# Chainless fixt gear riding!! (mommy!)



## Arby (Apr 29, 2004)

Morning!

I had a great time yesterday racing a crit, and ended up getting a top 25 finish. I actually thoguht I was going to win it for the cat 5's but oh well. I was in the front of the pack the entire race but when it came time to sprint to the finish I couldn't hold my sprint long enough. This keeps happening to me in my races... time to really do some interval training I guess. I had a great time nonetheless. 

So, here's something weird: My chain popped off this mornign on a decent through a busy section of downtown (Cathedral & Fayette St) I nearly sh!t my knickers while I jammed my heel into the asphault in an effort to stop. Loosing your chain on a fixt gear is a very disheartening feeling. Thank Buddha I was able to glide along side of the rows of cars and stop before the intersection. 

I don't get it though: My chain was tight. I keep it really tight. So, I dunno how it managed to come off. I did hit a bump in the road which, timed just right, is how it got thrown off my ring. You know how, no matter how tight you get your chain, there's always a tight and loose spot? I'm guessing I hit that bump when I was on that loose spot... You fixt riders will know what I'm talking about... you non fixts, may think I'm crazy or don't know what I'm talking about... oh well.

So, below are a ton of pictures. Some from this morning, and some from yesterday evening. Just thought I'd post some random commuting pictures today.

Everyone have a great week.
RB
PS: Below are a bazillion pictures, a lot of them are very similar, but I thoguht I'd post them all. 


Locked up outside of the Paper Moon diner yesterday evening... I had the Bacon Bleu Cheese Burger... good lord they're good!










Locked up outside Paper Moon Diner:










locked up outside Paper Moon:










Locked up with an on-looker outside Paper Moon Diner:










Then I had this idea to try to get some shots of myself in the reflection of the building windows downtown. 10 second self timer, aimed at windows... it was fun trying anyway:










Trying it again:










And again:










Just testing:











Dooby doo:











Ok, enough of these:










So then I caught the setting sun:










I liked this angle:











This was fun:










Ok, so that was fun from yesterday evening. Below are some shots from this morning's ride into work. Behold, the scarey dropped chain... God that sucked:










Looking East on Eager St. at 6:45am this morning:










So sunny this morning:










Just about all the way to work at this point:









Enjoy the day everyone.


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## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

*Right foot on rear tire*

Your mishap this morning reminded me to tell you about something that I saw on Thursday or Friday. I saw a messenger who was on Charles Street making the descent from Franklin Street to Centre Street, where the traffic light was red. He unclipped his right foot and pressed the sole of his shoe on his rear tire. It looked strange, but it stopped his bike. Maybe this move would have helped this morning.


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## CFBlue (Jun 28, 1999)

*brake?*

Isn't that a good case for a front brake?


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## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

*Front brake*

Maybe I have low self confidence, but I would never ride fixed on open roads without a front brake. I have popped my chain a couple of times and the incidents all occurred the same way. Hitting a large bump while pedaling with strong pressure. I guess the chain stays flex enough to get slack in the chain and get the chainline off-center, at least that is the only reason I can think of as the cause.

Nice pictures of charm city.


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## likeguymontag (May 31, 2003)

You eat at Paper Moon? Every time I've been there so far has been disappointing. They're really slow, and the staff is less than friendly.


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## Arby (Apr 29, 2004)

*It's good*



 likeguymontag said:


> You eat at Paper Moon? Every time I've been there so far has been disappointing. They're really slow, and the staff is less than friendly.


Actually, I haven't ever had bad food or even bad service there. I enjoy the food. The atmosphere is not my scene anymore but it's a funky place to get a good meal. It's ideal for me and my girlfriend because they have a pretty good selection of vegetarian meals. I'm a meat eater though... plenty of good meaty meals as well! Also a plus: they put a ton of bleu cheese on their bleu cheese bacon burgers.

