pitboss

color me ambivalent

Maybe I should write about how messengers who wear cut-off fatigues are poseurs since I served in the Army.

I can respect his postion though, as stupid as some of you may think this sounds. From his point of view, fixed gear/track rigs on the street are pretty sacred. Cool. Great thing. And at one time, very rare. Back in 90, I saw MAYBE one messenger on the street with a track bike. I was clueless.
When you find a nice, small niche and stick with it, and then watch it grow in unfathomable size, it de-personalizes the whole thing. Understandable. Passion is the cause. Look at the root - yes, scathing harsh comments are stated. Whatever. Defensive mechanism for sure. I feel the same way when some uninformed placard-waver yells out that all soldiers are babykillers. Guess what? That would make me a former baby-killer. Uncool, as I am not. So I grasp the level here as it is deeper that the surface insults - it is something loved deeply, and defended fiercely. This is the man's passion and he sees it being dragged about by corporate marketers for their own device or trendsters.
Certain aspects of the job (being a courier) are badges to messengers; track bikes are the tools of the trade (by choice) for some. When someone adopts this as a fashion, it is like an intrusion. It is belittling in a sense. Something earned by one should never be something easily taken by another. So is the writer wrong for being so one-dimensional in his defense? Nope. I could care less; by his standards I am a poseur. And I'll forget about it soon enough. It is trivial and unimportant to me. What is important to me is expression, and that is what we are all discussing here anyways: how we express ourselves via old wool jerseys (retro-hip?), or bumbike conversions (utilitarian?), or what ever we chose to ride and wear. We are all the same by our own uniqueness. It all returns to the source.
I hope the writing continues. It is good to be honest.

noumena9

why do people always think that everything is about them?

hyperRevue

his rant to me is no different then the show kid *****ing about his favorite band that he loved when no one else had even heard of them signing to a big label. get over it. he is no more entitled to riding a track/fixie than anyone else.

[165]--> you may feel insulted when people call you a babykiller, and justifiably so, but you don't berate the newbies who just enlisted as posers or just following a trend, do you? or take a holier than thou attitude toward your fellow soldiers? no one personally insulted this guy, they just ride bikes and he, for some reason, takes it as a personal affront.

pitboss

of course I don't - and I don't support his stance at all. I just appreciate honesty - even if it is abrasive - in expressive writing. I have no alignment whatsoever to the opinions expressed in the blog, and do not really care to position myself one way or another. I appreciate his passion for something personal and his ability to remain 'true' to something he is passionate about. But the elitism is far from palpable to me. Anybody can write a similar piece based on something they thought secluded and special and niche. Nothing is original anymore. Right?
Wrong - it is ever-changing. What's old is new again, and what was new, is now out of style.
I just keep doing what I need/want to do, and try to enjoy myself along the way.

jfmckenna

True and good point. Harley Davidson comes to mind.

hyperRevue

Right on, that's all that matters.

mcatano

I say "******" and "******bag" frequently enough to have been blamed for bringing them into popularity at my workplace.

m.

SD Fixed

This is where you missed the point.. bike riders are not the big huge community that people assume them to be. Niether is fixed gear. I just, at this moment, got a lecture that "now is not the time to be riding a fixed gear bike".. and then it was "oh, you're just a commuter".

We all have our own place, but often we assume everyone must accept us into thiers.. even if we only share ONE thing in common.

165: The last person who called me a baby killer, I came up with an awesome answer;

"Yup, and your kids are next. What, no kids? Ok, then a swift kick in the nuts is a little less bloody!!"

I'm not sure I'd say the same to a women (my double standards and all).. but it was second funniest thing I've heard in a while.

glowingrod

This guy has some ok stuff in his blog but that "track bike" post is whack...besides all his fact finding failures (the first bikes were foot powered, then lever driven. Campy made their biggest splash with quick releases, lotsa derailluers around before theirs, and freewheels have been around on bikes since like the 1870s although not a big deal til the turn of the century when derailluers appeared. "The messenger boom in the 1980s"? that's complete tripe, they've been in NYC since there were bikes hellooo, Western Union!?!) man i aint got a blog, but if I did I think I could at least google, or even study up on some history instead of making it up as I go along

If this is the same "Mike D" that i remember from philly in 98, I hope he's grown up and had his sack drop although the "track bike" post doesnt promise much, the others aint bad thouggh.

The "Mike D" I remember was a real prig, got all mad and violent at the races in philly in 98 cause he thought he won (he was DQ, cutting the course...Multiple times) made threats and shat. You can't win if you don't complete the race, and you can't have completed the race if you cut the course, and if you get seen by officials, which he was, as well as other racers, you are DQ and the only thing you win is your thumb in your bum.

But htere is probably more than one "Mike D" (Mike Diamond anyone?, can i get an Amen?) out there, and i haven't been in the international sscene in awhile

but he's wrong, that mike D, whoever he is.

mcatano

I don't think people are questioning the honesty with which he expresses himself so much as the lack of honesty with which he views himself.

Everyone should just take a second and read this little essay by Vince Moore. It's much nicer.

m.

Romoni_63

daaamn
its the maad thinker session

hyperRevue

First of all, my point was only calling into question how he said he can relate to that guys feeling of being insulted by relating it to how he feels when people call him a babykiller. As I said, no one personally attack or insulted Mike D so I do not feel the comparison is valid.

