Fixed Feelings

On August 4 2024, the Unofficial RAD RACE Fixed Gear World Championship 2024 was held in Berlin, Germany.
Eamon Lucas (USA) and Michelle de Graaf (NL) won the title of Fastest Boy and Girl Alive and tell us what's so fun about this fixed gear cycling.                                       

                                                              

Eamon Lucas (15/10/1992, USA)

‘’You show up and do your qualification. No UCI, just show up and proof it.’’

The open elite category is, like the title says, open to anybody who dares. Qualifying for the finals is done through heats, with about four of those heats to complete to get to the final. In every heat, the top 20 proceeds. At the end of the day you are looking at a final with about 100 guys. Besides qualifying it is also important to get the right grid position, just like in the motorsport. In between heats there are time trials for this purpose.

Eamon: ’’It was my first fixed gear race back in five years. Last one was Milan in 2018 for Team Rocket Espresso.’’ Eamon raced a regular program of road criteriums and races in the USA and Belgium and decides to give it a go. He had a good season, won a couple of races (five or six criteriums and some road races, a couple of times more on the podium), felt very competitive and fit.

What made you come back?

‘’The culture and the mood around it, I guess. It’s fun and flashy, competitive but stylish. I sent an email to the team manager of Look Crit and asked if he was open to the idea.’’ Before Eamon knew it, he was on the team to join them in Berlin.

Tell us a bit about the race..

‘’The parcours was 39 kilometers long, starting from the south of Berlin on to the autobahn into the city. The 15 km parcours went through the middle of Berlin, finishing in the center. Into town, there was a good crowd, even tough it was raining. People were really interested to see what was going on. The start is pretty simple, by 3-2-1-go. The first few kilometers go really, really fast - and then, when there is a gap, it’s the race. It is pretty difficult to come back. For sure in the past, a bit of team effort could make a difference in getting back. But 8 times out of 10 you get away, you stay away. It’s all about the max power for a few kilometers.’’

Eamon broke away with a German guy, Marcus Blume. They rode together for a while and with five kilometers to go, Eamon rode away. Another guy broke from the peloton, an Argentinian guy named Facundo Lezica, who caught Marcus and got really close to Eamon. With the last kilometer straight ahead, he had to keep the pace. ‘’I could not go any faster, you know. There is only that one gear. I just hoped I could manage my speed. With 50 meters before the line, I was sure of the victory.’’

The art of cycling without brakes

You can’t brake, but there are two ways to go slower. You can try to skid, which means you put the weight forward on the handlebars and push back. It feels like the bike will kick and you have to practice this a lot, to get the right feeling of it. Or you can do the Fred Flintstone, which is to put your foot on top of the wheel, so you’re foot jams against the frame and forms a break. It is the very last option, you don’t want to do this. In races, there is resisting, but no full breaking. It’s the skidding, but not all the way. You get the warning before.

You have to be okay to feel a bit out of control in fixed gear races. You have to be okay just to ride and get along with the tempo. There is only so little you can actually do in a split second if things go south. But the good thing is: everybody in those races knows how to handle a bike, knows the rules of passing and every rider is concerned with each other.

After Berlin, Eamon rode in Zürich and will finish his fixed gear season in October in Los Angeles. ‘’Fixed gear cycling still has a lot of potential. The community is willing to get it to thrive again as it did with Red Hook Crit in the earlier days. In the next few years, I can definitely see a series of races coming back.’’

What are your plans next year?

‘’I am gonna try to pull of three teams at once. With the right approach and concern for every team’s stakes, it would be possible. So it would include another year of Shifting Gears, Belgium for the European races, Mike’s Bikes for the American races and hopefully for fixed crit life Team Look. Looking forward to that timetable…’’

Michelle de Graaf ( 01/12/1997, NL)

 ‘’When Eamon stopped racing fixed crits five years ago, I actually started racing them. I rode about three Red Hook Criteriums and continued fixed gear racing almost every weekend. Due to many circumstances, there were less fixed races since then. This year though has been an all time low when it comes to fixed racing: the Rad Race in Berlin was my first race this year.’’

How did the race go?

‘’I won Rad Race two years ago and I decided to use the same tactics. I would count on the sprint and therefore used a heavier gear. But the amount of attacks surprised me a bit. One attack after the first few kilometers succeeded and she stayed away. The little group I was in made sure she stayed within eyesight, so we could still force something in the end. There were some efforts to get her back, but none of them succeeded. I did a lot of the work by making sure we stayed together, which gave me the impression I was probably the strongest in the group. The girl in the front was my biggest opponent on paper, but she would probably be tired by now. The moment we got close to her as a group, I decided to take the chance and go for it. There were still seven kilometers to go, a big straight line to the finish, and it was all out on that big gear. Luckily I managed to keep the pace!’’

‘’I would love to see more riders getting into fixed racing. But knowing that the sport is already suffering with less and less races and teams are finding it difficult to continue, it will be hard to stay positive. They provide you with this special expensive bike, that you can’t really use for any other purpose than fixed racing. For me personally, it is having a team that makes or breaks the fixed gear season. It is something to think about, which sucks, because the sport is so fun.’’

What makes it so much fun?

‘’The amount of adrenaline you get in such a short time and riding so fast, is so good. It’s not just the speed and the limited time of the race, but the crowd and the ambiance is such a big part of it. The people behind the barriers are so enthousiast, but the community is just next level. You keep bumping into people with the same passion and mindset and you have a good time after the race as well. Everybody hangs out together and has fun, wether you are on a secluded track in no man’s land or in the middle of Barcelona under a freeway overpass. I also ride a lot on gravel, beach and a lot of normal road crits as well. I would love to have that same vibe in those races.’’

Is it just a money problem then?

‘’I have thought about this. Sponsors come and go, so attracting them doesn’t seem to be the issue. But how do you make them stick around long enough to make the sport grow again? And of course, there is the amount of participants. For the men’s elite group, there are probably enough riders, but as women, we struggle to find enough competitors.’’

 In de women’s category, Michelle finds herself at the start line with maybe 30 other riders. So there are no heats, participating means riding the finale. There are, just like in the men’s category, qualifications for your starting position, but that's it. She enjoys a really fast start, which practically leaves her with a small group of riders in only a few kilometers.

When talking about the danger of the sport, she doesn’t think it should be a big problem in the women’s races. ''Sure, you have no breaks, but you are riding in such a small group. In normal criteriums, there is such a bigger chance to fall with the amount of riders riding in big groups.‘’

Somehow, the idea of fixed gear racing being a dangerous sport seems to persist?

‘’I have fallen only once in a fixed gear crit, and many times on the road. I feel the same as Eamon does: I know these girls can handle their bikes very well and I trust them completely. I have tried getting friends from the peloton to try the sport, but even they were reluctant. It is the idea of not having the possibility to break.’’

After Berlin and Zürich, it was done for her the rest of the fixed season. The race in Los Angeles Eamon is doing, a real Go Cart track, is way too curvy and technical to her liking. ‘’I like the parcours to be more straight, made for big gears. But I totally trust Eamon to do a really good job over there.’’

Finish pics @bjoern.reschabek
Podium pics @piarazzi