You Got An Article in Whaaaat>?

Anyone who's checking out this post right now firstly I want to say thanks for taking time at of your busy day to look at a blog about nothing. But to the task at hand.

Okay, I'll be the first to admit (right now) that The New York Times, this isn't. But somehow, someway, I got the name in print in the end of summer issue of CHAOS Magazine, which is based out of San Francisco

Best I could do are these digital snapshots from the mag, so I apologize for the blurriness, but if you actually want to read the article, I'll throw it up on the Breeze right under this post.

Check out page ONE, TWO, THREE, and, FOUR if you've got a hot minute.

Thanks for taking the time to check it out if you do, but if not, maybe there will be more someday.

You gotta believe.

Chaos Magazine Article Page Uno

The simple act of getting from point A to point B has become a bit more fashionable recently. Bicycles have been around for ages. The chosen vehicle of pre-teen kids, riding enthusiasts, park visitors, and local delivery guys is a common, eco friendly way to travel. But in recent years it's not just regular ten gear or mountain bikes that have caught on but instead fixed wheel bikes, or free wheel bikes, have started to become the craze.

Simply, a fixed-gear bicycle (or fixed-wheel bicycle) is a bicycle that has no freewheel, meaning it cannot coast — the pedals are always in motion when the bicycle is moving. If you’re trying to ride up a hill, you have to push through it, and if you’re trying to ride down, don’t let those pedals move too fast, or there could be trouble. There’s no shifting gear and the chain is a bit shorter than on your normal bicycle. Oh, and there’s another difference, a fixed gear bike, or “fixie” as they are known by some who ride them, have no brakes. On fixed gears, the sprocket is screwed directly onto the hub, so when the rear wheel turns, the pedals turn in the same direction. This type of framework allows a cyclist to stop without the use a brake, and also to ride in reverse.

The way to stop the bike leaves the rider with an interesting choice: slow down gradually by reversing the pedals, or pulling a skidding stop. This leaves the old adage of “it’s just like riding a bike” something to be desired. What it means is that it’s pretty hard to ride gracefully on your first try, let alone safely. The skid stop is popular among veteran cyclists, and requires the rider to shift their weight slightly forward and pulling up on the pedals. The rider then stops turning the cranks, thus stopping the rear wheel, while applying his or her body weight in opposition to the normal rotation of the cranks.

This action causes the rear wheel to skid, which acts to slow the bike. The skid can be held until the bicycle stops or until the rider desires to continue pedaling again at a slower speed. Since sliding friction is less than sticking friction, once the tire begins to skid, you will usually be able to maintain the skid until you've stopped or at least slowed down as much as you want too. Mastering the skid requires a little practice and using it while cornering on a street is considered dangerous.

Chaos Magazine Article Page Dos

This begs to ask the question, why would anyone want to ride a bike that removes the breaks? Well, it’s because they are pretty damn cool. The bicycles are an interesting combination of fashion and freshness, a new accessory for people to show off.

Although the trend has become very popular just in the past few years, fixed gear bikes have a lot of uses, including in sport, as well as art, and they actually date all the way back to the mid 19th century.

Fixed gears were the first type of racing bike in the United States, originally used in competition in the late 1880’s as well as after the turn of the century.

After losing a bit of steam over time, they regained their popularity in the 1950’s and 60’s in both the United States and the United Kingdom, where they were used for club runs, touring and winter training. After fading out of the scene once again, the bikes became extremely popular in the 1980’s with bike messengers, especially in New York City.

The streets, which are filled with potholes, errant cabs and pedestrians, can be a nightmare, but the simplistic style, low maintenance and light weight of the fixed gear bike eases the chaos for messengers.

Daniel Barnes is a bike messenger who frequents an office in my building where I intern, and he is more than happy with what his bike provides him. The beat up, blue and gold frame has lasted for three years, and Daniel doesn’t think he’ll need a new one anytime soon.

“It’s perfect for me,” he says as he takes his shoulder bag off to deliver a package. “It took me a while to master the whole skid breaking thing, but once I got the hang of it, it was easy.” He laughs, showing me a small scar on his hand. “Although I have to admit I did fall off a lot those first few weeks.”

The bikes are also used in what are known as “alleycat races”, which usually take place in big cities and are often organized by bike messengers themselves. The first actual “Alleycat” race took place in Toronto in 1989, and races have taken place in cities all over the world.

The race is usually comprised of different checkpoints the rider must reach, but can also be based on point collection. Depending on the location, races may be less competitive and designed to be enjoyed during holidays, such as NYC's Alleycat, which is held July 4th. Sometimes they can be extremely tough, with the goal to weed out all but the fastest and best overall rider.

