In looking at the 4 skateboards I had there, I thought of all the memories that are tied up into the objects that we take for granted whenever we see them daily. One of the skateboards brought me back to nearly 8 years ago, when I bought it, and rode it regularly. I had once gone around a Lowe's parking lot with my best friend at the time and video taped us being stupid, and just trying to be cool despite our inability to land at least 90% of our tricks.
Later on, after shoveling a truckload of memories from one large box to another, I had a chance to go ride. I had left my road bike at my brother's a couple days prior, with intent to finally do the Red Rock Loop, but was waylaid by some wretched weather on Sunday.
I had been scoping out various bike shops in an attempt to determine my LBS of preference, and still have many to go, but I was able to check out Las Vegas Cyclery earlier on, before moving stuff. The shop has apparently expanded since I last visited there about a year ago, when the ongoing disagreement between my crank arm on my trail bike and I came to a battle, and it walked out on me (It actually just fell off when riding up Charleston).
It's a nice shop, fairly well organized, and the staff is friendly. I think I may be just a little too critical, but it can be quite disappointing whenever you look for something and a shop has only one option, if that.
I am trying to fix up a bike I was given by my uncle, which is a 15+ year old Japanese time-trial bike with a 650c (about 26") front wheel and standard 700c (29") rear wheel, giving the bike an aggresive rake. A replacement for the ancient tires is what initially led me to this shop, but as the 650c has become all be deleted from history, it is incredibly difficult to find a tire, or in the case of this shop, even a tube for said front wheel.
It took a bit to get some assistance (they were moderately busy, so I don't hold it against them), so I took the chance to peruse the big label stuff around the shop. They aren't host to my road bike of choice (Trek) but they have some amazing offerings from Cannondale and Specialized, two other huge names.
Here, I realized that this supposed "Fixed-Gear Revolution" has, in fact, hit Vegas. I had previously thought that with the constant slope of the valley mixed with the Summer heat and bike-unfriendliness would ward off any attempts of bike culture; but I was wrong. This store had a dedicated rack just for "Single Speed and Fixed Gear" bikes, and there were some beautiful ones.
The first one that caught my eye was a Specialized Langster, a very handsome bike at that, all matte black with classic drop handlebars. Then I looked a little to the right, and it was like i saw the sunrise for the first time again, or some other momentous magical event. I mean, seriously, look at this thing; it has a beautiful glossy red paint job with modest white letting, and accents on the downtube and fork.
It's extremely hard to resist. I want... no, need this bike and continue staring at it imagining the joy that could be had. It just needs a white saddle, white bottle cage, some circuitry (of course), and the black m520 SPD pedals from my trail bike.
There was a thread on BikeForums talking about this bike and referring to the Fixed Gear trend and how it is fueled by people with a need to be stylish, not by bicyclists (then there was a debate over the definition of 'bicyclist').
I take pride in my affinity towards bikes, I grew up with one, fawned over one, and I know own four with a prospective fifth. I don't ride with anyone, and am not a member of any riding group, clique or otherwise. I talk to people about how I enjoy riding, not how much I spent on my primo wheels or anything like that. If you like my bike, awesome; if not, oh well.
I own a truck, which I do plan on getting rid of in favor of a cheaper, more fuel efficient vehicle. I don't always recycle, but I try. If I am going somewhere nearby or even within reasonable distance, I opt for my bike, because I like it.
