Fix(ie) You

 


       While on my bike on my way home this morning, I saw a young man riding a fixie (fixie is short for a fixed-gear bicycle, it has single speed, its speed will depend on your pedaling power, it has no brakes and no freewheeling mechanism (the pedals are attached to the rear tire so as long as the rear tire is moving, the pedal will also move), meaning, you have to pedal all the time because you can’t coast on it and rest your legs. Yes, you have to pedal even when going downhill. The tagline for the Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s 2012 movie Premium Rush probably best describes what your riding experience with a fixie will be: No brakes, can’t stop. Don’t want to. Gordon-Levitt plays a bike messenger in the movie who (like almost all of the real-life messengers in New York) rides a fixie. Expectedly, because it is deemed dangerous, fixies are illegal in some countries.You can put brakes on  a fixie, of course. But then, it'd sort of defeat the purpose of having a fixie.

     So why would you ride a dangerous bicycle like a fixie? (Technically, you can still stop or slow down a fixie by skidding or pressing your foot on the rear tire but it will require some high-level skills and alertness.) Some fixie fans say they love the bike because of its light weight and its simplicity (it has no cables or wirings) and its toughness, and it is also low-maintenance. And the fact that it will really make your legs work. And you also get a first-rate thrill whenever you ride it. Imagine the chance of being in an accident every minute. Lol.

     So back to the guy I saw riding a fixie, I followed him instead of going home immediately and I could see that he was very cautious. His fixie looked brand new and it was obvious that he was just trying to have a feel of it as he avoided going through busy streets. And that’s the problem of a fixie in Manila. With the kind of traffic, roads and drivers in Manila, it will be utterly difficult to use a fixie here, unless you're skilled or have a death wish. Lol.

     And speaking of dangerous biking, yesterday, the biking shorts(not the hardcore one but the multi-purpose type) I ordered from Lazada arrived. Yay! It's a bit hard to bike in cargo shorts even in short distances and it's embarrassing to ride in boxers. Lol.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Things You Are Not Allowed To Do During Holy Week (Or So They Say)

Image
       Today is Holy Tuesday, three days away from Good Friday. For many, this is the week to be holy (pun intended). The week for an individual to repent or show how good a christian he is. Ask a priest or any religious person  and they will most likely tell you that the following things are not allowed this week(especially on Good Friday and Black Saturday):        Gorging        Meat        Sex        Porn        Cursing        Vices        Loud music        R-Rated films        Dirty thoughts        Singing (loud music)        Dancing (to loud music)        Bathing (just kidding, it is allowed, of course)        Some acquiesce to this and act all haloed the whole week—then break it when the week’s over. But many will ignore it and go to Boracay and dance naked at the beach while the dolphins watch.   (Okay, there are no dolphins in Boracay and people watch dolphins, not the other way around.)        Our family stays quiet   and shuns meat and
Read more

"Hey, This Song Has Built A House Inside My Head!"

Image
If you'd notice, I'd put a little musical thingamajig somewhere on this blog and I called it Last Song Syndrome. Last Song Syndrome, of course, happens when a song you just heard refuses to leave your mind for hours or even for days. You sing it or hum it while working or while taking a bath or changing your baby's or your granddad's diaper or taking your dog for a walk or just bumming around. I listen to a lot of Pink Floyd songs so most often than not, it is a Pink Floyd song that will always swirl inside my head. But I also listen to other musicians. I'll try to dissect and write a small background of every song that I will feature in this blog. The Final Cut is one of my fave Pink Floyd songs. Very emotional, very depressing and has great vocals by Roger Waters , it is one of the songs from the album The Final Cut (an anti-war CD that was released in 1983), the last album where Roger Waters (Pink Floyd's main songwriter) took part in. After that album, Water
Read more

Wait For Her (The Song And The Poem)

Image
       “Wait For Her,” a ballad from Roger Waters’ new album, Is This The Life We Really Want, was inspired from the following poem by Palestinian poet and writer Mahmoud Darwish.  Mr. Waters set melody to it, tweaked some words and the result, a hauntingly smart love song. Lesson From The Kama Sutra (Wait For Her) By Mahmoud Darwish (Translation by Dr. Fayeq Oweis) With a glass inlaid with gemstones, wait for her   on a pool around the evening and among the perfumed roses, wait for her… with the patience of a horse destined for the slopes of the mountains, wait for her… with a distinctive aesthetic taste of a prince, wait for her… with seven pillows stuffed with light clouds, wait for her… with the fire of women incense filling the place, wait for her… with the scent of a male sandals on horseback, wait for her… and do not rush it, if she arrives late then wait for her… and if she arrives early, wait for her… do
Read more