what was that? is that all there is? who is this? this is it.

When the NY Times does a story on fixed gear bicycles, it feels like what you might say if you were trying to explain something to your grandparents, something you're familar with, something you take for granted, something that doesn't feel so cutting edge, something you know has been around longer than your grandparents. If you said,

"yeah grandpa, kids these days are riding those bikes on the streets" and grandpa says

"Damn son, I told you my first job when I was 9 years old was delivering telegrams in Chicago and you know what I rode on the street? a bike just like that. One gear. No brakes. So don't go tellin me that's something new"

the audio slide shows are interesting. Unstoppable in today's NY Times

2 Comments

interesting article. i like it better when he refers to the bike movement and not just the fixed gear movement. I like to think of it as an ongoing, evolving movement. See, but when it all is portrayed in such a trendy way, it makes it all the more intimidating to me--and it also makes it seem to me like a fad, something that will end, that people will grow tired of--hopefully not, let the hipsters have their bikes, as long as they keep riding them I don't give a shit what they ride. If the NYTimes runs an article on bikes I wish it was something that would make bikes more appealing/seem more accessible to everyone instead of an emphasis on the subculture. Don't get me wrong, I dig the subculture aspect but more than anything I want more bikes on the roads. I do wonder how much longer we'll be able to say that there are more bikes than cars in the world. Last week Toyota surpassed GM or some US company in world sales and all the talk on the radio was about how cars were going to be more and more available, mainly in Asia and South America. Great. Sadly, there was no two-wheeled alternative discussion. It's always the worst parts of our society that are exported. I digress. but I'm not done with my soapbox yet...bring on 280,000 more miles of highway baby. bring it on.

yeah grandpa

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