Untitled-in-sydney

There's a lot I like about living here. One of the things that pisses me off is that I do far less cycling than in London. It's a trifecta of things; the weather (hot or wind, or best of all, both), the hills (many and varied, but always up) and the distance (not all that far, but double what I used to do)

In London, irrespective of whatever else was going on, I was able to maintain a sense of smugness about my cycling prowess or if not that, at least doing-ness.

Nevertheless, even in London, there are those that stand out. The cycle couriers. They're everywhere, and I suspect a much under appreciated service. And, as is often the way, even amongst the couriers there are those that stand aloof.

These demi-gods of the velocipede are the single speeders.

It's a simple as it sounds. In these days of increasing gear numbers, they ditch the lot and have a ring with the pedals up front (where else?) with fixed ring on the rear hub and a chain joining the two together.

It's the simplest of arrangements which brings us back to where we started. The hills.

We passed a single-speeder pumping away up the hill on our way out of Manly this morning. I suspect that when he arrives at work he had a specially modified chair to accomodate his bulging calf muscles.