OK, I believe!

I believe in U-Locks. I bought one. A very big one. A Kryptonite one, so if Superman tries to steal my bike I'm all set. If I have it with me. It's pretty big and pretty heavy. It came with a mounting thingie so I mounted it. I put it on the 91.5 inch 820, so it's a pretty big frame compared to what most people ride most of the time, especially considering the store where I purchased it. I had a dickens of a time trying to sort out where to put it. In the end I have it on the seatpost in such a manner that it rotates on it's mount to (hopefully) rest against the left rear seat-stay. As long as it works that way I'm golden. If it winds up flopping back and forth and banging off my calf and the bike I'm going to wind up carrying it over the handle bars and if I do that I'm going to wind up launching it through some one's window.

I believe in this guy:
[QUOTE=The Historian;11749342]... I had a pair of size 13 hiking boots (that he passed on to some one else) and they'll make a difference on his long walks, hikes, and winter riding. Ditching the idea that I wasn't athlete enough for specialized gear was part of getting rid of the fat mentality with me...
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Wow. So simple and so deep. You see, one of the things that I have fretted over was that my feet would get cold/wet when riding in the cold/wet conditions that we find ourselves in now. I went to the extreme of finding quick-drying, moistuer wicking, wet-insulating socks. I got them mostly because I couldn't move my mind any farther along than "...because my sneakers are going to get soaked through any way". Yea, but my GORTEX HIKING BOOTS wouldn't! Duh! Let's face facts: I'm not trying to win the TDF, or even get my 'Cross on. I'm looking to ride around the block a few times and drop some tonnage and have a good time. I can sure as shit do that with hiking boots (which co-incidentally have nice stiff soles that make peddling more fun). At the deeper level, I am on-board witht he thought that, even though I'm a borderline bufarillo that does NOT look attractive in spandex, having sport-specific clothing can make the activit y more enjoyable. If I'm having more fun I do it more often and if I do it more often I have more fun and so on and so on and so on.

I believe in fenders! I put them on the 820 because it's my "utility" bike and all "utility" bike have to have fenders! Truth: they have kept a little water off of me from time to time navigating throug some puddle some where but I remember, oh yes I remember. I remember being a teenager when the bike wasn't a toy or a piece of sporting equipment. It was transportation. It was freedom. Except when it rained. Yep, we got soaked but mostly we got that long, grimy, dirty, wet stripe up out back and over our but and all up the inside of each leg. HA! NOT with the fenders (yes, this was my first time riding in the actual rain sine I was about 15). They work as advertised. The rain gear did NOT sieve through like it does on the motorbike. The gortex hiking boots worked wonderfully. It was amazing: a catharsis.

Sadly, I also believe that I am fat and out of shape and am going to have to re-dedicate myself to riding. It's about time for that any way. What better season to tackle those out-door type activities than Winter?