Friday, May 15, 2009

The Essence of Riding Fixed

Last night when I was out on my ride I was reminded of this video that Jake Ricker and the Seattle crew put out several months ago...



I love this video. And not just because the riding is fantastic and the feel of the edit is really incredible. The thing I like the most about this vid is the fact that the entire first half is just footage of Zach cruising around the city on his bike.

The best thing about riding fixed is the riding. Just going out and ripping around the city. Maybe stop somewhere and mess around with a few tricks, and then cruise around some more. Bootleg Sessions is all about the messing around of course, but the riding is always underneath everything. It's implied.

I think that's what people who don't ride fixed (and some who do) don't really understand... the tricks are just fun. That's it. They're not the core of everything, they're not the sole purpose of being on the bike. And you know what? That's what makes them fun.

When I was riding flatland quite a bit, I would put my bike in my car, drive to a spot, and stay there. If I was having a bad day and couldn't pull anything, or if I didn't learn anything new, it felt like I had just wasted my time. I don't get that feeling on my FG. I'm just on it to ride my bike, and if I want to stop and goof off for awhile I can.

Please note that I'm not writing this to start any controversy. I know it's hard to interpret the sentiment behind things that are written on the internutz sometimes. I'm writing this from a sense of pure positivity. I had a great ride last night, I'm feeling really good, and this is what came out of it. That's all.

3 comments:

Fixed_hesh said...

I feel the same way Burd! This is perhaps my favorite Fixed-gear video ever. Everyone looks like they are having a blast. In fact I was just looking for it on vimeo when I decided to check the bootleg blog and bam! there it was. I just got done with a really fun solo session blasting from spot to spot, throwing some tricks, then blasting around some more. I know this is long winded but I had to say that I feel you.

Burd said...

Ha ha, right on ;)

Morrie Low said...

Inspiring words for a new rider(me). Watching a video like this just makes me to go out and ride my bike.