Urghh. I took the bicycle to work today and was reminded why, as of late, I’ve mostly been driving everywhere: it’s fucking hot.

I just slugged out seven miles on a 32×16 single speed mountain bike. The morning wasn’t so bad– it probably only 90F or so when I set out at 8:20am. But at 5:20 it was 104F with a slight headwind from the west. I was not amused. Fixed gear is great for the city, eveen at lower gear ratios like my old 42×15 conversion. True, your legs don’t stop moving. But running a 2:1 ratio on fat 26″ off road tires feels like you’re getting nowhere fast. It took only five minutes longer on the mtb than on the fixed gear road bike, so that’s not a big deal. It’s just the total slugfest of spinning fast and long that gets to me.

I think I’ll save the mountain bike for the trails from now on.