Took off for a little ride in the park near my house last night, got to the swimming lake right about sunset. Here’s a glamour shot of the Mojo Carbon taking a bit of a break.

A judge in that greenest of green bicycle-friendly city Portland Oregon ruled yesterday that riding a fixed gear without a caliper brake is illegal. The judge layed down the law despite a reasoned argument by the defense attorney, and some rather lame questions by the officer who wrote the original ticket. The law says that you need to be able to make the bike skid on dry pavement, but the tried and true “kick back” fixed gear trick wasn’t good enough. What’s curious to me is that a front caliper is enough according to the officer and judge. We all know that front wheel skids are a very safe and effective way to stop

The transcript is interesting to read, and there’s a full story here:

http://bikeportland.org/2006/07/28/judge-finds-fault-with-fixies/

There must not be a lot of actual crime in Portland if this is the kind of thing on which the cops and courts are wasting their time.

–chuckles ibis