“Monstertrack” is an alleycat-racing event that was started for a small, close group of NYC bike messengers, but in recent years due to word spreading on the Internet and surge in fixed gear bike popularity has attracted riders from all over. It currently is billed as the largest alleycat race in the nation.

As mentioned before, fixed gear racing can be dangerous, and the death of rider Matt Manger-Lynch in the Chicago Monstertrack in 2008 is a sad reminder of the consequences of both riding the bikes and participating in the races.

Many non-couriers have taken to organizing races and calling them alleycats as well. Organizers in urban areas are usually former messengers or part of a larger community of cyclists.

The races can be highly creative and often themed with issues important to the riders like NYC's 4/20:Hip to be Square, and Baltimore's GhettoBlaster. Also, the Global Warming Alleycat was held in 2007 simultaneously on the same day in Toronto, San Francisco, Mexico City, Berlin, and NYC.

Alleycats have occurred in major cities all over and have expanded to smaller places over the last few years. As a result of the dangerous nature of the sport as well as varying local laws an alleycat is almost never a fully legal undertaking, which for many riders enhances the excitement of the races.

Fixed gear bikes are also used for an array of different sports all around the world, including Cycle Ball and Cycle Polo.

Bicycle polo is a team sport that came around in the late 1800’s and is similar to the traditional sport of polo, but instead of using horses, the athletes play while riding their bikes. The sport is officially recognized by the International Cycling Union, and today there is organized polo being played in a slew of countries including Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland and USA.

Cycle ball is a sport that is most similar to football (or soccer), but is played on bikes. The two people on each team ride a fixed gear bikes while controlling the ball with the bikes themselves, or by use of their heads.

Introduced in 1893, the sport held its first world championship in 1929 and has become popular in many European countries including Belgium, France, Germany Russia and Sweden.

Fixed gear bikes are also an integral part to Artistic Cycling, which is a form of competitive indoor cycling. The athletes perform tricks for points on the fixed-gear bikes in a format similar to ballet or gymnastics. The exercises are performed in front of a panel judges in six-minute rounds by singles, pairs, four- or six-man teams.

Chaos Magazine Article Page Three

These days though, the main purpose of the fixed gear bike has been as a fashion statement, mostly for the hipster crowd. The craze has taken on in cities such as San Francisco, London and New York, as well as in Portland and Reno.

Riders can customize their rides with an array of different colors and accessories including special handlebars, wheel covers, chain links and even multiple frame colors. Riders can also decorate their bikes using “spoke cards”, which simply is a card placed in the spokes of a bicycle wheel.

They were originally used to identify competitors in a race, but have since become something of a fashion statement along with the bikes themselves. Although the card is fairly hard to read while in motion, it provides a cheap way to label riders in the absence of a proper race number.

The spoke card is placed between the spokes of the rear wheel at the point where they cross each other. A card can be placed in such a way as to make a noise as the card flaps against the spokes, but that is up to the rider.

Many messengers retain spoke cards after events, sometimes accumulating several on the wheel. Many also use tarot cards, baseball cards and even regular playing cards (like for poker) to give their bikes some originality.

A deliveryman I spoke to had multiple business cards of his Chinese restaurant in the spokes, while Daniel the messenger had a baseball card of former Yankee Bernie Williams placed in his. “I played center field when I was in little league, so I naturally loved Bernie growing up when the Yankees won those World Series titles. He’s like a good luck charm.”

Spoke cards can also be used to serve such functions as memorials for fallen messengers, as art, and even for political affiliations. Many riders used them to show off their political views during the 2008 Presidential campaign, many supporting eventual winner Barack Obama.

Walking around Manhattan and Brooklyn it’s not uncommon to see fixed gear bikes chained up to stairways, fences, and parking meters all over. Especially downtown, in places like the Village and SoHo people are always riding around, but of course not ‘coasting’.

Most of the riders look like Eric, a bearded, shaggy haired twenty something that was on his way home from work on a stylish looking fixed gear bike, or Max, a tall guy with dreadlocks, who was riding along the West Side Highway one afternoon on a fresh looking green frame.

“I picked out this one because I really like the frame color,” Eric says as he points to the handlebar cover. “Brown is my favorite, and I like the striped pattern that’s mixed in. The straps on the pedals even match the frame. Plus these handlebars are sweet.”

Max had other reasons for picking his frame. “Yeah, the color is cool, but I’ll be honest, this one was the cheapest of the bunch, that’s why I picked it. Remember, we’re in a recession,” he says with a laugh.

Aside from fashion, in the past few years, especially in the Portland area and in ‘hip’ neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Brooklyn, extreme sport fans have taken to fixed gear bikes to perform tricks on, instead of the traditional BMX style bikes.

