Broke.

2 July 2009

(First image found under “berlin track bike” search on Google Images, and one Lily and I worked on for the Macaframa Premier here in Berlin)

Berlin Polizei have been in a love affair with confiscating track bikes and fixed gears throughout the city recently. I first heard through emails from friends while I was traveling in the States, that fines were being issued and bikes withheld for indeterminate amounts of time. After getting back, and post ECMC, I found out that they had taken about 18 bikes from various people throughout the city. Luckily, from what I know, a lawyer stepped in and found that the confiscation of the bike was illegal, so some were returned to their owners. Now, I hear it is a mandatory fine, and they are specifically going after track bikes and fixed gears for the next two weeks.

Germany has a lot of rules (especially for bikes), so this shouldn’t come as a complete surprise, but the attention the police are giving this matter now seems pretty silly. As a whole the track bike scene is still pretty small here, and Berlin is relatively safe with proper bike paths and lack of any terrain (meaning hills). Plenty of people who can’t control themselves like every city with fixed gears, but it is rarely a situation that is dangerous. When you see 10 officers standing around chatting and waiting for a track bike, you have to wonder is this is an appropriate measure for them.

// Jonathan