Originally Posted by
Husar
Fixed gear touring. Why? But in the end I think for me it is the challenge of the ride. Riding a 100 miles on a geared bike is easy compared to riding it on a fixed gear. Just think how many times you coast on a geared bike. If your moving on a fixed gear then your legs are working. Riding 300-500 miles fixed over 5-6 days would be a dream come true for me. The physical aspect of it is what really apparels to me I guess.
Like Rowan, I am in my mid-fifties as well... I ride a fixed gear as my main commuter. I did Ride the Rockies on it in 2007... including Independence Pass. Why? To be different. I have done long rides geared, and wanted a new challenge. Ride the Rockies is not 'touring' in the sense that I did not carry my gear-- it was trucked from town to town-- I just had to ride... up to 100 miles a day for 7 days. The hardest part was not the uphills (although they were tough)... it was the downhills. That is why I had brakes on the bike-- to slow me down when my leg speed got too fast and I started bouncing on the saddle. I did hit speeds of around 36 MPH-- which on a fixed gear is WAY TOO FAST.
My comment to you-- GO FOR IT. You will enjoy it, you will prove to yourself that you can do it, and don't worry about what others think. One of the best comments I ever got from someone on a bike was when I did the Civil War Century a couple of years ago on the fixed gear, and as I passed someone struggling up a hill, they said to me '...but you don't have any gears!!!'. I just smiled and kept my rythmn--(momentum is your friend... don't slow down for anything on a tough climb because it is so much harder to get started again...)
train safe-