RB


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## Arby (Apr 29, 2004)

*Not necessary*



MarkS said:


> Your mishap this morning reminded me to tell you about something that I saw on Thursday or Friday. I saw a messenger who was on Charles Street making the descent from Franklin Street to Centre Street, where the traffic light was red. He unclipped his right foot and pressed the sole of his shoe on his rear tire. It looked strange, but it stopped his bike. Maybe this move would have helped this morning.


Hi Mark,

Eh, that's not necessary ever really. I see that as even more lazy than skidding. Actually... I think I'd be embarassed if I ever did that. I'd deffinately do a double take and shake my head with a "tsk tsk tsk" if I ever saw it. Idealy, you should be riding sensibly enough to slow your roll with simple back pressure. It's always easier (and co$tlier) to just lock em' up and skid, but to actually unclip (very scarey notion) and use your foot as a brake? eh... not necessary. Today though, when my chain fell off, if I had more wits about me, I would have done it! I was pretty scared when it happened. There was a moment of realization that my chain was off... then there was that feeling of completely resistance free acceleration as I rolled downhill towards the intersection. Never have my legs been not moving while on the track bike in motion. (insert a high pitched "mommy!" here). I had to drag my foot along the road untill I came to an impact-free stop. Hallelujah!

Thanks for the idea though. I'll keep it in mind should my chain ever come off again. 

RB


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## Arby (Apr 29, 2004)

*Sure*



DougSloan said:


> Isn't that a good case for a front brake?


But you have to take into account a few things:


I'm completely comfortable riding very aggressively and also safely on a fixed gear with no brakes in heavy traffic, with no brakes.
This is the first time this has happened in the 10 months I've had the bike.
I always keep my chain TIGHT.
I am always thinking a block ahead of my bike.
RB


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## racerx (Jan 29, 2004)

*Two things...*

1.I think we should chip in and get Arby a front caliper and lever. Major ups to you and your riding style, but I like others don't wish to read about you in the obit's or off the bike for good list.


2.I want to see a pic of the bottom of your shoes after the emergency decel...


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## Arby (Apr 29, 2004)

*10-4*



bigrider said:


> Maybe I have low self confidence, but I would never ride fixed on open roads without a front brake. I have popped my chain a couple of times and the incidents all occurred the same way. Hitting a large bump while pedaling with strong pressure. I guess the chain stays flex enough to get slack in the chain and get the chainline off-center, at least that is the only reason I can think of as the cause.
> 
> Nice pictures of charm city.


Yeah, it's a freak occurance. Enough to fill your undies but something that was somewhat unavoidable. I've tentioned my chain to the point where I really don't like it that tight. If you get it too tight it clicks pretty loudly when pedaling. There's a sweet spot when it comes to chain tention. I can't stand any slack in my chain when I'm in a track stand waiting for a light to turn. Guess I'll put up with the clicking noise though. Better safe than pasted to the front of a city bus.

RB


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## Arby (Apr 29, 2004)

*Holy!*



racerx said:


> 1.I think we should chip in and get Arby a front caliper and lever. Major ups to you and your riding style, but I like others don't wish to read about you in the obit's or off the bike for good list.
> 
> 
> 2.I want to see a pic of the bottom of your shoes after the emergency decel...


Um... after I read your reply, I ducked under my desk, pulled my shoes out and took a gander. Holy worn heal Bat Man! I ground my right heal into the asphault in an effort to stop. I didnt' want to wear my cleat down to nothing so my heal took the majority of the damage in this event. You can see the fuzzies of worn shoe around my right heal. 

Brings new meaning to the word "brake shoe" doesn't it?

RB


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## treebound (Oct 16, 2003)

Arby said:


> Um... after I read your reply, I ducked under my desk, pulled my shoes out and took a gander. Holy worn heal Bat Man! I ground my right heal into the asphault in an effort to stop. I didnt' want to wear my cleat down to nothing so my heal took the majority of the damage in this event. You can see the fuzzies of worn shoe around my right heal.
> 
> Brings new meaning to the word "brake shoe" doesn't it?
> 
> RB


That's a good claim for using knobbied shoes. I'm afraid my roadbike shoes would not have faired so well nor stopped so good as those.

