f.g.g interview - autumn

photo credit: lucas saugen photography


what's your name? fixie chic aka autumn

what's your bikes name? none of my bikes have names, exactly. i have 12 (?) bikes now, so it would never be able to keep track of that many nicknames. my winter fixie is known as the 'derby bike' (because it can be used for bike derby and is also has more than a few roller derby stickers on it) or the 'pink bike' (because although the frame is black, it has pink fenders). my summer fixie is 'the pake' because its...a pake. my single speed touring bike is known as either 'the motobecane' (because it is on - my father's old road bike from the late 70s) or the 'duluth bike' since its the bike i have used tor ride to duluth and back. the majority of my bikes are actually geared (time trial, road, mountain, etc), however 90% of my riding is fixed or single speed.

what is the bike/setup you're riding (what's your gearing at least)? i think my current gearing on my winter fixie, the pink bike, is 40 15, and my summer fixie, the pake, is 46 20.

how long have you been riding fixed? ummmm. a few years now. rode single for a long time prior to going fixed.

how long did you cycle before you "converted" as it were? from the time i was a child, i was riding, but it didn't become my primary transport until my late teens. i am in my 30s now and have never had a drivers license or a car. the bicycle is what i use for 90% of my transportation (the other 10% would be foot, bus, or carpooling). i also ride for fun doing everything from half-ironman distance triathlons, alley cats, double and triple centuries, to 24 hour mountain bike races.

how has cycling changed or defined your life (if it has)? since i've always relied on my bikes or my feet for transportation, i feel i have enjoyed simple things i may have missed otherwise. it is a constant in my life that i need to be able to walk or bike to get what i need.

what's the most damage you've accrued to you or your ride while riding a fixie? while riding a fixie - a very badly bruised, possibly broken, tailbone when i hopped a curb and crashed. it was a pretty stupid crash actually. near financial damage - i almost got a traffic ticket while riding the same bike this summer. most damage riding a bike (geared) would be a broken and dislocated elbow while winter commuting in 98.

what's your most embarrassing fixie moment? ummmm. can't think of one...but in college on a geared bike, i was wearing a dress and the skirt of the dress got caught in the wheel (?) and tore off completely. awesome. i was able to convert it into a wrap around skirt for the rest of the ride, but it was pretty embarrassing. i did do a naked ride on a cold halloween night on my fixie, but that was intended nudity and was more fun (and cold) than embarrassing.

anything else you'd like to say? bike lots.

f.g.g. interview - Sonia Serba

www. myspace.com/sunnyd

*what's your name?
My name is Sonia Serba, better known as Sunny D the photonic emcee.

*what's your bikes name?
I have 2 bikes at the moment: Kierin the Kraptastic Kuwahara, and Ollie the Opus. Kierin's fixed and Ollie's full-gears for long-hauls.

*what is the bike/setup you're riding (what's your gearing at least)?
Kierin's my winter-beater bike, so he's got a front-brake for hairy traffic situations in Canadian winters. He's 44/17 spintastic and he's pretty heavy with triple-butted steel tubing and full-fenders. I find that riding a clunky bike in winter makes for really fun when riding lighter bikes in the summer.

*how long have you been riding fixed?
I've been riding fixed gear for 3 years. I competed in my first alleycat not quite a week after converting to fixed (my 1st Sunday riding fixed gear) and came in 1st girl, 3rd overall. The race started in an alley and I nearly crashed into the adjacent curb straight off the hop!! That's just what happens when your left turns are too wide in a crowd of racers! hahaha...

*how long did you cycle before you "converted" as it were?
I bought a heavy-ass Infinity Telluride piece of crap mountain bike from Costco in 1999 and rode it on occasion, then became a bike courier in 2003, and switched to fixed-gear the last week of October in 2005.

*how has cycling changed or defined your life (if it has)?
My entire life changed after I switched from a car-centric mentality to a bike- & pedestrian-centric mentality. I see the matrix for what it is, clearer than ever. Everything looks different now.

