Spring brake - or - the circle of bike

When I first learned how to ride a bike, it was on a steel-framed, single speed bike with a coaster brake. You know, the kind of brake kid's bikes have that engages when you pedal backwards.

I soon moved to a bmx bike with a coaster brake and hand brakes. Then it was a 10 speed roadie with a freewheel and hand brakes. Over the next twenty-odd years, I progressed through 12 speeds, 27 speeds, front suspension, full suspension, aluminum, carbon fiber and all sorts of other fancy crap only to arrive back at this:

That is a Shimano coaster brake hub that I'll be using on my steel-framed, single speed bike. Ahh... the circle of life.

It came with a 20 tooth cog, so I'll need to up my chainring size and add some links before I can use it. I'm very much looking forward to stopping in a timely manner.

But mostly, I'm looking forward to locking my rear wheel up and laying down some rad skids.

at last...

After breaking a rib, goofing up my back and spraining an ankle in rapid succession, I am finally back in action. I ran 3 miles pathetically slow last night, but that's three miles more than I've run in the last 4 weeks. Hopefully I'll get my fitness back quickly.