I am Petrie

I have been meaning to write this for a little while, actually that’s a lie.  It’s more of a whiteboard full of my thoughts.  So I really liked fixed gears a few years back, before they were mainstream and hipster.  I mean Urban Outfittters is selling them, the poster child for hipsters.  But currently I am not a fan and pretty much refuse to ride mine regardless of how much fun it is because of the culture surrounding them.  Also, there are too many people in Boulder that have no clue how to ride theirs.

I know this post is titled “Bike Love” and I do love all my bikes about equally.  Each has its own culture surrounding it.  I am not saying each bike has an equal chance of being ridden on any given day.  Each is fun and exciting,  there is nothing more thrilling than descending a mountain road cornering hard in turns at 35+ mph, more insane and uncontrollable than riding a brakeless fixed gear in traffic and more nerve-wrecking than descending technical single track.  Right now I am partial to riding the mountain bike because it is new and a ton of fun that I haven’t experienced in a long time.

I loved riding the fixed gear when it was a niche culture and all its own.  The idea of riding brakeless through traffic was utterly insane to me until I did it for the first time and I was hooked.  MASH SF as instrumental in getting the idea stuck in my head.  I wanted to skid like all those guys.  Because I had the bike I began to follow Trackosaurus Rex religiously and I saw the start of trick track.  The wheelies, keo spins and riding backwards, while not limited to track bikes almost seems natural but when I saw the integration of BMX tricks I wasn’t pleased.  Like Adam22 has said on Thecomeupbmx.net many times, the tricks are smoother and prettier on a bmx bike.  Track bikes are made for going fast and that is about it.   It is one of the most natural types of bikes on the market.

One last thought:  The bicycle is an amazing thing, its a tool to connect people.  Each person makes it their own.  While the components and paint might be the same on any given bike, the riders’ experiences aren’t.  Even though I am not able to ride right now, go out and pedal around and remember all those great times.