*what's the most damage you've accrued to you or your ride while riding a fixie?
Shoot! I was riding Hayden the Hutsebaut track bike, coming to a red light, riding around some big, beefy motorcyclist who was in my lane: between the streetcar track and row of parked cars. I crossed the track to my left at the correct angle, went around dumb-ass, then crossed back to the right over the track at the correct angle, but when I went to straighten out into my lane, my bike didn't respond because there was a layer of dry but greasy garbage juice on the road. I ran into a parked van at a fairly slow speed but my frame was MUNCHED. The head tube was completely pushed back and the top and down tubes were buckled. I got the frame straightened, but a couple months later I noticed that the top lug was cracked almost all the way around. I cried and hung the frame on my wall as art.

*what's your most embarrassing fixie moment?
See above. The motorcyclist had no sympathy and didn't really get that he was an asshole for not properly driving in his own lane.

*anything else you'd like to say?
Buy my CD! Come meet me for Kyoto Loco and the CMWC in Tokyo in September! Also, look out for my new album Poor Little Bitch Girl dropping next year.
visit Sunny D here.

nyc's girl's night out - bikes

there is a women & trans bike-repair class being hosted each monday night at 6:30pm at
156 Rivington St. (between Suffolk & Clinton St in Manhattan's Lower East Side) in the basement.



while this seems like a fantastic idea, it does come across as a little gender biased, but then, it's probably this way to keep roving, new yorkers, foaming at the mouth, from showing up at a bike-repair meeting to pick up on girls. this means that girls can learn how to fix and build bikes w/o worrying about boys hitting on them; so ultimately, a plus.

while most of the world doesn't actually live in or near new york, if you do, you're that much more capable of accessing a female-based bike group with the wherewithal or the savoir faire help you learn how to maintain your two-wheeled ride.

Y: The Last Man - Unmanned

the other day Chapel Hill Comics had a "buy two, get one" sale. i picked up a couple issues of The Walking Dead and with my free selection also grabbed the first issue of Brian K. Vaughan's Y: The Last Man. it is truly an amazing graphic novel. i'm already unfortunately obsessed with this wonderful story as is per usual when considering apocalyptic settings, albeit amidst our financial crisis and my small pocketbook.

we are shown that all people can be driven to their most basic animalities in an effort to survive extreme circumstances with the introduction of the republican wives and the gang of amazons. this phenomenal work has already won best comic of 2008 against a league of other incredible works. Y has also been nominated for several other awards as well.

below is original artwork for the first issue


the work has been touted as pro-feminist and alternately misogynistic disparaging Vaughan himself. Regardless, with the final issues release this week, it appears it doesn't look far off for the masterpiece to be adapted into a film- possibly 3 according to wikipedia.

"I guess I've moved into acceptance but that doesn't mean that I'm not still depressed about it," said Vaughan, 31, a native of my hometown, Cleveland, Ohio, who now resides in Los Angeles.

i'd like to leave off with a few words from the author, Brian K. Vaughan (who also writes for the popular Lost television series.)

back online!

so after about 1 year + or -, my website is back up and running. please visit the site and tell me what you think. i have regained control of my domain and after a few hours of learning dns shit, the site has once again been brought back to life.
carrionfair.com

Intergalactic Law 2-104

pink raygun

the undead & the illustrated

i'm a huge zombie fan. huge. i've seen dozens of films. own a score of comic books and regularly enter "undead, zombie, day of the, night of the, dawn of the," or some derivation into a search bar looking up some minute reference. so it comes with no surprise that as we near halloween, the search for, "the recently deceased, returning to life," will be a continuous go-to for me.

i've currently finished with book 5 of 8 of robert kirkman's "the walking dead." i look forward to finishing the series as soon as this financial crisis blows over (or i might just have to sell all of my other books).

today i wandered into the local comic shop looking for some interesting material for f.g.g.. much to my dismay, there aren't a huge amount of feminist comic writers/illustrators as were so popular in the 70's; or so said the girl behind the counter. she did, however, point me in the direction of a few girl-empowered graphic novels. many of them i found to be written and illustrated by men: cool. what i found was rather disingenous. a new "tank girl," by Ashley Wood: don't get me wrong; Wood is a great artist, but, i wouldn't say that he's much of a feminist. picture after picture displayed a scantily clad tank girl with her panties exposed. i proceeded to look at several other works by Wood, most of them featuring nude or nearly nude females.

i spent the better half of an hour scouring the comic shop in search of some sort of feminist comic or graphic novel. i was lead to female-written biographical comics and subtle if not borderline feminist works such as a league of extraordinary gentleman, y, the last man and persepolis but again, two-thirds male driven, and none containing that certain je ne sais quoi that i was looking for.

