![]() Epiphany! Editor's note: When my old-skool compai Vince read this, he said, How it Started
After two crashes in as many days last week, I knew something must be
up. At first I thought it was a sign that I needed a better brake, but then I got to
thinking (and riding) and it came to me....
Am I Really Doing This??
Of course, I was somewhat dubious about my conclusions. My "common sense" kept
flaring up: this is berkeley after all, and I don't live in the flat part
anymore- I live in the hills. How could it be safer to ride without brakes? So I devised an
experiment, of sorts- I'd ride brakeless for a week, or at least as long as it took the new
brake to come in the mail, and if I still had faith in my conclusions, I'd keep the brake off.
Yes Am I Really Doing This!!
Well here we are, a week later, and I am brakeless, and a safer rider
for it.
I am more aware of traffic, of pedestrians, of doors. I ride more
flow, no sprints followed
by quick deceleration at the other end of the block, simply because I
have to. I find myself
not taking the same risks I would with the "safety net" of the brake. I
ride at a more laid
back pace, to facilitate braking by backpressure, and I'm not tempted
to go faster,
especially because I have not yet mastered skipping/skidding. I wear a
helmet where I
wouldn't where one before.
Perfect Control
The culmination of the week was last night, when I took the fix to
the Berkeley critical mass (yeah, we like to do things differently here in
Berkeley...) and rode 2+ hours brakeless, feeling perfectly in control the
entire time. Besides this fact, I met another brakeless rider
(with an awesome old skool cinelli) who had come to the exact same
conclusion- and he'd been riding brakeless for a year.
So I thought I'd make my joining the ranks of brakeless riders
official. This is my testimonial.
Ride ON! |