fixed for fun

I’ve loved bicycles ever since I got my first red and white pressed steel trike for Christmas as a kid in Venezuela. Over the last few years I’ve been getting to and from work by bicycle. It’s a great way to get to know a city and to relax after a long day of doing the grind. I built my first fix wheel bike about five years ago and the second one a year later. Eventually when I knew I’d be moving to a new country I simplified my bike collection to twe bikes and the fixed took a back seat to make room for a cyclo-cross commuter and a single speed mountain bike.

I raced cross country for one season and did OK but didn’t enjoy the heart in your throat feeling that you get from racing. I rode trails religiously for about three years and did so alone much of the time. I also trained on a road bike for a brief period -the meditative aspect of long distance road rides has always been hard to achieve in any other activity. One thing I’ve always wanted to do are fully supported multi-day bike tours. There’s time for that later I guess. I plan to do some exploring around Nova Scotia’s back roads this summer and hopefully a surf trip by bike in Newfoundland in the fall. Since we’re entering small wave season and the beaches around here will be covered in soft tops, I’ll probably ride more often. So I’ll be fixing my single speed off road with drop bars and a 2 to 1 gear for the long rails to trails. I’ll post a photo after she’s fixed.

One of my favourite writers about the single speed bike is Matt Chester. In an essay he wrote for 63xc.com about why anyone would ride fixed off-road Matt states quite pragmatically: “Do it because you want to. Ride your bike to ride your bike.”