Driving to work this morning, I shared the road with a gangly guy on a fixed gear. I was keeping an eye on my side mirror to make sure I wasn't crowding him or anything, when I realize he's grabbed onto the wheel well of my car. Long arms --- I guess if you CAN some people WILL. I tried to maintain a steady speed and straight line, but the responsibility of having an external passenger made me nervous.

I slowed for a light and he zipped ahead and grabbed onto the car ahead of me. That's when I knew for sure he was on a fixed gear and not a single speed --- he didn't grab on and coast, he grabbed on and kept pedalling madly. He never quit pedalling. He let go of the car when he couldn't pedal as fast as the car was going.

Later, stopped at the intersection of Milwaukee and Ashland, he came around me and did that thing where you turn right along with traffic and sorta work your way through the intersection dodging the cars. Except I've never seen anyone do it at such a fast rate of speed and in such a busy intersection. While this guy is skillful and fearless, I can't say I admire him. He's going to die like a dog in traffic one day, and that's never good.