i think perhaps my search, though without spelling it out in exact words to the proprietor, was for a contemporary work of art that deals with todays women in everyday instances. i didn't want to find a girl with huge tits strutting around a war torn city with a gun, donning a cape... well the war torn part might be cool if it might have had some sort of participation on the part of the undead, but, ultimately i wanted something with real women perspective that wasn't outlandishly superheroish. i was, after some time, able to find a few cool items that i will have to return for. by no means is this meant to come off as some tirade against CH comics either: i respect the couple that own the shop and wish them well beyond their wildest dreams. what i would like to see is more women writing and illustrating novels based on everyday trials, or the very least, better characters in realistic, if slightly outlandish or apocalyptic settings.

one of the wonderfully fruitful things i received from my visit was the tip that led me here to girl-wonder.org. it was there that i found out about fem-oreiented zombie apparel, and nothing, as anyone who knows anything about anything, is cooler than zombies and zombie-related topics. although i'm not sure how exactly their fashion line actually has anything to do with zombies, they do have some cool designs and so i'll name drop them on an undead-premise (if not just for the fact that they hail from Stow, OH., which is a paltry 35 minutes from my hometown.) i was sort of hoping that there might be some zombie themed fabrics; maybe a silk-screened t-shirt or skirt that had "bub" or at least a few blood spatters, but, the dresses and other adornments were bereft of any noticeable gore, albeit, the models did look a mildly less-than-lively (goth?) before moving on i did browse through several of ZA's previous fashion shows taking notice of just a few disturbing things:


1st - the bald creep who repeatedly looks odd and pervish in the background. what's he hiding under those folded arms??



seen again here with an alarming countenance on his face. is he leaning over the invisible front row to get a better glimpse of shoes or a thigh? i'm thinking the latter



2nd - the men's line: who the fuck is wearing this other than this guy? for him, i feel sorry, and slightly ashamed.



again: who the hell is wearing this? what genre/crowd/style of people is this? pearl necklace clad grandma meets scottish-goth and has a sex-change, falls in love with the drop kick murphy's and buys a rainslicker so she doesn't have to cart a goddamn umbrella everywhere she goes.

F.G.G. interview - Maria

what's your name? Maria (from Florida)

what's your bikes name? La metrayadora

what is the bike/setup you're riding (what's your gearing at least)? 42x16

how long have you been riding fixed? Almost 2 months

how long did you cycle before you converted as it were? 2 years

how has cycling changed or defined your life (if it has)? Its alot better i no longer depend on cars to take me places,i feel alot better physically and emotionally cause of it

what's the most damage you've accrued to you or yourself while riding a fixie? Luckily i havent had any injuries yet

what's your most embarrassing fixie moment? None yeett

anything else you'd like to say? I think everyone should go fixed and if not then just ride a bike!!
its a beautiful thing and alottttaa fun!!

rare, not fat... well mostly

fixed gear girls has turned out to be the most difficult task that i've so far attempted to accomplish as a web presence. finding articles that relate to fixed gears or interesting cycling topics and girls has given me, comment se diton? a "run for my money," and therefore i have decided to shut down this blog.

just kidding. absolutely not, fixed gear girls are the white elephants of the cycling community and i am only more driven to create more articles and search even harder to unleash their presence in the world. so, thus being said i will do my best over the next week to locate several of these women and interview them in regards to cycling and being a woman.

i hope above all that there are a few of you out there checking this blog, perhaps even a little pissed at the chauvinistic title. i probably could have (should have?) named it fixed gear women, but then, that doesn't exactly have the same ring to it. besides, plenty of women are proud to consider themselves females in a more childish and silly manners just as "boys will be boys" mentality goes from 6 to 106. if something pisses you off, please let me know, as it will only further the feminist movement through the eyes of a unknowledgeable male and hopefully a few males followers as well.

vanderkitten

a clothing company specifically for and by women cyclists boast, "uncompromising quality, personality and style. a new brand in action sports. a new look for women's cycling."






they appear to have a ton of clothing from street riding to cylcocross



the prices are fair considering design specific gear that's also fashionable. anyone who cycles know that apparel for this sport can be rather wearing on the wallet or purse.

