Fixed Gear
Find out what inspired the Swiss cyclist to climb 7,000m and ride over 300km on a fixed gear bike.
How did you originally get into fixed gear cycling?
It was mainly for aesthetic reasons. I used to ride my mountain bike a lot, but I never really identified as a cyclist – it was more of a functional tool to do stuff. I was more into skateboarding, but in my twenties I saw this kind of minimalistic, simple bike and it caught my attention. I knew some friends who had started riding fixed gear bikes and it influenced me to build my own. I started using it straight away for commuting, but I never intended to use it to ride long distances or for training, it just happened naturally.
When I rode my first 30k I was so tired that I wasn’t able to ride the 30k back again, which made me think I should ride more. Where I live in Bern is an hour’s ride to the first mountain pass, which they call ‘the entry’ – if you can ride this you can ride every pass. So I rode this pass and things progressed from there – I’m now heading towards 200 passes on this type of bike.
I like the pure essence of keeping something traditional – you can add a few twists, but the core should be very pure.
Are there any cyclists, past or present, who have inspired you?
No. I get inspired by different kinds of people. The minimalistic approach to reach maximum output is like an art form to me. The bike I rode [for the 1910 challenge] is basically the first real bike that they made back in the 18th century. Obviously it was made out of steel and was heavier, but if the first bike was to be developed again now it would probably look like mine. I like the pure essence of keeping something traditional – you can add a few twists, but the core should be very pure.
What was your personal aim for doing the 1910 Tour de France stage?
I like doing new things and pushing the boundaries. Not only in terms of performance, but also in terms of functionality – is there stuff that can be done that isn’t supposed to be done that way? I love to take this kind of element to the next level and for me #Seabase1910 was the next level. You can go further, longer and harder, but still keep that minimalistic approach.
The hard thing for me was pre announcing something and having the pressure of people’s expectations. Failure is something you don’t want to end up experiencing.
What keeps driving you forward?
The most important thing in life is to have a goal, it’s something each and every individual should come up with by themselves. Once you have that goal, like I did with 1910, your mind knows you’re going to do it and you start mentally preparing. Even when you sleep, subconsciously it’s always there, so you need to trust in your own faith that you’re going to do it.
There are two things – the mental and physical aspect. On their own they don’t work, so it needs to be a combination. I trained the way I thought would be the best, but I didn’t really bother about the mental side at the time. The hard thing for me was pre announcing something and having the pressure of people’s expectations. Failure is something you don’t want to end up experiencing.
That’s something I struggled with the week before the challenge. The training was easy because I knew what I had to do, but the stuff you don’t see, the stuff you make up yourself in your mind can have the biggest impact. That’s when you need to keep focus. As soon as I clipped in, everything went away and I was just focussing on the moment.
How did you physically prepare for the challenge?
I did a lot of my training with Fabian Cancellara. 95% of the time I’d train on my road bike, but once a week I would get the fixie bike out so that I didn’t lose the feeling of it – it’s like playing an electric guitar and then picking up an acoustic guitar – it’s different.
From January to May I rode 12,000km (7,500 miles). It’s a lot. The hours on the bike get the body used to riding long distances, then you need specific power work to teach your body to become stronger and have more power when you’re going uphill. It’s all about getting the muscle memory.
When it was really bad weather I would spend three to four hours on the turbo trainer and it was horrible. You don’t have the wind to cool down your body temperature so everything felt more intense. It’s all a bit claustrophobic, but you do get used to it.
Do you find the Tour de France inspiring in its current form?
Not in this form. I still watch it a lot, but I don’t think cycling is inspiring at all in terms of racing. I like the tactics, I like to watch how people perform and it’s good to see people who dedicate their whole lives to one passion, but it doesn’t inspire me to ride a bike.
I’m more inspired by a guy like Dean Potter – the first base jumper. He doesn’t care what other people think, even when his sponsors dropped him because what he was doing was too intense and too dangerous. These are the kind of people who naturally inspire me and somehow influence what I do.
Where do you see the culture of fixed gear cycling moving?
I don’t think there’s a fixie culture anymore. There’s a lot of people who ride these bikes, but I’d say 90% of people riding a fixed gear bike are doing so because of the low maintenance and simplicity – they don’t actually identify themselves with the bike. The guys who rode fixed gear bikes are now riding road bikes, so it’s like the gateway to road cycling.
The cycling community is growing day by day and it’s never been like this. People used to get expensive cars, now they get expensive bikes. There are pale, skinny artists I know who now put on their Lycra at the weekend and go for a ride, you wouldn’t have seen that five years ago. Most of these new age, or counterculture, cyclists wouldn’t identify themselves with the Tour de France. They bring their own aesthetic into cycling and ride for the feeling of cycling, not because of the traditions.
What do you think is driving this new age culture of cycling?
People seem to want to go out less – they go out and have a drink, but they’re always checking their watch so that they don’t miss their sport the next morning. There’s a lot of consciousness of health, and within this movement towards sports cycling seems like one of the most exciting options because you can easily get a bike and set yourself an individual goal.
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