The NYTimes calls it the new skateboarding with a dash of Zen like simplicity. The State of Oregon calls it illegal. Natalie calls it inspiration for haiku. I am just stoked that someone grabbed a camera to catch these guys in action:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0AFpq6jFok[/youtube]
That was such a great article. It was so funny because just two days earlier I’d written about my first experience riding a fixed gear bike at OBRA’s track workshop last Wednesday: http://everydayathlete.wordpress.com/2007/04/26/v-v-v-velodrommmmmmmme/
About 5 different people emailed me the article when it came out in the NYT.
I’ma email you, have a question.
I went to one of the Wednesday night track classes a couple of years ago - thought it would be a ton of fun because I had riden out there before just messing around. I figured that since I was riding about 40-50 miles a day on a track bike as a messenger, I would have some kind of edge. Whoa. Not true. Different game altogether! I got out there on a big gear and just watched the other riders just leave me behind. I think I went home exhausted, ate couscous, and cried.
I remember my first coupla times out on the fixie. It was summer and Natalie was giving me lessons on how to track stand. We were in the middle of a quiet road. We lined up to practice, and while I was going slower and slower trying my hardest to balance; Nat had stopped, waited, and then started to pedal backwards back up the street.
Cool video and the riders are talented. But I don’t think blowing through stop signs with cross traffic is cool. Just my opinion.