Take a minute and let’s discuss a bicycle ride I took.
So, I timed everything perfectly. Beautiful Saturday afternoon. Perfect football weather. Sunny skies with an unseasonably warm day. It wasn’t 76 degrees…it was just a tad north of 50, but it was downright pleasant.
After getting some work done at the house and seeing my visiting son and his girlfriend, I threw the fixed gear on the roof and headed to Irwin. I usually park in the half cinder lot down by the field but there was some big event going on, so I drove into town. The parking lot at Immaculate Conception was a perfect home base. Over the years I’ve parked in a lot of shitty, sketchy, out of the way parking lots and then left the vehicle for a bike ride. But thinking about your car and hoping its still there when you get back is no real way to enjoy a ride. Its definitely a distraction.
After some stretching I hopped on the bike. Getting used to the fixed gear after a hiatus always takes me a bit of time. The large open lots by IC were a perfect way to get reacquainted with the machine. As I grew more comfortable, the experience of riding the fixed gear made me smile. It was tremendous fun creeping along the side streets and cobblestone alleys and then discovering a small piece of asphalt with some interesting features around it. In certain lots I’m sure I made 20 circles. There may be an elevated patch of concrete to try out the latest stupid thing. While I don’t remember hitting certain parking lots more than once, I’m sure I did. If you wanted to you could spend 2 hours on the bike in this little town and explore areas you’ve driven by a million times and have virtually no worries of being run down by some jabroni in an SUV. It is possible to ride in this urban setting and have no fears of cars. It’s as safe as walking across the street. And as you are always pedaling on the fixed gear, it doesn’t matter that you are only covering a fraction of the distance as you would on a geared bicycle.
I took 6th to Main, hugged the left-hand curb and then watched the light. If you time it right, you can be totally up to speed for the left hand turn onto Center Highway. As you come out of that turn you’ll be in a position where you have the greatest chance of achieving any sort of speed on this ride. It’s a slight grade and with maximum effort for just a few seconds you will be covering some serious ground. At this moment you could easily keep up with anyone on a geared bicycle. Then, if you are lucky, you can make the easy turn onto Oak Street without having to worry about oncoming traffic. Remember, you have no real brake as you wheel through the intersection.
Make sure you have some energy in reserves as you approach the parking lot at IC. A new rider of a fixed gear bike will quickly develop jello legs. You want to make sure you know your limitations as you approach the dismount. I don’t remember the exact sequence of moves but I had to make two in a matter of three seconds and I pulled it off without chipping my tooth. The second move in particular had me airborn. Remember, on a geared biked you are able to level the pedals and get ready for the obstacle. With a fixed gear you will not be able to do this. You will only make this discovery after you’ve instinctively tried to make the pedals horizontal and then you are immediately thrown off kilter as the bike tries to buck underneath you. I think I caught air because I pulled up in an effort to sail over whatever was causing my machine to act the way it was. To be clear, there is a way to skid on a fixed gear bicycle, but I haven’t yet mastered that technique.
A post ride beverage is always enjoyable. The Monkey Shoulder over ice didn’t disappoint.