Kermit Rode a Fixie

Call me a sap, but one of my favorite movies is the 1979 classic “The Muppet Movie”.  There is a scene early in the film where Kermit is shown riding a bicycle.  Two things caught my eye when I watched Kermit cruising on his bike.  The chain is on the wrong side of the bottom bracket and the bicycle is a fixed gear. 

A fixed-gear bicycle (or fixed-wheel bicycle, commonly known as a fixie) is a bicycle that has a drivetrain with no freewheel mechanism.  You cannot coast while riding a fixie.  The fixed-gear bicycle is the standard track racing design.  More recently the fixie has become a popular alternative among mainly urban cyclists, offering the advantages of simplicity compared with the standard multi-geared bicycle.

You can also call me a throwback, but I used to ride a fixie built on a steel Basso frame.  My cycling coach in Boston, John Allis, was a proponent of training on a fixie.  John was a top American cyclist in the late 1960’s and 1970s, finishing 63^rd in the 1972 Olympic Road Race in Munich.  I recall a Sunday training race in 1987 where he rode away from the field.  He was 45 at the time.  He was inducted into the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in 1993.

There is something to be said for how a fixed gear forces you to develop a smoother pedaling style since you simply cannot stop pedaling.  Due to this, they are popular for off season training by serious road cyclists.  I was a bicycle courier during the time Allis was coaching me and he advised me to ride a fixed gear for work.  It was a brutal workout.  I figured I rode about 100 miles a day, including my commute from Newton into downtown Boston. 

I used to ride my fixed gear when I wasn’t running.  I believe it helped me run with a faster turnover.  I fear falling or getting hit by a car, so my fixie gathers dust and cobwebs in the basement. 

The other cross training I’ve done has been on rollerskis.  Roller skiing is a non-snow equivalent to cross-country skiing.  Emulating skis, elongated inline skates, with wheels at the ends are used on tarmac.  The skating / skiing action is very similar to actual cross-country skiing on snow.  I own two pairs of rollerskis.  The last time I used them, I fell and tore my rotator cuff.

I had a tooth extracted on Friday and the dentist advised me not to run.  So, I mostly sat around all weekend, but I walked six miles on Saturday and seven miles on Sunday, in addition to mowing the lawn.  I spent some time reading the latest edition of Colorado Runner magazine, which published its list of Colorado’s fastest runners, and there I am on page 15.  My 1:21:45 at the Platte River ½ put me 4^th in the 45 – 49 age group.

Other people I train with were listed.  Kudos to:  Lonnie Cruz, Jay Survil, Bridget Tschappat and Steve Parker.