September 10th, 2007 Mike
Ah, the debate on brakeless fixed gear riding came to the larger Swedish media over the weekend. One of the major newspapers here, Dagens Nyheterna, published an article (it’s in Swedish, natch) in which the headline translates to “Illegal but popular to bike without brakes”.
It just happens every now and again that a crack junior reporter finds him or herself at a party where the minimalistic-looking bikes piled in the corner catches their attention, a conversation with the bikes’ owners ensues, knowledge base is passed and they show up to work Monday morning with a hot tip on what the kids of the city are really doing.
I’m not going to get into what people should do with their bikes and what they shouldn’t. I ride brakeless and with brakes depending on how my bike happens to be set up. I also wear a helmet and ride slower than most of those spandexed carbon freaks. It’s hard to say who’s riding dangerously.
But the police like to stick their noses into what people should and shouldn’t do with their bikes. There are laws against brakeless bikes in the US as well as here. And it’s not just brakes in Sweden that the police are on the lookout for. Here’s the list of what you need to coast through the fuzz:
+ at least one brake
+ front and back lights
+ reflectors on both wheels
+ and a fucking BELL
If you are stopped by the police in Sweden on your bike you will be fined 500 Swedish kronor (about $75) for every detail that’s missing.
Here’s what the police want us to ride:
Here’s what a local Stockholm guy who organizes fixed gear events rides:
Whoops, get out your wallet.
Ring Ring! Is that a bell I hear? It must be my local post lady doing her daily rounds… Hej!
But all joking aside, I love the fact that people in Sweden and around Europe ride bikes instead of taking out the car. It’s healthy and an all around good idea. But when the police get involved in what sort of bike I am allowed to ride it’s a tough pill to swallow. And no thanks to Joe Blow down at the newspaper for bringing our little world to the attention of the masses and possibly authorities either.
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August 23rd, 2007 Mike
Here’s two images I came across of fictional characters on old-timey fixed gear bikes. Really, no one knows if the bikes are actually fixed because, well, one is a cartoon and the Kermit pic doesn’t offer a view of the back hub. Although, I do have a good reason to believe Tintin’s bike is fixed (read below). Anywho, I get excited by stupid stuff like this.
This is
Tintin. If you aren’t familiar with him, he’s a Belgian world traveler and first-class problem solver. Here he is in Beijing. Just the other day I caught the cartoon of this episode on TV. Shorty after this shot he skids (a sure sign of his
fixed gear riding skills) into a truck. Bummer.
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May 25th, 2007 Mike
Last night I participated in my first alleycat in Stockholm. Don’t know what an alleycat is? It’s a bike race in an urban setting that is loosly based on what bike messengers do day in and out. You ride to different locations and either pick up something, do a dance, answer a question, shotgun a beer, etc… First one to hit all of the checkpoints and reach the goal is the winner.
I did NOT win last night. However, I walked away from the comp with 2 prizes; prizes reserved for the LAST place finisher! Alleycats are extremely location-specific events. If you’re new to a city you’re sorta screwed. I consider myself to have a pretty good sense of direction but if you simply don’t know where a street is you’re forced to stand on a sidewalk somewhere and browse your map while the others whiz from location to location.
Oh yeah, my 2 prizes: an extrmely comprehensive A to Z book/map of every street in Stockholm (it’ll never leave my bag) and a tshirt that has a picture of a wrench with the letters D.F.L. reading down the wrench’s handle. D.F.L. = Dead Fucking Last!
My pal Raffa and I worked as a team last night. He’s not from Sweden either but however was a messenger in London and San Fran (bing! inside joke) and has a better sense of direction than I. He could’ve been counted as coming in last however he did officially roll up to the goal a wheel-length in front of me. Raffa and I had taken a half hour fruit-eating break at the last checkpoint before heading to the goal. Who knows, if we would’ve jetted to the goal we possibly wouldn’t have been last. Who cares! I got prizes!
If you’re interested in seeing what last night and the Stockholm bike scene are all about you can check these links:
Boe’s Flickr page
Axel’s Flickr page
Fixed.se
Happymtb.org forum with pics from last night
Photo: Luca Mara
***UPDATES***
I just saw the
final postings of the race and 4 people didn’t finish. So that means that even though I was still DFL, I did complete the thing and somehow did better than some others. Wheeled Vibe Warrior.
The guy that finished 4th, Lucas Brunelle, was from NYC and had only been riding in Stockholm for a grand total of 24 hours before the race. There goes my theory that you have to be a local to do well. You just have to know who to follow and be able to keep up. Note: Lucas rides with 2 cameras (one facing forwards and one backwards) mounted to his helmet and is well-known for his bike culture movies. I’ll post video from last night here if I ever come across it.
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