Due to the simplicity of the fixed gear bikes and their brake system, riders have more control over their vehicles and can thus expand their catalog of moves. They’re not just for bike messengers anymore.

Known by some as “fixed gear freestyle” the riders can easily perform tricks like bunny hops and bar spins, and as an added bonus, when the rider pedals backwards, the bike moves backwards opening up even more ideas for tricksters.

Before he rides away, Eric shows off an easy trick by pedaling in reverse, and then pulling a bar spin. “I used to ride BMX back in the day, but I think these bikes are much cooler.” He flashes a wide grin. “And look how simple that trick was. You can’t beat that.”

One such move that is used by many riders is the “track stand”. The technique allows riders to stay balanced on their bicycles while moving only minimal distances. Road cyclists and bike messengers use it while stopped in traffic, especially at red lights, but the move is also used by the BMX riders in preparation for tricks.

To do a basic track stand, the rider holds the bicycle's cranks in a horizontal position, with his or her dominant foot forward. Forward motion is accomplished simply by pedaling forwards. The handlebars are held at approximately a 45-degree angle, which allows the rider to keep the bike directly below his or her center of gravity.

Those proficient at the track stand can maintain the position for a long period of time. There are more difficult variations, but they are mostly for showing off or at track stand competitions. The more advanced moves involve complications such as putting the non-dominant foot forward, sitting down, or taking one or both hands off the handlebars.

Chaos Magazine Article Page Four

Fixed gear bikes have also been a boon to exercise fans that like to ride cycles for fitness. Since there is no coasting, riders must always keep their legs in motion, and when riding on an incline, they are forced to push harder than on regular cycles.

But the fixed gear craze hasn’t caught back on everywhere. In Berlin, Germany the police, citing safety as its main concern a few years ago, began to crack down on fixed wheel bikes. They claim the bikes, due to the way riders are required to stop, are a risk to automobiles and drivers, and in 2009 they confiscated 18 bikes. While this isn’t a big number, the point is clear, not everyone likes fixed gear bikes.

According to the law in some US states, the use of any bike without brakes on public roads is illegal, and in British Columbia the law states that any bike: "Must be equipped with a brake that will enable the person operating the cycle to make the braked wheels skid on dry, level and clean pavement." Some argue that the riders’ legs qualify here, so it’s a bit of a gray area.

But does a police crackdown make the bikes seem, cooler? Part of the fun seems to be the fact that at any point you could lose a bit of control while riding.

Speaking of losing control, another danger of fixed-gear bicycles is the possibility of something getting caught in the chain or one of the sprockets.

If you accidentally have a finger an article of clothing come into contact with the chain or a sprocket, the momentum of the wheel will keep the chain moving, heightening the chance of injury. What that means, if you catch a shoelace in the chain, it will get torn off or your shoe. If you catch a trouser leg, you can really get yourself hurt.

Veronica, a girl I spoke to in downtown Brooklyn is cautious when riding her navy blue fixed gear. “I absolutely love my bike, but I refuse to wear any type of dress or loose pants while riding,” she says while taking a break to smoke a cigarette. “I once knew a guy who lost a finger, or two fingers, something like that. Since then I just thought to be as safe as possible when riding so nothing would happen to me. I even check my shoelaces every time I am about to ride.”

Fixed gear bikes are fun and fashionable, but if the rider is inexperienced or uncoordinated, it poses a risk for the riders themselves, and anyone else around. Always remember, practice makes perfect.

Daniel the messenger supports anyone who is interested in fixed gear bikes, but thinks proper training and practice is key to fully enjoying them. “Even now I still mess up every once in a while, and I ride my bike nearly everyday. So anyone who is new to riding, I suggest you practice a bit before you start riding out in the streets just so you are comfortable. It’s safer for the rider themselves and just safer for everyone out on the street.”

Believe it or not, there are more bicycles in the world than cars. Well I guess that isn’t such a shocking statement, but either way, don’t be surprised if you see a lot more fixed-gear bicycles in your neighborhood, because it’s a craze that refuses to go away.

You Have An Article in an Actual Magazine? Say Whaaaaat?

Anyone who's checking out this post right now firstly I want to say thanks for taking time at of your busy day to look at a blog about nothing. But to the task at hand.

Okay, I'll be the first to admit (right now) that The New York Times, this isn't. But somehow, someway, I got the name in print in the end of summer issue of CHAOS Magazine, which is based out of San Francisco

Best I could do are these digital snapshots from the mag, so I apologize for the blurriness, but if you actually want to read the article, I'll throw it up on the Breeze right under this post.

Thanks for taking the time to check it out if you do, but if not, maybe there will be more someday.

You gotta believe.