Fixed on cycling

Bikes a way of life for group

OGDEN -- Michael Byrd hasn't owned a car since he was a junior in high school. Each morning, he jumps on his fixed-gear bicycle and rides to work at Skyline Cycle without brakes, gears or freewheel, dodging oblivious drivers and enjoying his outdoor commute.

"I'm 26 years old and I ride a bike everywhere I go. It's possible. People can do it. People think they can't do it because they live too far away, they have to wake up too early, this and that, but really, I'm living proof it can be done. You can ride a bike wherever you need to go, it's just a matter of determination," he said at the Pie Pizzeria with his friends, other self-proclaimed bike nerds.

For Byrd, riding a bike isn't just fun -- it's a lifestyle. He and his peers are happy as Ogden moves toward becoming more cycle-friendly.

Gage Jacobson, decked out in Bingham Cyclery spandex, confessed his obsession to Byrd and his fellow nerds at the Pie. He said he has about $10,000 worth of bicycles in his garage and never had the desire to buy a Turbo Audi A4 instead.

"In the whole practicality side of things, I go to school nine months a year, I live less than two miles away from school and the school expects you to pay $60 to park your car 500 feet from class. I can ride any crappy bike I want to school and get there in five minutes," Jacobson said.

Tom Widdison, manager of Bingham's, said a few people come into the Ogden shop every day looking for an inexpensive option to ride around town. He and assistant manager Tyler Dilworth tell them all about fixed gears, or fixies. The bikes can costs anywhere from $200 to thousands.

"Simple is what draws people to fixed gears," he said. He doesn't have to explain componentry, carbon fiber forks or a derailleur system to someone outside the mainstream bicycle community. A fixie has one gear and no freewheel, so there is no coasting, and a rider is able to pedal the bike backward. Most don't have brakes and riders stop pedaling to slow down.

"Riding brakeless ... You could kind of say it's the hard-core way to ride a fixed-gear bike," said Widdison, who sells fixed-gear street and mountain bikes.

Because they're so simple, fixies are easy to maintain and easy to customize. Mike Larson rides a fixie covered in lacquered comic book characters with red tires, adorned in spoke cards. Widdison's bike sports a yellow, plaid top tube protector and Kim Jong-il head badge. Byrd has a Satan's Energy Drink gas pump graphic and other anti-car propaganda.

Earlier bicycles were simple, like fixies. Racing track bikes -- fixed gears with a very specific frame geometry -- inside a velodrome was "more popular than baseball," according to Widdison.

"It's just kind of this rudimentary form of a bicycle that kind of brings you back to the root of cycling," said Widdison.

"A lot of people say it's just a fad, it's a trend right now, but if it's creating enough awareness for a city to actually improve their cyclist community, then I look at it as definitely not a bad thing," said Dilworth.

Cyclists across the world gather on the first Friday of every month for Critical Mass, a bike ride around the city with no real leaders or organization, often with political undertones about the rights of cyclists. Thanks to this tight-knit group of friends Ogden has its own Critical Mass.

"We're not trying to take the road, we're trying to share the road,"" said Dilworth. "The point is to make people realize there are cyclists out on the street."

While Critical Mass in some cities literally stops traffic, the Ogden group mostly hopes to create awareness, promote good bike etiquette and have a good time.

About 50 people assembled on June 6. There were mountain bikes, a neon-green BMX, and a mother, father and daughter on a three-person bike with a kid-carrier in tow, a double-decker bike, colorful cruisers and a plethora of tricked-out fixies. Dilworth and some of his friends passed around Pabst Blue Ribbon. One could call them obsessed with fixies, but they don't discriminate.

"If you're a biker, you're a dude on a bike," said Byrd. "Somebody in a car should respect someone in total spandex on a $3,000 bike just as much as they should respect some homeless dude carrying his sleeping bag on his back."

The group moved from Skyline Cycle to downtown Ogden and back without much trouble. A police car passed on Washington Boulevard and a loudspeaker asked the riders to stay in one lane. There were a few honks of frustration, but many supportive honks as well, based on drivers' comments and gestures.

The bike nerds also play bike polo and conduct monthly Alleycat races around Ogden.

Bike polo is much like horse polo. The Ogden venue is an undisclosed parking garage and players use mallets constructed from golf clubs or ski poles or dowels and a street hockey ball. A goal is scored when the opposing team hits the ball into the other team's goal, usually two traffic cones, with the head of the mallet. If the shooter uses the side of the mallet, called a shuffle, the goal does not count. If a player's foot touches the ground, he or she must "tap out," or touch a designated spot in the center of the court before rejoining the game. Fixies are popular because they allow the rider to move backward as well as forward.

Mike Larson said in other cities the games are more formal with stricter rules and sometimes on grass instead of concrete, like in Salt Lake City. So far, Ogden's version is pretty laid back. "It's just a good way for cyclists to get together and have fun," he said.

The origins of cycle polo aren't totally clear. Some believe it was invented by Irishman Richard J. Mecredy in 1891. Others say the British sent bikes to India for polo players because horses were scarce

Informal Alleycat bike races originated with bike messengers in big cities. Cyclists are given a manifest with checkpoints between the start and finish of the race. Most require a task be completed at the checkpoint. There is usually an emphasis on participation rather than competition.

Tyler Phillips organized the most recent Alleycat in Ogden on June 13. The race was about 91/2 miles with eight checkpoints on the manifest. Checkpoint tasks included getting a crown from Burger King and flattening and re-inflating a bike tire. There was also a "wheel o' misfortune" at one checkpoint where the rider would have to do whatever task the pointer landed on, such as shoot a beer.

Many familiar faces showed up at Dee Memorial Park in Ogden to begin the race. Everyone joined hands and sang "Ring around the Rosie" before dashing off to their bikes.

Phillips said most participants are from his group of friends, like Larson, Dilworth, Byrd and Widdison -- their friends and their friends' friends. "Every time we do another one it gets bigger and bigger," he said.

Everyone thinks there is potential for Ogden to become a bike-friendly city with its growing cyclist community. Critical Mass, bike polo and Alleycat races all help promote awareness. Widdison said it's become easier in the past couple years to be a bicyclist in the city but more bike paths and bike lanes are still needed.

While gathered at the pizzeria, Byrd continued his self-proclaimed pontification: "Our generation, right now, me here, all my buddies here, we will either be the greatest villains the human race has ever known, or we will be the greatest heroes ... We can be the greatest villains by continuing to drive cars, continuing to consume petroleum products, continuing to not live a sustainable lifestyle. However, we can also be this (expletive) generation's greatest heroes by conserving and riding bikes."