August 17, 2005
Fixed gearheads
Fixed Gear Symposium features 50-mile ride, track stand and skid contests
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
With an overarching theme of simplicity, 85 fixed gear cyclists got back to basics this weekend during the Fixed Gear Symposium.
Held over three days at the Grand Traverse Commons, the gathering drew enthusiasts of original bicycle technology from around the region, Midwest and Canada. One person came from Los Angeles.
For three days, participants rode around the region, including a 50-mile ride in Leelanau County Saturday morning, swapped ideas and generally had fun together with friendships springing up on a common passion.
"These bikes are much simpler, you don't have to worry about chains," said Bob Braveheart of Lake Ann. "You get the feeling that the wheel is driving your legs."
Katy Bean-Larson, who helped organize the symposium with her husband Dennis, noted that the interest in fixed gear bikes started with urban bike messengers. They want cheap, maneuverable transportation that will not attract the attention of thieves.
"It's an anti-theft device because you don't expect that the pedals will keep going - they come around and hit you in the leg," she said.
Fixed gear bicycles are the perfect transportation for city residents as well as bike messengers, said Andre Riopel of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. It's affordability, simplicity and ease of maintenance appeal to urban dwellers and he said rising gas prices will bring more people back to human-powered transportation.
"I think cycling is coming back because of the environment and the health - it's an urban machine," said Riopel, who rode his recumbent bike from Canada to the event. "There's a direct connection to the pavement, you feel the road."
The cobbled-together nature of these bikes is also part of the appeal. Many fixed gear bikes are a melange of parts from here and there as owners tinker and tweak their rolling metal sculpture. A working bike can be assembled for under $20, starting from a discarded rusted frame. Sandblasting and paint bring it back to life, then adding a seat, wheels and a few other parts get the bike on the road.
"I'm kind of like a dumpster diver: find bits and pieces and install them," said Will McLaughlin of Toledo. "I just throw it together, it's easy on the pocketbook and easy on the eye - it's so ugly it's beautiful."
After Saturday morning's big ride, the symposium featured a range of activities that afternoon the included converting a bike to fixed gear, a mechanic's challenge to assemble a bike in the shortest time, a track stand contest and a skid contest.
A track stand contest is when a rider or riders keeps the bike still and upright, starting with two hands for three minutes, then one hand for three minutes and then no hands - the latter usually knocking people out after a few seconds. The person who can stay up the longest, without pedaling or putting a foot down, wins.
Staying up for a few minutes, much less the six plus that many were clocking, is tiring physically and mentally.
"I don't really officially practice, but when you're at stop signs_" said Jon Kendziera of Madison, Wis., who stayed up for six minutes and five seconds. "I got all shaky and tired."
The hilly nature of the symposium's rides taxed the fixed gear riders as their bikes do not coast. Going up hill, even without gears, is actually easier than coming down. Fixed gear biking means that when going downhill, the pedals move faster and faster as the bike builds speed. The legs follow the brutal pace - or else.
"That which does not kill me, makes me stronger," intoned McLaughlin, reflecting on Saturday's ride.