Nice pics, as always, and always an inspiration. Thanks.

Note to self: add more shoe goo to the heal of the road shoes.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*An old saying (I'm an old guy)...*



Arby said:


> [*]This is the first time this has happened in the 10 months I've had the bike.
> 
> [/list]
> RB


A little bit out of context here but quite fitting, "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old bold pilots."

MB1 "Still fixed after all these years."


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## onrhodes (Feb 19, 2004)

Just a note to you Arby. 

No matter how confident you are, or how much you trust your skills, things can and will go wrong.
That is why they call them accidents.


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## Dave_Stohler (Jan 22, 2004)

*I'll send flowers to your funeral...*



Arby said:


> But you have to take into account a few things:
> 
> 
> I'm completely comfortable riding very aggressively and also safely on a fixed gear with no brakes in heavy traffic, with no brakes.
> ...


 ...just give me the address of your funeral home.

Seriously, kid, are your brain-dead?? Riding brakeless is for *the track*, only! Period!

It because of idiots like you that we have laws *requiring* you to have at least 1 functioning brake on any bike. Maybe you don't give a rat's @$$ about *your* safety, but what if you'd killed some little kid when you went out of control. Maybe you can live with putting yourself into a wheelchair for the rest of your life, but could you live with doing it to a child, or an eldely person? If you say "yes", then you are truly pathetic.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Whoa there Dave.*

Where did that come from? 

If you live and ride in an East Coast city you will see tens if not hundreds of fixed gear cyclists without brakes. I thought it was insane when I moved here from SoCal but there seem to be few problems. I am glad to have Arby posting here and representing the East Coast Urban viewpoint.

So flames off, please.

Besides Darwin always gets his due.


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## Einstruzende (Jun 1, 2004)

Back in my BMX days, the "cool" thing to do was to take the breaks off the bike, and the only accepted method for stopping was the "foot on rear tire against seat stays". I have no idea what the hell we were thinking, and somehow I never got hurt.

Now having said that, if i were to ride a fixed bike, I would definately have a brake on there. Might not "look as cool" and I might not "be as elite", however i'd love to avoid your situation.

As statistics go, what happened yesterday has no bearing on what will happen tomorrow in this case.


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## jumpstumper (Aug 17, 2004)

Dave_Stohler said:


> ...just give me the address of your funeral home.
> 
> Seriously, kid, are your brain-dead?? Riding brakeless is for *the track*, only! Period!
> 
> It because of idiots like you that we have laws *requiring* you to have at least 1 functioning brake on any bike. Maybe you don't give a rat's @$$ about *your* safety, but what if you'd killed some little kid when you went out of control. Maybe you can live with putting yourself into a wheelchair for the rest of your life, but could you live with doing it to a child, or an eldely person? If you say "yes", then you are truly pathetic.


Wow, for once I agree with Mr. Stohler!


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## zeytin (May 15, 2004)

jumpstumper said:


> Wow, for once I agree with Mr. Stohler!


hmmm...I don't. Where the h-ll did that come from...wrong side of the bed yesterday or something. Back off!!!


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## jumpstumper (Aug 17, 2004)

zeytin said:


> hmmm...I don't. Where the h-ll did that come from...wrong side of the bed yesterday or something. Back off!!!


Where did it come from? From watching a friend go down hard on his fixie (no brakes) when his rear sproket came unscrewed after heavy braking. Back off? No way, I'm pretty firm on this one Zeytin.


