The weather in the UK can be pretty dire over winter, with a repertoire including freezing rain, ice and snow. So to break up the monotony of cranking out miles on the roads, or avoiding them because they’re just too dangerous, I like to take to the trails. Not unusual in itself, but the thing is, I don’t own a mountain bike or a cross bike or even a gravel bike. So what do I ride? My steel-framed, odd- wheeled, 59-inch fixed-geared, single front-braked, no-nonsense ‘hack’ bike, that’s what.
Back in the late ’80s at my first cycling club, Newark Castle CC, it became apparent that if I was going to join in with the pre-Christmas club rides, then owning such a machine was a necessity. In the period between the end of the hill-climb season and the start of proper winter training, the idea was to just have fun, with no structure, no pressure and no goals – a big part of this involved riding a fixed gear, everywhere.
