I know I’m old and married and my opinion probably counts for shit in the world of tarck, but seriously…
I rode up to Capitol Hill last night after a long and frustrating day of work to watch the TDF and drink some beers. In one stretch of Pine St. I had two douchebags riding tarck bikes “apologize” to me for riding the wrong way down the (two way) street. I wanted to fucking punch them.
Then I passed douchebag number 3 riding a brakeless Rossin with risers and wearing a trucker cap because I was tired of riding my brakes to stay well back of his dumb ass while he weaved all over the place skipping his way down Pine. I got downtown and was waiting at the red light*, when who should appear but Mr. Rossin pedaling full tilt through the red passing me close enough that I could feel the breeze. Given the visibility at this intersection and the speed he was traveling, it was fucking suicidal. At least check to see if it’s clear and have time to react before you roll it.
I feel sorry for the drivers who will eventually run these idiots over through no fault of their own. They’re most certainly going be vilified by the “bike community”, to say nothing of lawsuits, seeing their insurance rates go up, etc…
To be fair, a large proportion of the people riding bikes behave like idiots inclusive of drivetrain choices. Wrong way, sidewalks, running reds, no lights, inability to hold a line, etc. It does seem especially bad with the fixed gear crowd because of the cache associated with no brakes, though. I also do not live in a fixed gear/hipster city, so I may not see the worst of it.
Fuck, I’ve seen that rossin around, and it is a rediculously nice bike.
Needless to say, that guy is a total tool.
I tried riding brakeless for a week or so, and it is probably one of the scariest things i have tried.
Seattle is notorious for having a jackass fixed gear scene.
makes me sad.
On the same ride home I watched a woman roll several red lights on her hybrid, then stop at a green and chill out there for a while. The driver trying to turn left gave me a “what the fuck”? look as I rolled through the light past her.
one that seems to be more exclusive to fixie kids is the perpendicular weaving through traffic at intersections.
watching someone riding down the street at 15mph, approach a busy intersection and head out into cross traffic, make it to the other side and then proceed at 15mph boggles my mind.
I ride brakeless and honestly, if you just keep shit at a slow pace going down hills, it’s not hard to keep things under control without blowing through intersections uncontrolobly or skipping all over the place. What was said about not living in a hipster town so not seeing the worst of it goes for me too, though I would love to see anyone else on a fixed gear where I live, jackass or not…
Fixed gear bicycles - good clean fun when set up properly and ridden in a relatively safe manner.
Fixed gear “scene” - nothin’ more to be said, really.
Monday night, I was riding to my friend’s place after work when I came upon a red light, and as I approached saw a douche riding in large circles that pretty seriously impeded traffic so as not to put a foot down, I assumed. It felt really good to put it in the big ring and blow by him once the light had turned green.