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

*brake police.*



jumpstumper said:


> Where did it come from? From watching a friend go down hard on his fixie (no brakes) when his rear sproket came unscrewed after heavy braking. Back off? No way, I'm pretty firm on this one Zeytin.



was your friend using a lockring? from the description ("rear sprocket came unscrewed") it seems perhaps the problem was not so much the lack of brakes as the use of a freewheel hub with a track cog rather than using a track hub/cog/lockring. or maybe I misunderstood.


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## jumpstumper (Aug 17, 2004)

blackhat said:


> was your friend using a lockring? from the description ("rear sprocket came unscrewed") it seems perhaps the problem was not so much the lack of brakes as the use of a freewheel hub with a track cog rather than using a track hub/cog/lockring. or maybe I misunderstood.


The point is his chipped teeth could have been prevented with the addition of a brake. Stuff happens, chains break or fall off, lockrings come loose. Dave was pointing out that riding around with no brakes is illegal and stupid, I happen to agree with him. Like he said, what if RB killed someone when he dropped his chain?


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## delay (Mar 10, 2005)

*now lets be fair.*

Just a few days ago is was riding in some kind of inclimate weather. The nut holding my front brake cable gave out. I instantly lost a lot of stopping power. My bike was not a fixed gear and something still went wrong. Thousands of people ride with no brakes, and if someone is skilled enough to stop with their cranks then more power to them. Things go wrong sometimes. This is not a fault of the style, but the fault of a random accident. Any of us could have any number of problems wherein our bikes became dangerous. 



jumpstumper said:


> The point is his chipped teeth could have been prevented with the addition of a brake. Stuff happens, chains break or fall off, lockrings come loose. Dave was pointing out that riding around with no brakes is illegal and stupid, I happen to agree with him. Like he said, what if RB killed someone when he dropped his chain?


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## Dave_Stohler (Jan 22, 2004)

zeytin said:


> hmmm...I don't. Where the h-ll did that come from...wrong side of the bed yesterday or something. Back off!!!


OK, here are 2 things that came from:

1: Club ride, some dork with a left-side cog held on with loctite and no brakes. Going downhill, his cog comes off, and he procedes to wipe out 4 riders, destroying 2 bikes. Poor bike mechanic, has no money, splits town shortly after. 1 rider had a fractured leg that took him all summer to heal. As a result, or club has a "no fixies without brake" rule.

2: White-trash bum riding an old Varsity without any brake pads flying down the sidewalk, runs into me and my friend, causing lacerations and (thankfully) head trauma to the rider. He was drunk, heading down to social services for his welfare check. They scraped him off the ground and sent him to the hospital. I made it a point to throw his entire deathtrap of a bike into the nearest dumpster. I saw him wandering around with head bandages the next day, looking for his bike. He was drunk again....

Go ahead-do what you want to do. But if you brakeless bike hits me, my friends, or my car, I'm gonna trash it bad enough that it will never roll again. Then I'm gonna call the police and let them give you a well-deserved ticket, you reckless twerp!


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## likeguymontag (May 31, 2003)

Yeah, I can't argue with the blue cheese thing. IMO, One World has better veggie food though. One World also has Rogue Dead Guy on tap. Unfortunately, I have to laugh when it's served to me by that dude who costumes himself like Robert Smith.



Arby said:


> Actually, I haven't ever had bad food or even bad service there. I enjoy the food. The atmosphere is not my scene anymore but it's a funky place to get a good meal. It's ideal for me and my girlfriend because they have a pretty good selection of vegetarian meals. I'm a meat eater though... plenty of good meaty meals as well! Also a plus: they put a ton of bleu cheese on their bleu cheese bacon burgers.RB


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## delay (Mar 10, 2005)

I can't argue with you on these point. However, all I am saying is that people can do it appropriately. More to the point, RB's equipment failing has nothing to do with the irresponsibility that you are talking about.



