As one of cyclings preeminent retrogrouches, it is recumbent upon me to rail againstwell, everything.That is the AIs take on A pennyfarthing rider ranting about how safety bicycles are ruining cycling and Id say it really nailed the assignment, right down to the notch cut into the cardboard sign to provide adequate tire clearance. (Granted, I did imagine the scene taking place in the late 19th century, not today, but still.)But theres more to retrogrouchery than just rejecting stuff. Theres also embracing old stuff that you would have railed against when it was new. Then theres the most important aspect of all, which is creating an entire identity around that old stuff.What do I mean by that? Well, consider yesterdays ride:Which was downright bucolic, right down to this deer doing the whole Homer-Simpson-receding-into-the-background thing:See?And yes, I am making good on my non-promise to ride only this bike forevermore:Or at least Ive ridden it twice in a row.Anyway, Ive had the Roaduno for a little under two years now, having received it in September-ish of Two Thousand and Twenty-Four. I that time, I have ridden it more or less as it came out of the boxthat is to say singlespeed, with Choco bars:I have ridden it as a double:Then a as a double with drop bars:Then as a triple with drop bars:And now Ive batted around the order and turned it back into a singlespeed (though the drop bars are staying):While the fact that the bike is so easy to tinker with virtually guarantees Ill continue to do so, I really shouldnt, because Id say that as of now its as close to ideal as I could possibly get it, and the key to it all can be expressed in three words:BuyOhPaceIm only three-quarters joking, too, because Im now convinced that the Bee-oh-pa-chay chainring really does meaningfully improve the singlespeeding experience:Ill leave the technical justification to fellow Biopace apologist Sheldon Brown, but I think the Pace is particularly well-suited to pushing too big of a gear, which you invariably find yourself doing on a road-oriented singlespeed bicycle anyplace that isnt completely flat.And yes, there was a time when I was ashamed of Biopace:In fact, back in the 20th century, I quickly de-Biopaced my Trek 1200 (the original one I had backk then, not its Normcore Doppelgnger), not because I didnt like the way it worked, but because it was clear to me it was completely uncool, and if I had a blog when Biopace was introduced Im sure I would have roundly (well, not roundly, theyre not round, are they?) mocked it.Even today Biopace remains uncooleven though the gravelistas are all over it:But todays oval chainrings are totally different from Biopace!, cry the Gravel Freds.Yeah, keep telling yourself that. If your chainring is lumpy, its Biopace. I dont care if the lumps are oriented differently or not. Saying these arent Biopace is like saying youre not a carnivore because you only eat your hamburger for dessert.All of this is to say that the so-called alt cyclists are constantly reclaiming old stuff (how alt can you be when you look just as alike as the Freds do?), leaving the rest of us with next to nothingand so Im planting my flag in Biopace, damn it!Never mind, Im too late, someones already selling stickers.Okay, fine, then Im planting my flag in bonded aluminum Treks:[Wait, wheres the Biopace???]And 23mm tires.But yes, I do think the Biopace works well for a singlespeed. The only issues are aesthetic: the chainring itself looks wonky, and theres a little extra slack in the chainring, though the chain stays on just fine and most people tension their chains way too much anyway. And speaking of singlespeeds, could there be better terrain for one than this?I can even get up most of my usual paved climbs on the one-speed Roaduno just fine, though I do have to plan my route so that Im going down this sort of thing and not up it:And no, I did not drop my chain.Finally, further to yesterdays post, while the most dangerous thing about cycling may be the drivers, the second-most dangerous thing is losing your own mind:Yes, every once in awhile a cyclist completely snaps:Caught on camera blocking a stream of cars in Brighton, the helmeted cyclist could be heard yelling, This lanes closed, sorry. This lanes closed, per avideo clipposted to social media by digital creator Paul Pasquarosa.Asked why he was blocking traffic, the cyclist gestured angrily at the bike lane, where a truck appeared to be parked.A wise person once wrote about this phenomenon, and his point is an important one, because you really dont want to wind up like this:If nothing else, the fact hes standing safely in the middle of the street does undermine his message somewhat.