I like to think that I’m not sexist, but my reputation may precede me.

At some point during my college years, I started using a reverse-psychology approach with women I knew (usually girlfriends) – telling them they couldn’t do something – in hopes that they’d be motivated to prove me wrong.

Ask my wife – this is the wrong approach. Reverse psychology only works on a certain type of person, usually enemies, and (hopefully) they’re not the majority. People want to be built up, not torn down. The other bad part of this reverse-psychology habit was that as I told women that they couldn’t do something, I was slowly and subconsciously telling myself that they couldn’t.

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At my age, it’s not often that I get to say this anymore:

I’m too young to remember but… Bike shops back in the day had a mechanic who was also versed in welding and brazing. He may not have been a bike builder by trade, but knew how to add accoutrements to an average bicycle such as eyelets for racks, fenders, bottles, etc. Today that person doesn’t exist in the bike shop, but s/he does still exist, in the form of your local bicycle builder.

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