adopting north road handlebars
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
I'm in physiotherapy for lower back pain that's been plaguing me for over a year. I'm now on a regime of daily exercises (about eight types) and while progress has been noticeable it's slow going and a lot of work. Compounding the basic problem of being immobile behind a desk for the majority of the day is that I ride to and from work on a bike with a flat handlebar. The roads aren't in superb shape, and there's a lot of abrupt stopping and starting.
So with my physiotherapist's advice, I've decided to mutilate my bike.
Goodbye manly flat handlebars.
manlyHello "North Road" handlebars.
This will, I hope, further a second aim of mine: to slow down on the road. I bought a KHS Urban Xpress bike last year for its more upright frame and modest gear ratios. And yet I find myself leaning over the handlebars and passing other cyclists. With these bars I hope to slow down, relax, get less caught up in getting to work quickly and maybe notice some more of life around me. I do this every day and quite frankly there's no panic to get to the office when my colleagues who take the TTC or drive have no prayer of getting to the office on time.