carleton

On my way home from work I saw a guy riding a fixie (blue bike i think, white bullhorns, white helmet) and what looked like a shovel in his bag on his back (I have no idea why).

But, this dude was riding in a torrential downpour (have you seen CNN in the past 24 hours?), in 6 lanes of suburban traffic (which is faster and more dangerous than city traffic), brakeless, during 5PM rushour, at one of the busiest intersections in the area (Tysons blvd. + Galleria dr.), get this...busting a track stand like it was his house and we were just visitin'. He owned EVERYBODY.

It was a badazz moment.

onetwentyeight 

what about this particular trackstand was so epic? *confused*

12XU

Everyone should ride in suburban traffic brakeless. Isht is unbelievable. I had to go from the coastal mountains to the suburbs to downtown Portland in one day during my last tour. Sure the 12 mile descent from the mountains into the Willamette Valley was intense (I had brakes for that), but riding through the suburban traffic (mostly on a major road) was almost as exhilarating.

carleton

It wasn't the trackstand. It was the fact that he was out there:

- In traffic that I wouldn't contend with on a good day
- In weather that I wouldn't walk in, much less ride in.
- In rush hour in the suburbs

onetwentyeight 

ah. go nameless fixed gear rider in chicago, go!

dirtyphotons

it's the intersection. two of the least bike-friendly roads in one of the least bike-friendly areas i can think of. if i saw that dude i dunno if i'd think "hardcore" or "stupid." we all want to think that there's no place in the world where we can't ride our bikes, but i grew up knowing a lot of the drivers who live out there, and i don't even trust them when i'm in a big metal cage, let alone on a bike.

city streets suck because of the traffic and unforseen complications, but i'll take the city over the suburbs any day.

dirtyphotons

northern virginia

onetwentyeight 

right! northern virginia!

I need coffee. heh.

No_Minkah

Sometimes I think "This is a badass thing that I'm doing". I lift my head skyward and bask in my limitless youth and badassness. I'M INVINCIBLE!!!%$*&

*new*guy

i think stupid pretty well sums it up.

You find ways around that area rather than riding through it.

carleton

I swear to god, guys. I could make a post about how I got a new puppy and people on this board would tell me that my dog probably had puppy herpes, so I'd better not let him lick me on the cheek.


(sorry for the original wording)

dirtyphotons

you really shouldn't let the puppy lick you there anyway, it's just not right.

just use your left hand, feels just like a stranger.

carleton

LOL!

I thought about how that post sounded after I posted it.

My brain is not on yet.

masterlink

carleton, I hope you have smarter people in your life to look up to, cuz this guy sounds like a Darwin award just waiting to happen!

dirtyphotons

yeah, mine took off years ago.

and yeah, my first post was kind of a downer, it's inspiring to see people doing stupid things because they refuse to accept that it's a bad idea. that's why we ride track bikes right?

also, we got pillages coming on july 9 and july 12, plus i'm sure we'll be doing something on the fourth. hit us up if you're in town!

carleton

Will do!

zapb42

That's pretty insane...like y'all said kinda, A+ for effort but I think there are lots of ways around that area unless he had a destination right there or something. I found it pretty hairy to just drive around there when I was living there/visit family there occasionally. The drivers are crazy and/or just not paying attention at all...excuse my generalization but a lot of yuppy soccer moms in SUV's talking on cell phones drinking starbucks, and so forth.

B10Cycle

That is probably the last place I would ever ride a bike. That said, rock on brother, but don't die. I've done some dumb things on and off the bike, so who the hell am I to judge.

get_nuts

He maybe didn't know the area or had to go somewhere right near the corner. Either way, you go out and you giv'er. You work hard.

ChicagoxBoston

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz........landscapers riding fixed

Ken Cox

I kinda related to carleton's initial post.
I think it has to do with seeing someone in the zone, doing whatever they do well and unselfconsciously.
Doesn't matter what they do well, but that they do it.

babetski

Obviously if a place is unsafe it is in your own self interest to ride elsewhere in the same way that you wouldn't walk somewhere you didn't feel safe at night if you didn't have to.

On the other[, argumentative,] hand: Is it necessarily always the right thing to do to always cede territory to cars? Yes, since its our lives we're talking about, the safe thing to do is to tuck tail and play where we're less at risk, but what do we lose by doing that? Will we lose access to roadways because "we aren't safe there" ? Will we become relegated to the bike paths? Though most of the roads around where I ride are suburban and nice to ride on, the ones that I can think of that would suck all are major access ways in nearby cities. Should we not try to ride into the city?

dirtyphotons

i ride exclusively in the city. i live in southeast dc (a place where many people are afraid to walk at night) and ride through the streets as my primary forms of both transportation and recreation.

if you refuse to believe that there are places that bikes just shouldn't ride, start commuting on the freeway. then maybe your "play where we're less at risk" diatribe will carry some weight.

Serendipper 

We all have these thoughts at times, No_Minka. The universe has a way of wiping them from our mind at precisely the correct moment, to enforce maximum irony.

babetski

Way to blow the tone of what I said way out of proportion. I phrased that **** to say "is it necessarily always the right thing to do" implying that at least some of the time, it IS the right thing to do.

**** man, I don't care if you ride naked through thorn bushes with aluminum(because you're too hardcore for steel) axles through your ankles instead of pedals while toting around the friggin' UPS truck on your back. I was just thinking that maybe the folks here who ride **** streets might think it worthwhile to consider for a minute or two that it might be possible to get people's attention so we can ride more places more safely. Clearly though, that's too much mental effort and its easier to put up a sentiment that nobody will ever need to ride to any place on a dangerous street but if they do, they're lunatics and give us all a bad name.