Hate myself for being so lazy with this blog. Tempted to make a New Year's resolution: ‘I promise to regularly update my blog’. Fancy a midsummer New Year's party to celebrate that? Anyway, I was meant to write about glamour in Moscow. But then got terribly bored even thinking about it.
No need to dwell upon this. Glamour is a post-Soviet craze for everything shiny and pretty. It's just embarrassing and silly. Let's talk smart things. Like bicycles without breaks - Fixed Gear. Fun and games! I haven't been so excited by anything in ages. Amazing that the fad is evolving in a city with no cycle lanes. I mean I'm crazy about my bicycle because it's my favorite color, it gets me places bypassing disgusting traffic jams, it keeps me fit for free and it's environmentally friendly. It's just the pain of cycling on side-walks amid pedestrians jumping on and off street curbs, and squeezing through cars parked on pavements that sometimes puts me off. Yes this sounds grim and I really think pedestrians should riot. I chose side-walks as I chose life. There is no way I would cycle on a Moscow road. A driver myself, I can safely say that it's just suicide. All the space next to the side-walk is taken by parked cars, pushing you further into the stream of nasty Moscow traffic. Scary? Not really. If you have breaks.
This brings us back to the topic of Fixed Gear. Perfection of simplicity, this is a single-speed bike without a freewheel or brakes, which makes it illegal in a few European countries! And although you can get a ready-made model, it seems much more fun to customize - or even make one from scratch.
They just look so incredibly cool! As of now I'm staying with my silly girlie bike, because I often cycle in high heels and I need comfort. But if I had enough space for two bicycles, I would definitely get one of these babies.
There's a Moscow Fixed Gear crew, here's how they do it:
Fixed Gear Moscow from Alex Goncharenko on Vimeo.
See also: the livejournal community on Fixed Gear.
Show comments (5)
23 October, 2009, 13:42
Fixed Gear puts the sport in bicycling. The bikes that are raced on high-banked, circle tracks are fixed gear. -- SPORTING !
08 August, 2009, 05:59
Anya,
The bicycle lanes here have only been added a few months ago, so it will take time to tell. But my opinion is that it is being handled incorrectly. There really are not that many bicyclist here. And most of those who do bicycle do so for recreation, rather than for necessity. My city has an extensive trail system which connects most of the parks and leads to smaller trails in specific neighborhoods, and I think this system is adequate for most of the bikers. Although I think the bikes should be accommodated to some degree for those who rely on them for their main mode of transportation, I still think that putting the paths on the busy roads was a mistake.
There are some bicycle groups here who like to come out once a month or so to make a spectacle of themselves. It seems to me their main goal is to interrupt traffic and to protest the fact that they can not ride with no restrictions. Honestly, I don’t think most of these people care about the bike lanes. They just want to make the cars slow down and avoid them. I think this is rude, and I don’t like it. I don’t think we should bother trying to make any accommodations for those people who will make no accommodations themselves. These people are very vocal though, and I think our Mayor bowed to pressure from them in deciding to set up these paths on the busy roads. As far as I can see, they are seldom used.
I tried, but could not find a single map which shows the entire trail. This site, however, contains links to many individual segments of the trail system in or near my city. It really is quite an extensive network.
http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/country/254/region/136/city/8381
I typed in “Moscow bike trails” for a Google search and came up with nothing but Moscow, Idaho. Do you have even have off road bike trails there? I did, however, find this YouTube clip which appears to be the bike ride you described. I certainly hope you are wearing a helmet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hK9lnnGVCk
01 August, 2009, 05:46
A bike without brakes sounds like suicide to me ;-) I prefer my U.S.-made Cruiser - big, comfy, fast, and eye-catching. Love it when I fly past a bunch of kids who exclaim "wooow, look at that bike!" Bikes are only good for the warm seasons, though, and the "fresh" air in Moscow leaves much to be desired. Like to be at least 50 miles away, looking out across endless fields and forests... It's dacha time! =))
30 July, 2009, 12:47
phip, so true! I can already see the smiley "aw, a girl on a bicycle- cute" attitude turning into the annoyed "the side-walk is for WALKING, hence the name, silly goose". Yet it is no way near the amount of aggression one gets on a daily basis whilst driving in Moscow. Maybe it's a question of time in your city for the drivers to get used to cyclists on the road? Is anything being done to improve the situation?
28 July, 2009, 23:36
My city, and several others in the region, have started to react to the growing number of bicyclists by adding specified bike lanes on certain streets. But I see a lot of problems with how they are going about it. First of all, the bike paths are usually on some of the heaviest traveled roads. Although, technically speaking, the bicyclist has the right of way, who's going to argue with an object that weighs a ton. It would seem smarter to me that they should move the bike paths onto lesser traveled roads to begin with. Also, they have not widened the roads or reduced the number of lanes. They simply shave a foot off each lane which makes it dangerous for everybody (bikes and cars) there.
And remember to be careful what you wish for. If the pedestrians riot, they know the cars are too big for them to attack without getting hurt. Therefore, they will turn their attention to the lighter wheeled vehicles that get in their way.