The long sporadic thread about fixed gears inspired me, so I threw caution to the winds, dug out the old Weinmann 500 sidepull on which I had filed up the slots, added it and a lever to the old Raleigh Pro track bike, and snuck it out into the car this morning, before my wife got up. After work, a co-worker and I went out (he on his new titanium Seven) and banged out a fast 25 miles on the rolling Vermont hills. What a blast. My wife made me remove the brake and ride the track bike only on the rollers back in '79, after one too many very close calls (the bike still has the dent in the seat stay where the drunk's bumper clipped it--I never even went down), so the poor thing has lived a soft life in the spare bedroom. It's twice as much work as riding a road bike, but worth it! I even got to do track stands, waiting for the Seven to catch up.
Steve Barner, in a heap of trouble now, in Bolton, Vermont.