Got It Wednesday: A Singlespeed and a Tattoo

"More often than not singlespeeders have tattoos, carry whiskey flasks on rides and are proficient with the use of foul language."

Today is not so much a "Want It Wednesday", as a "Got It Wednesday", since I have made not one, but two exciting purchases in the last couple of days. I hadn't planned on both things coming together back-to-back, but I'm glad it worked out that way, because they go together like peanut butter and jelly. Er, um, like avocado and bacon for Paleo folks.

What are these things? A singlespeed and a new, much more visible tattoo.

My new blue baby

The first is the Surly Karate Monkey that I did a Want It Wednesday on back in January. I finally got the money together right in time for mountain bike season to start, and it arrived on Monday.

Facing the wolf at my door.

The second is tattoo #2. After I got over the fear of the first one, I came to terms with the fact that I really wanted one on my arm that I could see while wearing regular clothes. I guess I'd been held back by fears of having a tattoo that showed in my work clothes, but then I realized that it wasn't that big of a deal. I will probably never become president of the university now, but I probably wasn't going to, anyway.

So once the decision was made that the arm tattoo was happening, I had to decide on content. I spent a lot of time looking on Pinterest and fyeahtattoos.com for ideas. I quickly came to the conclusion that there was no way it was going to be a bird, bow, or a peacock feather, and eventually narrowed it down to a "paper cut" design. Then I looked for actual paper cut art on Etsy and found this shop with lots of designs that I liked. For some reason the Little Red Riding Hood spoke to me the most, although I don't have any particular attachment to the story. Something about the little girl and the wolf conveyed a sense of bravery, though. So I had Colin at SKINQUAKE draw up a simpler version that would fit on my arm, and yesterday I got it done. I'm still getting used to how big and obvious it is, but that's what I wanted, and I work itself is beautiful.

A bandage messed up the most poser Instagram ever.

I took Monday and Tuesday off of work for some additional chill-out time after training camp, so once the tattoo was complete, I took my burrito-wrapped arm and headed out for the Karate Monkey's maiden voyage at BCSP. I've been making jokes about how it will be my dumpster bike, because it's inexpensive and a rigid steel singlespeed is all that I can afford right now. Well, the mechanical brakes aren't that awesome, but otherwise, I FREAKIN' LOVE THIS BIKE.

Singlespeeding is so much fun, and the rigid fork is not nearly as rough as I imagined it would be. Yeah, I noticed a difference, but it wasn't too bad. It was definitely an asset when I needed to stand and climb, though, which happened a lot with the 32x17 gearing that came on the bike. I think I need a 32x19, but I didn't have time to change it before the first ride. I still survived a lap of North Tower and Green Valley without having to get off, though. It was harder than bopping around at easy pace on a geared bike, but it was also faster and allowed me to keep up better flow, so it was still a very good time. I'm definitely looking forward to the Monkey and I spending much more time together this summer.

Now I just need a name for him...