| I've really done it now. After six months of living | | | | backwards and forwards. After a few laps around the |
| "virtually" car-free, I decided to get out of the car | | | | support beams I went upstairs to bed, only to fret |
| business entirely. Our esteemed editor is now the | | | | about the impending challenge that laid before me-that |
| proud owner of a 1994 Geo Prism (Toyota inside, mind | | | | cursed zoo hill. |
| you), and I'm a few hundred bucks closer to my dream | | | | After a short stint of procrastination and a few |
| bike. If you've read my past few brain fart diatribes, | | | | merciful foul-weather car rides to work from Brad, I |
| you may be happy to hear that I'll no longer be griping | | | | finally settled into my first few commutes on the fixie. |
| about the downfalls of being a pawn in the automobile | | | | As one can imagine, I had my share of initial blunders. |
| industry's game. Of course, without the stress of | | | | You have to remember to keep pedaling or else you |
| driving (not to mention the heartache associated with | | | | may find yourself unintentionally rising out of the saddle. |
| repairs, licensing, insurance, towing, etc.) I feared I was | | | | Things like reaching for a water bottle or looking back |
| in peril of upsetting my delicate equilibrium...I needed to | | | | at traffic occasionally resulted in a minor comedy skit. It |
| find a new challenge to rack my nerves and balance | | | | took a few days before I began to experience any of |
| the veritable yin and yang. My salvation came in the | | | | the benefits of fixed-gear riding that devotees often |
| form of a track cog and lockring. Oh, I've had Christine | | | | proclaim. Riding uphill on Christine proved to me |
| for almost a year now. She's a cherry red LeTour | | | | remarkably similar to the ordinary single speed I was |
| with mismatched 172.5 Shimano crank arms affixed to | | | | used to. Even the flat sections (few and far between |
| a single chain ring, and until now, a freewheel. | | | | here in Pittsburgh) were easily manageable. The |
| I suppose I've always been curious about Joel's fixie's, | | | | advanced lessons, I learned, would be starting, stopping |
| that's why I bought a wheel with a flip-flop hub. I just | | | | and, of course, going downhill. |
| never figured I would get much pleasure out of | | | | To be honest, I didn't even like the fixed gear at first. It |
| spinning that fast down the zoo hill. And to be honest, I | | | | required too much attention, and it made me feel like I |
| was a bit intimidated. Never mind the fact that my old | | | | was learning to ride a bike all over again. I'll spare you |
| neighbor managed to plant himself head first into a | | | | the details of my "coming of age" rides, but rest |
| plate glass window trying to ride a fixed-gear bicycle | | | | assured, I am beginning to understand what people |
| for the first time. I've never really felt completely at | | | | mean when they say the fixed-gear bike brings about |
| home on skinny tires, and taking away the ability to | | | | an assimilation of man (or woman) and machine. You |
| coast seemed like an absurd step backwards. After | | | | are connected, and thus bound, but you are in ultimate |
| all, didn't I spend my entire first two years on a | | | | control. If you've experienced the fixed-gear, you and I |
| coaster-brake bicycle wishing I had a freewheel? | | | | would have similar tales to swap over a beer |
| I regained courage after re-reading several chapters | | | | someday. If you haven't tried one, but want to, I |
| of Bike Cult that describe early cycling history. Fixed | | | | encourage you to give it a shot. It won't kill you, but it |
| gear was the only option before the turn of the | | | | will take more than a handful of rides to really |
| century, thus the original Golden Age of Cycling | | | | experience the fixed-gear sensation. |
| allowed for no coasting. Even the original Tour was | | | | So is that it? Am I sold? Well, no, if you mean to imply |
| ridden with fixed gear bicycles (though admittedly, | | | | that I'll be selling my geared bikes, freewheels and |
| speed and finishing times greatly improved with the | | | | what not have you. I will tell you this, though...in the past |
| advent of the freewheel, and later the derailleur). | | | | two weeks I've commuted on my mountain bike twice. |
| One weeknight (about a fortnight ago) I installed a 17t | | | | Each time I've found myself longing for the efficiency |
| cog and lockring on my loose-ball track hub. Upon | | | | of 120psi tires, for the thrill of trying not to brake for |
| pedaling around the basement I immediately knew my | | | | long sections of the zoo hill...for that indescribable |
| track stand was bound to improve-you can pedal | | | | feeling of being one with a machine. |