Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - I think this just made my day (night?)

after being restless after the drive from Philly to Cleveland, I finally got to take Stealth (http://earthboundreceiver.blogspot.com/2007/03/ill-be-doing-track-stands-in-no-time.html) for her inaugural Ohio ride tonight down to Coventry to meet a friend at Winking Lizard. yeah suburban rides.

anyway, onto the making-my-night part: on the way back, at the intersection of Coventry and Fairmount (for those of you who know the area; for those who don't, think typical upper-middle-class suburban residential area) I hear a dude in the car behind me yell "FIXED GEAR SUCKS!"
This is the last thing I expect to hear at 1215am in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. It kinda rocked.

(p.s. I replied with a lame "no it doesn't...")
(p.p.s. my return to my parents house was also amusing, in that I told my mom of the incident, who then told my dad, who asked "how do they know it's fixed gear?" I said "cus it only has one gear...and I clearly couldn't coast..." He said "well, I wouldn't be able to tell it only has one gear.")
(p.p.p.s. I locked my bike next to another fixie while I was out. that made me :) and, coming soon: possible conversion from the depths of the garage!)

you know what is wierd
?

how empty the suburbs can be at night

even fairly early you can have miles and miles to yourself

anyway happy trails there hipster

I AM NOT A HIPSTER!!!
(not that that is worth debating on this forum, or anywhere else for that matter)

and yeah, suburban riding = what a change from dodging **** left and right in Philly.

:lol: One time near the University Hospitals this dude yelled out "...single speed!!!" from wayyy too far away.

im a hipster.

im a hipster.
I prefer phone calls to instant messaging.

___________

A possible retort next time:

******: "Fixed gear sucks!"
You: "So does your father, but the fixed is more fun to ride."

___________

I just got back from a ride at 1:30 and I was able to weave in and out of both lanes freely. Too much fun. Now that the semester is over, this town is empty of most of the yuppie twits.

This intersection doesn't strike me as suburban according to my fuzzy memory of my one recent night in Cleveland.

Also, there were quite a few fixed gears in Cleveland, and I think there are surprisingly more messengers there than in Columbus and Cincinnati combined.

This intersection doesn't strike me as suburban according to my fuzzy memory of my one recent night in Cleveland.

Also, there were quite a few fixed gears in Cleveland, and I think there are surprisingly more messengers there than in Columbus and Cincinnati combined.

I'm not sure how I'd call that area. Urban sprawal has made the concept of the true suburb somewhat blurry and nonexistant, though on the west side there are some very suburby areas.

Do you mean real messengers or fixters? There's a lot of us in the University Circle area for sure, and every time I head downtown I see a couple others. Don't know if I've ever seen a real messenger here though.

I'm not sure how I'd call that area.

I should have qualified that statement about it being suburban by calling it an inner-ring suburb. older, denser, and has more character than the sprawl we see now. whatever you want to call it, it's def not urban.

"FIXED GEAR SUCKS!"

(p.s. I replied with a lame "no it doesn't...")



this totally sounds like a brian regan bit.

Tell me you went to Big Fun. TELL ME YOU WENT TO BIG FUN.

it was late, I think Big Fun was closed. and now that they're not in their original location, they're not even...um...as fun.

I like how you linked to your blog in this blog post!

if it was blue ugly and on conventry that would be my pony

there are more messengers here than columbus and cinci because
a) cleveland is a law hub.
2) the greater cleveland area is significantly larger than that of either of those cities
D) cleveland rules

as far as i know i was and soon again will be the only messenger who lives on the east side

yeh dave, since you've been gone coventry re-arranged itself with the grogshop moving to the otherend of the street, High Tide Rockbottom going out of business,Newman outfitters closeing, And Utrecht moving into its place Paninis moved into where the fancy restuarant by the parking garage, Big Fun moved into High Tides old residence Jimy Johns moved into Big funs old place, and a couple super hipseter clothing stores setting up camp by the mayfield intersection

Shiznaz, I think you are the only one who reads my blog. That is, if you still do... I've been slacking on the posting lately. I linked to it cus it's the only place I have a photo of my bike. and it's an old photo, she has new tires and all that jazz now. I just said all that jazz. how lame.

calculus, I'm assuming that def was your bike. a blue Gitane with a green sticker on the headtube?
and cleveland not only rules, it ROX.

its on my blog list, and yes I have been kind of disappointed as of late. Some people like to savour their cookies. Its almost like eating 2 cookies when you eat it in 2 halves

I should have qualified that statement about it being suburban by calling it an inner-ring suburb. older, denser, and has more character than the sprawl we see now. whatever you want to call it, it's def not urban.

Spoken like a planner!


p.s. I've read your blog a little too.

whatever man heights is the suburbs :p q.e.d.

you know what is wierd
?

how empty the suburbs can be at night

even fairly early you can have miles and miles to yourself

anyway happy trails there hipster'


same thing in downtown chicago in the loop

during the day, just billions of people and cars.. packed to the brim.

at night, its 28-days later, you can go forever among the skyscrapers without seeing a single person or car, its like you are the only person left in the city.

Some people like to savour their cookies. Its almost like eating 2 cookies when you eat it in 2 halves

but they could just...eat 2 cookies.

I'll be sure to get back on that quality blogging just for you, Shiz.

cleveland has more because of geography too. cleveland is flat while cincy is very hilly, many of which are very steep. outside of the flat downtown core, it's mostly faster to hire a car courier because bikes take too long to climb the hills. I only know of one or two messengers in cincy. that's really all there needs to be :(

cleveland has more because of geography too. cleveland is flat while cincy is very hilly, many of which are very steep. outside of the flat downtown core, it's mostly faster to hire a car courier because bikes take too long to climb the hills. I only know of one or two messengers in cincy. that's really all there needs to be :(

By my count, there is one courier: da Flying Pig, Mark

There are also several food delivery guys, namely my friends at Jimmy John's.

I don't think the lack of messengers is due to the hills...there are tons of urban cyclists who climb them through all four seasons with aplomb. They are badass, but there is simply not the volume of messenger work that you'd see in the state capital (Columbus) or, like Alex said, the law hub (Cleveland). Also, Mark is really friggin' good at what he does and probably pulls the amount of work that several slacking messengers would be assigned.

Might have an explanation for your post - a house at the intersection of Fairmount and Coventry happens to be the home of Patti's Paladins - a bicycle team that rides the MS150 every year for Multiple Sclerosis. We have over 50 riders and were the #1 fundraiser in Ohio in 2007. Many training rides start from this house and there are a lot of bike people coming and going(even a few fixed gear riders manage to get their bikes stopped and drop in...). I myself ride an old Lambert that decides on it's own to become a single speed from time to time - don't know if that counts.
It is a fantastic group of people and if you would like to ride with us, visit www.pattispaladins.com for more information.

Tim

good thing you brought up a year and a half old post to tell him something that a PM would have been a much better choice for.

good thing you brought up a year and a half old post to tell him something that a PM would have been a much better choice for.

You assume the OP is a guy? It even says she's a girl in her title.