Dave_Stohler said:


> OK, here are 2 things that came from:
> 
> 1: Club ride, some dork with a left-side cog held on with loctite and no brakes. Going downhill, his cog comes off, and he procedes to wipe out 4 riders, destroying 2 bikes. Poor bike mechanic, has no money, splits town shortly after. 1 rider had a fractured leg that took him all summer to heal. As a result, or club has a "no fixies without brake" rule.
> 
> ...


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*What's up Dave?*

Clearly you have strong feelings about riding fixed without brakes and I tend to agree with you but I also respect and somewhat understand city cyclists who ride brakeless. Still...



Dave_Stohler said:


> .....kid, are your brain-dead........
> you are truly pathetic......you reckless twerp!


Near as I can tell Arby, Zeytin, Delay and for that matter I am none of those things. Now I am sure you have never broken a law while riding your bike or were in an accident where the worst that happened was that your shoe was damaged and you got a good scare that made you think about what you were doing-but that is all there is here.

If you want to discuss the awful things that have happened to folks that were hurt by irresponsible cyclists or that all time favorite drunks on bikes let's start another post and see if we can keep the invective to a new low. If you want it to be a long thread we should include irresponsible and/or drunk drivers in the discussion.

Peace
MB1


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## jumpstumper (Aug 17, 2004)

delay said:


> I can't argue with you on these point. However, all I am saying is that people can do it appropriately. More to the point, RB's equipment failing has nothing to do with the irresponsibility that you are talking about.


Huh? You make zero sense.


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## onrhodes (Feb 19, 2004)

*Fuel to the fire?*

This will be the last I will say on this subject.
Here in NH you can refer to the follwoing Law
266:88 Brake Required. – Every bicycle and moped shall be equipped with a brake or brakes which will enable its driver to stop the bicycle or moped within 25 feet from a speed of 10 miles per hour on dry, level, clean pavement.

Now I think you would be hard pressed to tell a judge/jury that your foot constitutes a working brake(s).
So, to sum it up. If Arby or anyone else is riding in the State of New Hampshire without a working brake on your bicycle, you are breaking the law. I will bet that your states have a similar law.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Laws....*



onrhodes said:


> This will be the last I will say on this subject.....
> you are breaking the law. I will bet that your states have a similar law.


In DC if you want you register your bicycle as the law requires you must do it at a police station. I will bet that your states have similar laws.

When you go to register your bike here in DC the police insist that you have a bell on your bicycle even though the law doesn't require it.

As a result of making it very hard to register a bike there are very few licensed bicycles in DC, even the rent-a-bikes and all the police bikes are not registered. So pretty much everyone who rides a bike in DC is breaking the law. 

Actually if you stop and think about it we are all outlaws here.....COOL!

MB1 _"Bad to the bone."_


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## delay (Mar 10, 2005)

My point was that Arby rides a well maintained track bike that happened to lose its chain. This falls under the catagory of accident, not irresponsibility. (ie being a poor mechanic or riding a locktited rear hub) My point all along is that any of us on any kind of bike could have an accident that turns our normally safe bike into a death trap. In this circumstance Arby handled the situation calmly and as safely as possible. From the sounds of it, I would prefer to have him with no chain coming at me than a lot of the out of control riders around where I am.

That said, I am pretty sure most any experienced fixed gear riders could in fact stop in that distance skidding on their bikes (25 ft from 10mph). 



delay said:


> I can't argue with you on these point. However, all I am saying is that people can do it appropriately. More to the point, RB's equipment failing has nothing to do with the irresponsibility that you are talking about.


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## jumpstumper (Aug 17, 2004)

delay said:


> My point was that Arby rides a well maintained track bike that happened to lose its chain. This falls under the catagory of accident, not irresponsibility. (ie being a poor mechanic or riding a locktited rear hub) My point all along is that any of us on any kind of bike could have an accident that turns our normally safe bike into a death trap. In this circumstance Arby handled the situation calmly and as safely as possible. From the sounds of it, I would prefer to have him with no chain coming at me than a lot of the out of control riders around where I am.
> 
> That said, I am pretty sure most any experienced fixed gear riders could in fact stop in that distance skidding on their bikes (25 ft from 10mph).


