What I Ride, and Why I Ride It

After packing away BBC#1 this past summer [reason, photos, etc... all Here] and building up a Rivendell Bleriot [documented Here] and realizing that it might be a little big'gish [or that its geometry isn't a perfect fit... without getting too technical: I might be favoring higher BB's these days -but that's a boring thing to talk about so... ] for me, I just kept riding what came into my life back in Jan. of this year:

...a Surly Pugsley.

I bought the bike from a fella here in Portland, right after I had finally Man-Up'd and had one of the final remnants of my Big-Days erased: my umbilical hernia repaired, in early January.  He had bought and built it up during the Fall of 2009 with the hopes for grand adventures & such only to realize that thinking a thought is different from doing a thought.

I began riding it to Amy's abject horror while I still had a nice line of sutures in my abdomen.  She feared the bike's size would be my -and the surgeons- undoing.  I survived, sort of...

...I rode a bit too hard [and landed in the ER for not so much ripping the sutures open as stretching them back-n-forth and bleeding out from my abdomen].

The Pug, to my mind, is pretty near a perfect vehicle.  Sure, it's a self-limiting kind of deal that says to its rider: "So, your legs feel pretty great today huh?" as you approach hills with nimble legs & thoughts of speed while climbing... but the Pug's answer is always the same when you climb, "Fuck You: not today, not ever" and that's fine.  It's fine because a bike, any bike, that makes its built-in bookends so clearly defined, well you have to laugh to yourself while respecting those bookends vastly.  I like that in bikes, I like that in people: What you see is precisely what you get, period.

So why do I ride it?  ...and where?

2nd part 1st, 1st part 2nd...

Anywhere. 

It does anything any other bike does, and mostly it does it way better than any other bike.  Maybe, it does one thing worse than any other bike [but I don't really think so]... climbs.  Hey, I've had full groceries + Chloe on the Big Dummy, and that pup is S L O W, and while that's reasonable, it -also- feels really               S L O W... 

The Pug, on the other hand, with full groceries [and minus the child, of course... no real way to get her on-board with me + these days Chloe doesn't really want towed anywhere any longer] is S L O W but feels monstrous in what it's capable of... sort of like driving an Abrams tank through a K-Mart parking lot: It isn't doing its intended thing, but damn, I could inflict a world of hurt on all these cookie-cutter mini vans if I desired, and it still gets me around to boot.

I've ridden it into Malls [funny, people loved it, security didn't]; I've ridden it in snow [duh]; I've ridden it into one entrance of a supermarket -straight through the supermarket- and out the other side [felt wonderful, plush, comfy... sure it scared the living shit out of a few folks but I would guess it gave them something to talk about later that evening once home]; I've ridden up & down stairs; I've ridden it up & down steep hills [again, it tells you how to ride it with no further discussion options available]; and I've ridden along, and then into, the Willamette River [didn't float, wasn't overly great on the drive train, but the Pug -and- me, we both survived].

Oh, and I've ridden it from central Oregon to the California border on mostly the beach [and a little highway-when the beach simply wasn't there anymore]...

...with Chloe & Amy meeting me, 240 miles & two days, later:

The Pug is my new favorite bike indeed.

Plus, you have to love a bike that simultaneously stimulates the curiosity and ire of Racing Snob wannabes; is a favorite among the insane & homeless: all curious about the Pug as I roll by while they go about their business residing under bridges/masturbating while sitting on park benches/etc; invites Crystal Meth heads to smile when they encounter me & the Pug out tooling along the Springwater Trail; and forces city bus drivers to launch into "Keep motorcycles out of the GAWDDAMN bus lane buddy!" on nearly every ride...

not to mention -apparently- drives every individual to ask the same two questions:

1.  "Can I pick that up and see what it weighs?"

2.  "Does it have an engine?"  ...yeah, Me.

-Scott

 

Comments

[Jared]

I love my pug for all the same reasons. Cycling is often about freedom and no other bike lets me go so freely everywhere. It continues to shock me to find how fast and efficient the bike is.

[Doug]

You've convinced me I need to ride my Pug more. Since we have such long winters and there is plenty of snow riding to be done during the winter, I tend to park it when the snow melts. I think I should keep riding it!

It is the only bike I have that gets noticed every time I ride it. And not just by other bikers. People of all kinds notice the Pugsley.

I have to admit it was sad to see the pictures of you dismantling the BBC....like saying good bye to your best friend.

[boyd]

oh man, thanks for coming back! i check my big fella bookmark every so often just in case, so imagine my surprise. anyway, i love my surly LRT but that Pugsly thing looks like it would be a mean beach,trail and just overall road machine.

[D. Moon]

Glad you're back...don't kill yourself my friend (ER Trips)..just to the edge, smell life, throw the bird to death and then tell us all about it.
Love to you and yours.

[Rick Cogley]

Hey Scott - love the stories and glad to see you posted here. It has been a while. I saw one of these in Tokyo at a bike shop - it looked great, but, was really, really expensive. I bet buying one in the US and shipping it by fedex express, overnight, would be cheaper even after the duty and all that shite.

Anyway, keep on ridin'.
:-)

-Rick

[Alan (Pounds Off Playoff)]

Riding down the beach...that's awesome, dude. Glad you're back. Hope to read your book when it's done.

[Boris]

So if the Pug is not a fixie why the down tube sticker?

[Scott]

It's not a fixie, and it's not a fixie sticker [click the photo].

-Scott

[Boris]

Okay, Clicked the picture, read up close, cleaned glasses, got it and agree. Thanks and glad your back.

[Chris Pierce]

Scott- I drive an AMC Eagle (forgive me) but I could not help but laugh at the part where people come up and ask about it. The AmC Eagle brings fellas out of the word work, only crazy ones!

[Ehren]

I want a Pugsley or a Mukluk for the winters here but it sounds like it can do a lot more. I am thrilled your blog is back. You are a very talented writer. Thanks for returning!