Hello World!

Three summers ago, I dislocated my elbow and tore my ligament as a result from crashing my ex-girlfriend’s mom’s bike. Not only was it a blow to my physical body, it was a blow to my ego. In fact, I was so traumatized by that incident that I seriously questioned whether I would ever ride a bike again. Being in college was probably the worst place to be because I was totally surrounded by students masterfully biking to class, while I was left to my humble long-board. While walking home from school, I witnessed a girl riding her bike along a narrow, bumpy sidewalk with a sketchy looking wall on one side and a nasty metal fence on the other, and seriously considered complimenting her on a skill I could only dream of having. Whenever someone would bike past me without using handlebars, I couldn’t help but perceive him or her as anything but a deity. These are people who have entered a celestial dimension. It’s like hacking life. 

I guess there’s something in my personality that makes me want to overcome my deepest fears, thinking how awesome it would be if I could be that guy riding his bike with no handlebars. I obsessed over the possibility of being able to ride a bike with no handlebars, but knew in my heart it was indeed an impossibility. Unless…

Unless I overcame my FEAR.

Long story short, I bought a bike off craigslist, converted it to a fixed gear for various reasons that I’ll cover in future blog posts, and can honestly say that it has deeply changed my life in a tremendously positive way. 

The focus of my blog will be the rise of the fixed gear culture, particularly in Los Angeles. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, ‘fixies’ are a force to be reckoned with. Whether you're a car driver, pedestrian, hipster, wealthy person, or poor person, you'll inevitably have to deal with these hoodrats at some point in time. In just the past few years, Angelinos have seen fixies riders start off as just a strange few, to thousands overtaking the city on midnight rides such as Critical Mass. Pretty amazing considering the fact that the last time fixed gear bikes were popular was in the early 1900's.

Original Hipsters

So why fixies, might you ask? What about beach cruisers, or road bikes, or trial bikes? While fixies will be the starting focus of my blog because of how impactful they’ve been on certain social groups in recent years, I’ve got boundless love for all bikes and will certainly include them in my posts as I see fit. If you have any suggestions on what you would like to see me write about, please comment.

Now if you excuse me, I’m going to go ride my bike with no handlebars. Yay!