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So after arriving in London, assembling my bike I decided it was time to get moving. Originally I had planned to ride from London to St. Andrews to attend my conference, but circumstances arose such that I had to leave about 4 days later than I had originally intended. This would give me 4 days to ride some 800 miles on a fixed gear. Now given some good training and weather I might be able to do a 200 mile day on its own, but four such days back to back. Well the Tour doesn't even do that large a mileage. At most I believe they cover 150 miles (240 km) in a day, plus they are not hauling gear, they are on bikes that have more than one gear, and they have support riders and cars offering help.

Since I am hauling stuff (all 10 lbs of it), I have only one gear that is way to big (80 inches) and I am supporting myself I decided to make it easy on myself and take the train up to York from London the evening prior. After which I set out on an epic 100 mile day with rain wind and 17% grade climbs.

So my plan was simply, pack uber light and make my way from London to St. Andrews Scotland in 4 days on my fixed gear bike. The theme of this trip is about simplicity in a needlessly complex world. Hence why I decided to take only 10.5lbs (including backpack weight) for a month journey, to tour on a bike with only one gear and why the bike could have next to nothing attached to it.

You see, too often we are fooled by modern society into believing we need to buy, possess, and carry far to much crap. Not only is it a bother, but I think this ethos detracts from the quality of life. For me, I wanted to see how much I could do with the minimal amount of gear possible.

So that in mind I knew I could not start the trip (i.e. getting to the airport) without following that same ethos and here is the rub. Transporting a bike overseas can be difficult. You need to pack it down, put it in some sort of box and transport yourself and your bike-box down to the airport.

Clearly this will not do.

To me fixed gear bikes are not about fashion, but about DIYODW, pain, and of course that funny zen simplisity that everyone likes to rave on and on about. (DIYODW = Doing It Your Own Dam Way). I am sure many a fashionable hipster will tilt his/her head in wonderment, and to that I say,

FUCK fashion.

Okay now that my motivation is clearly laid out, lets get on to my next stupid adventure. If you have been reading this here mess of a blog for the past few years then you know that I have a penchant for doing things that most people will shake their head at, however, its been a while since I have been on any truly insane adventures on my fixed gear bike. Hmmm, clearly I need to rectify the situation.

This video comes courtesy of GZ

Watch and learn

I don't know, maybe you live in a cave. If so you are livin' it so you don't need me to tell you that today is Earth Day. For the rest of you (myself included) today is a day where we should reflect on how we are a bunch of pricks to dear old mom. Really, do we need any of those gawd forsaken cell phones, TV's, MP3 players, cars, new cloths or any of those modern "essentials." Hell do any of use really need a new bike? In my case yes, but the rest of you should do without :-P

So turn OFF your computer, put down your wallet, and go ride your bike to someplace nice and reflect on the fact you are a prick to Mom.

So I recieved this email the other day on whether or not to build your own bike

From: Jack
To: Wease
Subject:[Feedback] fixie beginner
Date: April 17, 2008 5:12:58 PM MDT (CA)

Hey, I've been riding for a pretty long time, having braved Boston, NYC and Dublin (and now SF). I'm looking to expand into the fixie world and wondering what you would suggest for someone beginning. Get a new one? Convert a vintage bike? Plead with the local store to help me? I obv know Sheldon for if I were to do the deed myself, just wondering if that's
the route you would suggest.

Any info would be appreciated

Best,
Jack

Some days I just do things because I can. No real reason, now real logic. For example, the other day I rode up Cypress mountain. The spring rain, that turned into extremely thick fog, which turned into cold wet snow.. didn't phase me, I just kept climbing. Silly, really considering the cars probably couldn't see me as well. Opps.

After all that hard work, here is the lovely view:

The Lululemon Mansy

subversive |s?b?v?rsiv|
adjective
seeking or intended to subvert an established system or institution : subversive literature.

The other day I was sitting with a friend who helped me build my first single speed back in the late 90's. He is often a bit chatty, but often he comes up with a gooder. Today was one such day. We were reminiscing about the various fixed and single speed bikes we have built up over the years when he dropped, "Ya know, fixed gears are kinda like the new rollerblades."