You don't have to listen to these fixed gear fanatics

Thursday I decided, on a whim, to head out to work on my bike for a bit. I planned to spend an hour in it.

I took a streetcar and got a lot of reading done. I found an open stand and set up the bike. For this part where I chose the wheels I was hoping to work with Billy, though I knew he only came in on Saturdays. I had gotten some advice, but I still wasn't sure what to look for. I didn't know what differences the sizes made, what to look for in a hub, in spokes, in gears.

I recognized a guy that I met at a newly-opened outfitters store near my apartment. Dietrich was from Israel and when we first met he thought I was, too. He said he had heard about the shop and came by just to see it for himself. I told him what I was doing and he grabbed a wheel and stuck it on the front. He asked me what kind of gear I wanted and I told him I wasn't sure. He explained why he liked fixed gear bikes so much and as he looked at my bike he kept saying things like, "With the frame and cranks you have this bike can be crazy."

Dietrich was sorting through wheels and talking about fixed gear bikes when Marcos walked by and said, "You don't have to listen to these fixed gear fanatics."

Then a guy I'd seen before and heard about through a friend spoke up from behind a work bench.

"And if you get a fixed gear bike might as well get pedals with big teeth so when you go to stop it'll mess your leg up real good."

His name was Jack. He was a middle-aged man, thin, nearly bald and wearing a plain white t-shirt tucked into his p.e. coach shorts. As Dietrich continued looking for wheels Jack hobbled over. It seems his left leg and arm where at least partially paralyzed. Jack looked at the bike and said I could have it done and ride it home today if I wanted. I got excited and looked at the clock. It was already 5. I had planned to leave by then.

But I followed Jack around as he found wheels he liked and picked them up with his right hand. We tried a wheel or two. The first, when we got to the device that tests the true-ness of the wheel, how straight it is when you spin it, the wheel was really bent. We found another that looked better. Jack said I should pass it by Marcos or Maria first, since they knew best.

I'd never seen Maria before. I walked up to her with the wheel and she said she wasn't working today. I looked for Marcos but he was busy. I looked at the wheel I had. I had three gears. Dietrich had shown me his bike, it had one gear, and he said his combinations of 42 and 18 was fine for his work commute from Carrollton to Mid City. But what I wanted, I realized, was three gears. I wanted at least a few options. Plus, I wanted to learn how the shifters worked.

Dietrich had already left by this point and it was already almost 6, so I decided I'd go home for the day and try again Saturday. I put up my bike and walked out the door. Jack was smoking and sitting on carton that was holding the door open. I said bye and thanks for the help and headed for the streetcar. I passed Marcos and Maria talking.

"You walkin'?" Jack said.

I turned.

"Yeah, well, to the streetcar."

"I'm leavin' in a second, hold on."

We had realized that we lived in the same neighborhood and Jack had driven his 1980's Olds sedan with a bike rack on the truck. Jack went inside, saw there was nothing left he wanted to do, waved at no one in particular and we got in the car.

"I forgot my glasses," he said. He went back inside and I saw up at the corner Marcos and Maria holding each other. Then they kissed. A nice, long kiss.

I ran into Jack Saturday morning when I was walking my dog. He was riding his bike and I waved him down. He showed me his brake system, which he had begun describing at the shop. His was a road bike with the drop handlebars. He had two brake handles out front like you'd normally see, plus he had a third brake, a moutain bike-type brake, in the middle. He used his right hand on this brake, which was connected to his front wheel.

I had heard, when I was learning to mountain bike, that using the rear brake first was key, or else you could flip over.

"Well, if you stop quick no matter waht you fall over," he said. "Ninety percent of your breaking power comes from the front brake. The rear brake tends to slide."