Although I'm no stranger to fixed gear, I took a few decades off.. I bought a fixed gear bike last summer, luckily it has a flip flop hub in the rear. Too much traffic going fast out here in the suburbs of Chicago. I love the fixed gear for riding, but too many close calls, not enough acceleration at stoplights, etc.. I flipped it to single speed and tossed on a front brake- out of necessity. I also added pedals that can clip in on one side or use street shoes. Way safer to be able to put my foot down in traffic. The cars around here just don't deal well with cyclists, they either don't see ya or else they aim for ya. The remaining few who see ya are too afraid (or think they are helping) and stop traffic to let ya pass- that's even worse. If folks would just drive like normal (and not be distracted by cell phones and texting while driving) I'd have kept it as a fixed gear.

Oh, yeah.. I'm 57 and I'll ride all day and night-