Yes, yes, yes, I'm aware the chain part was an accident. The irresponsible part is not having a brake on your "track bike" while riding on the open road. Yeah, Arby lucked out this time, what about the next time? No more cool pictures from Baltimore!

I'm a pretty experienced fixed gear rider, and I doubt I could stop from 10 MPH with no brakes and the chain detatched...


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## Dave_Stohler (Jan 22, 2004)

*See, here's the deal:*

.....


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## Gripped (Nov 27, 2002)

*And my take*

Unfortunately I wasn't able to read what Dave had to say ...

Arby is a young guy and takes risks -- as young guys tend to do. I know because I have been there too. As we get older, I think that we start to lose that youthful sense of imortality and begin to more aggressively mitigate risk. We also like to give free advice to individuals who have less life experience than we do and are doing things which we might deem as being "mighty risky." This advice might be rather harsh especially if the advisor has direct personal experiences with the dire consequences of a particular risky action.

I enjoy Arby's posts. I like his photos. I would probably enjoy going for a ride with him (though I would insist on him using his geared bike since it has brakes and I would also let him know I intended to pretty much obey traffic regulations and would appreciate it if he would do the same when riding with me). That said, I'm right on board with those people that are critical of him riding without a brake.

FACT: Riding without a front brake is riskier than riding with one.

A front brake will get you stopped faster than reverse pressure on a fixie. It also provides a backup method of stopping should you drop a chain. So, Arby, step up and admit that riding without a front brake is riskier than riding with one. You've said that you're "completely comfortable riding very aggressively and also safely on a fixed gear with no brakes in heavy traffic" and that you are "always thinking a block ahead of my bike" but to me that sounds more like hubris or braggadotio rather than a level-headed assesment of your motives. I suspect that the reason you ride brakeless is that it does take skill to ride without one -- which is a source of pride -- and there is that added sense of danger/excitement because there isn't any backup should you drop the chain.

This is a public forum and Arby has admitted to doing something that many of us think is foolish or risky. I also believe that it is illegal to ride brakeless. MB1 then tries to undermine the legal argument by using the "those without sin cast the first stone" argument. That is a total crock. I'll be the first one to say that I am a legal relativist when it comes to traffic code and cycling. That still doesn't change the fact that riding without a front brake is illegal -- and for good reason. So if you think that riding without a front brake is okay, then step up and make a stand. Say you think the law is a bad one.

Shoot, Arby has publicly posted evidence (viedos) that he routinely breaks traffic laws during his daily commute. I can't tell you how much it drives me crazy that his lame excuse to running red lights is "I was talking with two riding buddies last night, over a spagetti dinner about city riding and we all agreed that if you live in a city and you ride through the city every day, you are deffinitely going to blow red lights... that simple." Jesus Homeboy Christ, step up and take responsibility boy! You're using the same logic all those fat cows that graze at McDonalds use ... "I just can't help it."

Yes, you can help it. Listen up pup, navigating the asphalt jungle on a bike at speed finding the fasest way from point A to point B (laws be darned) is a fricken RUSH! I know that. You know that. Step up and say as much rather than some of those mealy mouthed rationalizations you've spit out.

I can criticize the way he rides all I want because it is 1) against the law and 2) clearly more dangerous for him -- and for others including pedestrians and drivers. Sure, I've ridden that way too. I used to smoke cigarettes but I don't feel any compunction about telling folks that they are bad for you.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*Now see...*



Gripped said:


> Unfortunately I wasn't able to read what Dave had to say ...


You wrote a clear and compelling reply regarding riding without a front brake. Your position is clear, your reasoning is sound and well thought out and you politely encouraged a response. You did not resort to name calling, invective or threats.

And the opposite of those are why you can't read what Dave posted.

The less said the better....


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