Second, as evidenced by this forum and critical mass and swap meets and numerous other venues, I DO believe that bike riders are a "big huge" community. That is not to say I think anyone should be best friends with anyone SOLELY because they ride a bicycle, but it is undoubtedly a unifying force.

pitboss

that was his choice - I was commenting on the writing.
I like the style, maybe not the content, but the style.
nothing more, nothing less.

And of course Vince's piece is different. Vince and Mike are different people. I find them both valid representations of cycling. Right or wrong.

pitboss

and that is what the writer is trying to do: give you his viewpoint and show you the insult he percieves/sees. His viewpoint. His opinion.
The person who shouts babykiller does not see what they are saying as wrong either, but that is their opinion.
Perspectives.

hyperRevue

i just think to harbor such hatred for a faceless mass of people who have done nothing personally to somoene is, well, the definition of bigotry.

he is entitled to his opinion but it is irrational and that is a fact, not just opinion.

pitboss

In my life, it doesn't matter. It is not apathy either. Some people you cannot change. So be it. There are better things to concern yourself with.
I think after grad school today, I am going to grab my Surly track bike, Chrome bag, and ride through the suburb to the groecry store. I might get a shirt that says "poseur" too.
Better yet, I will forget all this and live my life, just as Mike will live his. And that is cool.
There is something in every experience in life. The richness, the real value, of each event is never on the surface.

hyperRevue

oh, i'm not trying to change anyone.
i thought we were just having a discussion.

SD Fixed

[QUOTE=hyperRevue] As I said, no one personally attack or insulted Mike D so I do not feel the comparison is valid. [QUOTE=hyperRevue]

I'm not sure what thread your reading, but I found two points at least of people saying violence was a good choice for Mike D. One person wanted to put up a poll on "How much people hate Mike D".




There are people who bicycle who hang out together, but as a rule, cyclist don't all work, act, or feel as community. As evidence by the splits in Critical mass, dual groups in mass..etc There are several different factions. This forum evidence how split we are. How many of us post outside of this forum? How many road bike folks post here, unless there is a war.

We, as purpose driven as we are, don't combine our talents nearly as much as you attempt to say we do. How many lay idle by as laws are passed, etc.... So many.

Your point, invalid.

pitboss

yes we are. a good one too! I was referring to sometimes it is better to let it go - and see what, if anything, can be harvested from the moment. It is just a matter of perspective.

Shiznaz

I think this whole thing is positive. This whole trend will be over as quick as it started.. kinda like skating. Its like puberty for fixies... awkward and emotional, but in the end you come out stronger, more mature and self sufficient.

I was thinking to myself earlier... Why does everyone hate hipsters? Its such a darn derogatory term... I think I'm going to start calling myself a coolster.

hyperRevue

First of all, Mike D's thing was written long before any of those violent "threats" were made against him on here, so there is no way that they were the impetus for his rant and hurt feelings.

Obviously there are factions, I never made any claim that it was a singular entity.
But there is, indeed, a general camaraderie involved. If there wasn't, then how can you explain people on this forum offering advice and aide to complete strangers or the friendly, free-of-judgment, conversation that occurs during critical mass (at least the ones i've riden on) and that transcends age, class, ideology.

I don't really understand your comment about road bike folks posting in the singlespeed forum as evidence of our divisiveness, if anything it shows that while we may ride different styles of bicycles, we all do ride bicycles and that is all that matters.
There is no special handshake or secret headquarters but I do believe that as bicycle riders there is a generally shared sense of unity.
You may not feel it and that is unfortunate. But all the experience I have had with fellow cyclists points to such an existance.

Romoni_63

Word.

SD Fixed

You said:

But then you go on to say:


That help is a 3 degrees of seperation type of deal. Hate to shatter your rainbow.

Not the absence of a LOT of riders at CM.. CM is a focused group of cyclist. Not a cross section. See Lance Armstrong there? See any couriers there (in SD the Couriers specifically avoid CM now)? See any of the homeless at CM on thier bikes, with bags of cans?

You generalize WAY to much there friend.

And no, I'm not some Jonny come lately on the board saying this. And now, I'm not some keyboard cowboy spewing. I think you're to warm and fuzzy. The world, a little bit more cold and grey than you'd think.



Are you impared? Or just stupid?

Two groups of people who ride bikes, yet rarely have anything to do with each other. Not bad, not good, just the way it is..


It only matters that we ride, however, it is not how we act. Period. End of Story. Which exactly is the orignators' story. Period. DEAL WITH IT.


Don't try to put some sympathetic downplay crap on me... I feel that when push comes to shove people are there. A few will ride, and that matters. But a whole communty? Excuse me while I go work on my community skills since I must not be a part of the big collective you're dreaming of.


Live in your world, ride in reality.

SD Fixed

Bandwagon puppy.

hyperRevue

What the hell are you talking about?

About CM: It's too bad that couriers avoid it in SD, but they don't avoid it in Milwaukee or Boston, the places I've ridden. And it is indeed a cross section of riders. I do not believe Lance Armstrong has ever participated but I have ridden along with middle aged roadies, college road-racing team members, kids on BMX, couriers, frat boys on mountain bikes, and working woman in business suits.


About this forum and fixies and roadies: there are numerous occassions of people posting in different forums. there are many roadies who post in this forum who are curious about it and there are many people who ride both fixed and free. There is a lot more interaction than you may realize.

I've never said it was a palpable community. I've repeated myself numerous times on this responding to you. There is no organized collective it's more of a shared mindset. But i do feel as if I am wasting my time.

I really feel sorry for how close minded and hostile you are. but at least i know that you are in the minority. so suck it.