they even sell cd's, which i find mildly peculiar, especially the Rachel Pearl album (singer of the "top emerging artists of american idol").

faux fixed: the internal 3 speed fixie conversion of the political realm

"Because she jumbles up so many cultural categories, because she is a feminist not in the Yale Gender Studies sense but the How Do I Reload This Thang way, because she is a woman who in style, history, moxie and femininity is exactly like a normal American feminist and not an Abstract Theory feminist; because she wears makeup and heels and eats mooseburgers and is Alaska Tough," ~ Peggy Noonan

this statement was made shortly after Noonan was caught on a live mic foul-mouthing the conservative campaign.

my question is, is Sarah Palin really a feminist?: a "gun toting, bible thumping, failed beauty queen with a knocked up baby, momma," sure, but insofaras actually pushing for women's rights, is an emphatic, no.

McCain's answer to the minority issue and a back handed attempt at picking up Clinton votes is weak at best. Palin isn't a proponent of pro-choice. she's been well documented, debated & derided for her pro-life (albeit in instances of rape) stance.

the conservative duo, although "mavericks," who are widely considered as "not playing by the rules," their right-wing beliefs are predictable; almost to the point at having become clichéd. of course all of this is merely an echo for what many people already know and have come to consider as par for the republican agenda.

what scares the shit out of me is the likelihood of McCain getting elected as president and that that broken-down, pale, lifeless body of his giving out to a woman who acts as if she personally knows what "god" wants. Palin was quoted in reference to the soldiers in Iraq at the Assembly of God Church in Wasilla, as having said, "Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure we're praying for. That there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan. So, bless them with your prayers."

if we have political leaders speaking religiously on foreign policy, suicide bombings and war called upon from a middle eastern jihad is only fortified moreso. this puts americans dangerously in the path of a war that could easily make vietnam look like a casual game of risk, possibly even charging other countries to take a stand against "our beliefs," resulting in wwiii?

the hasids vs. le chic

apparently in new york, or somewhere where things going on in the world are supposed to affect the rest of us, some orthodox religiosians are complaing about the scant clothing adorned by their neighboring cyclists. i'm not going to bore you here with facts because this situation has been loud enough in the internet-news community and if you don't know about it yet, i'm not the one who needs to feed you this info update.

what my piece is, is that women should be able to adorn themselves w/ what they please. all people should. regardless of one (or several) persons beliefs, america... and i'm pretty sure new york is included in that, is a free place. a place where celebration of individuality and expression is upheld boldly and proudly. i realize that that's a lot of "ly," but, thats the best part: ladies need alternatives to riding their bicycles in outfits other than such:


this sort of costuming can cause overheating & exhaustion, which could result in dehydration, unconsciousness and eventually death. this is not regarding the fact that flailing black vestements don't fair well with wheels and spinning gears, regardless of how many gears a ladies spinning.

ultimately, if an hasid or any other religion has a problem with women affixing themselves to bicycles and dressing in airy clothing that allows them to vogue as well as leave a small carbon footprint, then perhaps, instead of throwing on extra clothes to keep a strict doctrine for a few minor outlying citizens, perhaps these citizens can learn to accept that a large part of society doesn't give a single god-fearing fuck about their epic biblical beliefs. in comparison to the iliad or the odyssey, their books are filled with just as much mythology & mischief as anyone can handle, and there is no particular reason that the rest of society should adhere to such fictional fundamentalism.

in essence

recently i had a conversation with a coworker about the contradicting possibility of a man, a male, a phalus bearing carbon-based life form that is also a feminist. after a few minutes of deliberation and contradictory thoughts, the irony of the situation rings a solid and truthful bell: it is entirely possible; and this blog will attempt to be the essence of such. i'm a huge fan of george sand and carson mccullers, and as many feminists must agree, were hugely feminist themselves, so in turn i too must be pro-women's rights... right? i guess we'll find out.

this blog is an amalgam of the two things i love most: fixed gears... & girls, though perhaps not necessarily in that order... maybe. i realize that in itself this sounds chauvinistic and perhaps a little fixed-gear obsessed, but, i implore you, the reader(s) to help me expand my mind and expound your own fixed-gear-girl philosophy here on this blog. comment, berate, belittle and above all bring out your fixed gear girliness and let me and everyone else who reads here know why you love your fixed gear (or any bike really!!)... or simply being a girl.