Speed Reassignment Surgery

I ride too fast. I get sweaty on every ride. This is avoidable. Two of my three bikes (Blueberry and Shrimp) are pretty aggressive drop bar bikes for zooming. I need to ride slower. I’m calling this transition Speed Reassignment Surgery. I have a third bike, named Burrito, it is the solution to my problems. I’m going to talk about that bike.

I built this bike in January of 2023. It was originally named Burrito, because, like a small donkey, it could carry lots of things. At the time, my only other bike was my Trek 1100, Blueberry, which couldn’t carry a ton, and didn’t feel great doing it.

Originally, I ran a Velo Orange Porteur rack. Eventually, I decided this was too big, and switched to a Constructeur rack with a 137 basket. This was ideal. I could easily throw my Tunitas 137 Basket Tote (made in San Francisco!) in and go. This was my every day commuter, and my do everything bike. Frequently during breaks between classes, I would ride from school in the Haight into Golden Gate Park, or up Mt Sutro or Twin Peaks.

It’s a fantastic bike. It’s comfortable, it can do anything. It has 2300 miles on it (actually more, I went about a month without logging anything on Strava while riding a lot last summer), and I love it dearly.

This bike has taken me to some of the most beautiful places, up Mt Tam, home, along the Vancouver Sea Wall, to peaceful redwoods (my favorite place), the stunning Pacific Ocean ecosystems of western Marin.

It’s got ample gearing on the high and low end, it’s indestructible, it’s comfortable, it’s reliable. It can do anything.

So why haven’t I been riding it? The real answer is that I don’t know, but I have some ideas.

I took the front rack off last year (I don’t quite remember why), and that really hurt the usefulness of the bike. Then I rehabbed my Trek roadbike and started riding that more (lighter, more convenient in the city, faster). I got addicted to speed working as a messenger, and it’s time to ride slow again.

I want to appreciate the places I ride, the people I pass, the smells I smell. I need to go slow.

I want to pick up more food, run more errands, find more cool things, and carry it all in my basket. I want to bring picnics to Golden Gate Park and firewood and a blanket to Ocean Beach. I want to ride with my friends. I need to go slow.

As part of this transition, Burrito is going to get powdercoated. Gone is boring gray, all hail RAL 3015.¹ I’m going to put the Constructeur and 137 basket back on. I’m going to more it even more upright, even more comfortable. I’m going to lower the gearing. I’m going to use the messenger bag less and the basket more. I’m going to live slower.

Oh and I’ll probably build a dynamo wheel.

Thanks for reading my ode to slowness and bike bio for Burrito. If you’ve got adivce or ideas for my speed reassignment surgery, email me. blog@natalie.lol.