit. Not that I'm beginning to hate triathlons but what started out as simply running with a side of gym workouts has now evolved to a series of swim-bike-run sessions. These sessions are a tad bit harder on my wallet than on myself.