When I'm on my road bike, hands down on the drops, the head position and need to watch for rocks and rough road, mean you don't see the bulk of what you are riding past. Plus, the higher speed of my road bike, and the fact that I am often on busy roads, means that all attention is on riding safe, not crashing, and not getting run over by a log truck. The Fixie is a whole different proposition. Even pumping hard on an incline I bet the top speed isn't much more than 12-15 mph. Average speed is more like about 10mph, not a whole lot faster than I run (well, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but not much). And if I compare time-wise, side by side, I bet an hour on the Fixie is a better workout than an hour on the road bike.
Workout intensity aside, the Fixie is Fun, yes, with a capital F. Riding along I feel my face is stretched into a manic grin the whole ride. If I was going faster I would have bugs plastered in my teeth. I've taken it out on the rough farm roads around my home, and taken it via car into urban areas, and both are equally fun. With the upright position I can look around, head on a swivel, looking at all the things passing by, enjoying the sights and sounds. I had it with me in Gladstone last week, and rode it around the areas that were my daily run routes when I was training for my Iron distance tri. I even rode past The Cove where I taught myself to open water swim without being overcome with panic attacks. It was a little bittersweet. This is exactly the time of year I should be doing my big A Race event, an Iron or half-Iron, but injuries have kept me sidelined for far too long. So riding past The Cove, smelling that late summer spice of dying leaves and warm water, made me all the more determined to get back up to full strength by next summer. And all these thoughts, these dreams, came as I pedalled around on the new bike, imagining what could be. I even thought how funny it would be to do a sprint tri on my Fixie. That would get some looks, for sure.
Of course all good bikes have to be named. My road bike is Joshua. But names have to come to you, you can't just make a random choice. As I was out riding the first time I thought, "Harold?" That didn't feel quite right. But, it made me think of the actor Harold Ramis, and his most epic role; Egon Spengler of Ghostbusters notoriety. So, Egon it is. I also made him a super cool bento box out of leather from my old, and way too big, motorcycle chaps. Yeah, this is the coolest bike ever. And he is mine.
