No, actually I have nothing against fixies, it's just that I haven't had for a single moment in my life the desire of riding one. Maybe it's because I'm more of a offroad/trail kind of cyclist and all those urban things are not my cup of tea.
What I really don't like is the stereotypical biker on a fixie, or at least some of them. And it's not the usual anti-hipster thing, as for me anyone can be as much a hyipster as he likes as long as he does not hurt others.
I really don't like to see those kids on fixies riding like nuts where they should not. Yesterday it was a nice sunny day here and I went with my wife to a city near here to visit a park. This park is actually very large, with some very crowded areas and others places where you can hardly spot someone. In all the park it's forbidden to use cycles, if you want to enter with your bike you have to walk it.
In one of the most crowded areas there was a bunch of those urban-fashion fixie-riding kids (well, kids... a few of them looked well past their 30) drinking wine and skidding between people. An old lady got hit by one of them, and he run away. It was a very quiet moment with people walking their dogs and looking at the seagulls. There was totally no need of those fashionistas on wheels looking for some adrenaline.
I mean, as cyclists, and especially as urban cyclists we are abused on a daily basis by cars. We should know how it feels to be the weak element in a determined situation. And in a situation like that one, bikers were the stronger element and walking people were the weaker one. Those kids did exaclty the same thing that cars do daily, abusing the weaker element.
Even worse, they did it just to have fun.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment