Seventy five years old and this is my first venture into creating a 'blog', still don't know what it is, but I thought I would post a bit of something about my passion, fixed gear bike riding.
Over the years gone by many bikes have passed through my hands but the ones that gave me the most satisfaction have been those with a fixed wheel as opposed to a geared bicycle. People have thought me a complete nut turning up for club rides headed for the hills on a fixed wheeled bike, by the end of the day though a grudging respect for the fixed bike was gained. The simplicity for me is best explained by my inability to 'know what gear to put it in', far better for me to choose a fixed gear I'm comfortable with then just get on with the ride and whatever it may bring.
My love of fixed gear was really brought to fruition with the building of the magnificent Manchester Velodrome, built as part of Manchester's bid to host the Commonwealth Games. I couldn't wait to get on this fantastic wooden oval, it took my breath away just gazing at it and the 'Games' competition just whetted my desire even further.
Venturing into the local track leagues was further excitement, winter programmes every Monday and Friday, what more could a fixed wheel nut ask for.
Riding in the track leagues was quite different to the learning curve of the induction programmes, simple manoeuvres carried out in the safe knowledge that a simple line of other inductees were behind, all nice and tidy.
What a different story riding in a race when looking over your shoulder to move up, instead of the nice neat tidy line behind you see a horde of cyclists spread practically the full width of the boards bearing down on you, this was the extra thrill and excitement. This was the time I was thankful of the many years I've spent 'twiddling' the cog.
At seventy five I'm still 'twiddling' the cog, still riding the track league, still enjoying riding my bike and despite my age looking forward to many more fixed wheel sorties, track or trail.
