I recently purchased a rear derailleur alignment tool, a rather expensive purchase. After researching all sorts of different tools, I decided on purchasing an expensive model because:

1. It was the model I wanted

2. If I buy it for life, I can keep it, keep my bicycles working, and help out others with it, spreading the goodness

Sometimes, making a large purchase can benefit more than you in the long term, giving back to not only you, but the people you care about.

It's a new year! But, if you think about it, every day can be the start of a new year. Don't let the particular date throw you off from your goals.

If you live in a snowy place and you can't get out and ride, take some time in the next few days to work on your bike and give it some love for the better weather. Bike maintenance is a good way to learn how your bike works, and to fix those nitpicky problems you have had in the past year. Maybe time to play with truing that wheel, when you have time to make mistakes and learn from it. Or, change the brake pads. Or, if you're less ambitious, lube the chain and make sure that it's in good condition for when you get out and ride your steed.

Happy new year!

During the last bike to work commute of the year, my ride home was about 2 1/2 times longer than usual, due to a huge snowstorm. Even though I had the choice to ride home in a friend's car, I chose the hard route - biking through the deep snow, sometimes walking. I knew that that particular day was coming, the day when I would have to bike home through deep snow. However, the reward was worth it - being able to describe your journey and hardship is much more interesting than describing an easy journey.

The other day, I was putting some chain lube on my chain. The top of the spray bottle broke off, and any attempts to put chain lube on the chain ended up just spraying oil all over the place. Sometimes when you try to make things better, they just end up messy. However, some of the oil did make it onto the chain. If I didn't attempt the mess, I would have had an unlubricated chain. Even though there was oil everywhere, the chain did get lube on it and was better.

Welcome to Bicyclism! The founding belief of Bicyclism is:

The Bicycle is the way to enlightenment.

By riding, working on, and sharing the joy of the bicycle, it is possible to gain spiritual enlightenment. It is not required to believe in a God or anything else; merely to accept that the bicycle is a way to understand ones beliefs.

As our beliefs are further developed, they will be explained here. Please join us on our path to enlightenment, whether that path is a road, bike path, or trail. All paths lead to enlightenment. It is by taking one's desired path that enlightenment is reached.