China, Asia, Climbing and Fixed Gear Bikes

Today I had my first accident with my Corima track bike. I was going straight when suddenly an elderly guy on the right side of me decided to turn left with his bike. I was not riding very fast as the traffic light ahead was red anyway but surely much faster than him. He bumped into my back wheel and then fell on the street. I said sorry when he stood up and he started saying I should take him to hospital. I said everything seems to be okay as he can move and stand and there is no blood but he insisted that I need to take him to hospital (which means that I should pay for his health check up). By that time we already had a huge quiet crowd gathering around us waiting to see what will happen. Finally a lady on her electric bike stepped up and said she saw the whole thing and it is actually the old mans‘ fault to turn without looking. Then another guy also said that you have to look what is coming from behind you before you turn and then another person… So yes, I was allowed to leave while they kept on telling him that it anyway was his fault and he should be more careful in his age.

In the evening we went to the Stoneboat for a small concert – Hedgehog was playing. Hedgehog a Beijing band with a female energetic drummer. They played acoustic guitar versions of their songs at the Stoneboat. And it was a nice evening for sitting around the lake.

Today was the first ride of the Beijing Fixed Group. We managed to gather all the fixed riders of Beijing that currently have a fixed gear bike. And then the same amount of bike lovers that do not have a fixed gear bike joined as well.

Pictures of 1st Beijing Fixed Group Ride

Well, if you look at those pictures you will find only two people on fixed gear bikes (me and Ben). Also you might have noticed that the route we took was maybe not what you would expect. First we wanted to ride around in one of Beijing’s famous art districts in Dashanzi called 798. We did not know that they are re-doing all paved roads in that district at the same time. While we were stanidng around we bumped into one of the guys from the Hong Kong fixed gear group that I would have rode with 10 days ago in Hong Kong if the weather had been better. And furthermore it turns out his friend has the same friends as Ben. The world is a village!

Then Tim suggested we ride in the direction out of the city. We went till North fifth ring road to a market. You can have a look at the above link to the pictures of what kind of market we went to. Getting there was a bit rough as not all paths were paved.

If you are a fixed gear rider and you are in China and drop by Beijing, then please join us. We promise that we can stay on paved roads. If you are on Facebook then please join our Beijing Fixed Group there. You can also find us in the magazine CityWeekend Beijing.

After the ride today I went to the house warming party of the famous musician Guo Jian of the Chinese reggae band Longshendao (LSD). After a few drinks they started making music. The famous Ember from Canada was also there. It was fun for a Sunday night party.

Today I got my back wheel spokes of my pink track bike tightened, changed the handlebar and put in my smaller front wheel. Then I went out to play around with my friends who were inline skating.

I uploaded some videos to youtube. Sorry but the formatting of this blog is still horrible if I try to display the videos embedded – so here are the links:

Link to Video: First try of headtube seated wheely with support of a friend
Link to Video: First try of regular seated wheely with support of a friend
Link to Video: Being interrupted while trying to do backward circles
Link to Video: 4 backward circles on my beautiful pink track bike
Link to Video: First saddle handlebar stands on real fixie

We had dinner in the Japanese lounge just to find out that everything has become incredibly expensive. Now I do not really recommend coming here for food. Maybe just for a drink and enjoying the nice view of Beijing.

After dinner we went to a listen to some live music in a small bar near the ancient Drum and Bell tower of Beijing. Tonight folk rocker Ma Tiao and his band were playing Chinese rock music. That was a good mixture of traditional Chinese sounds and hard rock music that went well with my Margaritas.

Rain in March? In Beijing? That is so unusual. Where are the sand storms and dry weather? Now I am back with my new fixed gear bike and it is raining. I thought I could ride in the sunshine the whole weekend. Not only I am surprised by this weather, others too. There was chaos on the streets. It took us half an hour waiting for a taxi in the rain at 9:30 pm till we decided to go by bus. We thought we can easily get a taxi from the bus stop we got off the bus from. But no – all the taxis were occupied. So we walked to another bus stop and waited for another bus. It took us over an hour to get to a bar that had a performance of Mongolian live music. When we arrived it looked like they had finished already. But the band called Hanggai did actually play again.