Tue 29 Apr 2008
This is a little reminiscent of those bloody forwarded questionnaires that were popular when I was in high school. You know… ‘What’s your favorite food? What is your favorite colour?…’ This one seems to have a little added hip factor, so I’ll waste my sleep time doing it.
1. What do you ride?
1990 Schwinn Paramount (Japanese built with Tange Oversized steel tubing) conversion. An eclectic mix of Japanese, American, Italian, German, and Australian parts.
2. Why do you ride?
It makes getting around much more enjoyable than driving. In a car, you’re always stressed and in a hurry. It’s fun to hop on your bike, smile, and have a great time to and from the grocery store.
3. How long have you been riding fixed?
One year.
4. Does it bother you to see others on fixies?
It depends. If I had been doing it before it became the latest bicycling trend, I would be bothered. But unfortunately I’m kind of in the ‘hop on the bandwagon’ category. What bothers me most is when people know nothing about it (or riding bicycles in general) and want to hop on a fixed gear with risers and no brake. It just smells a little irresponsible. I guess I feel justified saying that because I ride with a brake and I brought nearly a lifetime of serious riding to the plate when I built up my first fixed gear.
5. Do you participate in Alley Cat Races?
I’ve participated in several Logan style alley cat races. I’ll be living in Baltimore over the summer and I’ll probably opt out of their real style alley cats. To me, the alley cats here were more about hanging out with people who are weird like me and devote nearly 90% of their thought process (no joke) to bicycles.
6. Do you feel fixies are superior bicycles? please explain…
No. I think racing machines built in Italy of Italian carbon fibre are superior 
Actually, I think it’s a shame there is such a caste system in the cycling community. There isn’t much crossover between the road racers and the white collar commuters and the fixie hipsters and the hippies on single speed mountain bikes–each group sees the others as inferior. So on your conversion you chose to run a single speed freewheel instead of a threaded cog and a lockring? Cool. Thanks for choosing that over a car.
7. Do you ride with brakes?
On my mountain bike and racing road bike, yes. Front and rear. On my fixed gear I run an ‘Oh crap’ front brake. And I’ve definitely used it.
8. What color are your tires? and do they match anything else on your bike?
Should have seen this one coming… My tires are black with a reddish orangeish small sidewall stripe. Unfortunately, they kind of match my bike. See, I have the red motif going with my rims, bar tape, toe straps (New Old Stock Christophes–made in France), and crocheted top tube pad. I didn’t choose the tires, though. They came on the bike I converted. After I skid them through, my next pair will be straight black.
9. How did you start riding fixie?
How or why? How–I bought a 1981 Schwinn Varsity from my neighbor that he had chained to his railing last year. I had my eye on it for a year. After converting it, it was a matter of baby steps to learn to ride. Why–A couple of guys I raced with on the USU Cycling Team had old conversions (one fixed and one freewheel). After playing around on theirs a bit, I decided a fixed gear conversion would be a good way to have fun while getting from point A to point B. Plus, I wouldn’t be so nervous about leaving it chained up somewhere.
10. Do you just commute fixed or do you get out and do long rides? please describe your rides..
My rides include the following: 1. To school and work (which is also on campus). I live about six blocks from my second home, the Engineering Building, so it’s a rather short sprint back and forth a couple times a day. 2. To Smiths and other places around town to run my errands (including, but not limited to, Sunrise Cyclery, the bank, Sweet Peas, etc.). 3. Critical Mass–the friendly community bike ride. 4. To my friend’s house out behind Als. 5. To the Peace Vigil on Friday evenings in front of the Tabernacle. One of these days I would like to throw my clipless pedals on and go for more big rides. But I don’t even have time to take my racer out for that. Plus, I have such a low gear that I’d be spun out the whole ride.
11. Does your mom or any other relative ride fixed?
My hip 17-year-old brother rides fixed. He has an old Italian steel frame he converted. It’s nice. He also has a too-small Peugeot that he runs a 26″ on front with risers to do bar spins and crap. It’s a mutant. I keep trying to talk my old man into building a fixed gear to get to and from the Trax Station and his office in Salt Lake on. But he won’t. I’ll most likely force my other brother to build up a fixed gear when he gets home from his mission this summer.
12. Have you ever been hit while riding a bicycle? who’s fault?
No, thank heavens. But I’ve been lucky. In the past two years I’ve put over 7000 miles in on the road. It think anyone who spends that much time out is bound to get hit sooner or later. I’ve been close a couple of times, though. The key is to ride defensively. Always expect that guy up ahead to make a left turn right in front of you. Slow down enough to make sure it’s clear before riding through Stop signs and red lights. Ride at 75% of your normal speed at night so you have more reaction time when drivers choose not to see you.
13. Can you skid? please describe method…
I can, but I don’t like to. I’ve found the key is firmly place the thigh of your back leg on the handlebar so to get an advantage against the movement of the crank. More experienced riders can do it without such an extreme body position. Unfortunately, I can’t. Maybe one day I will be able to. And then I’ll try out for a spot on the MACAFRAMA squad.
Hope this helps. It was actually quite fun to fill out.
By the way, I had a good experience tonight. I was riding my bike home from volunteering at the hospital at midnight, and I decided I wanted a Wopper from Burger King. So I cruised down there and went through the drive-through since the dining room was closed. When I got to the second window to pay, the guy informed me that bikes aren’t allowed through the drive-through. He gave me my food but said he wouldn’t next time I came through without a big metal box. Wow, thanks Burger King. In this time of national energy crisis and global environmental crisis, I think it’s a shame they choose to discourage such an efficient form of transportation. I’m not way surprised, though; this is pretty much the norm as far as America’s view of bicycles on the road goes. Anyway, I thought you might be interested to hear about it. As for me, though I love the char-broiled taste of the Wopper, I’ll choose to get my burgers elsewhere, whether I’m on my bike or in my Subaru.
Peace.