Bike Hugger 

Shadow

Grumbling, I rode out to the road where intervals are stomped out. Time to get in shape for another Cross season, after the last one. The clouds rolled in aggressively right before the ride and spat rain as another mile ticked off. Two efforts in, the sun broke through and lit up the rest of the ride home. Light a photographer waits all day for, glistened on the bike, and I saw this shadow.

Originally uploaded to Instagram.

Obliteride signs are showing up in Seattle

That a charity ride is so focused on the experience and not a personality, wrist-band meme, or anything but donating the money to fight cancer is what impressed me about Obliteride. I’m riding with the event as media and a guest on routes in the Seattle area. And being an event is what it’s about. Obliteride will feature gourmet food, beer, live music, and is focused as much on the experience as the charity.

Obliteride is different because it’s sourced locally. It’s organized by cyclists in the Pacific Northwest and benefits the Hutch, a cancer research center based here in Seattle. Similar to the Stinky Spoke, another outstanding community event I rode this Winter.

Props too for the name some bros would come up with for an epic ride, against the odds, to talk about for years. Like the work the Hutch does. They want to obliterate cancer and this ride is the first fundraiser of its kind.

Learn more about the Obliteride and ride with me August 9-11, 2013. I’m signed up for 2 days and you can chose from 4 different routes.

A’ight finally some bike music videos from Seattle! It’s Hot Girls and Hot bikes.

They discussing chaffing?

The discussion continues about WSJ’s take on the new road uniform, what we’re wearing, and how we view ourselves. I was in threads on Facebook, G+, and Twitter about the topic most of the day. Those conversions included our channels and the other cyclists quoted in the article. Interesting too, cause Kevin is a traditional reporter who doesn’t inflect his own beliefs into the story. He reported a trend and threaded together interviews with “experts.” Scanning the comments I saw a pervasive “don’t give an F or care what other people wear.” That collective response and whatever attitude may contribute to another topic being discussed: The Lost Art of the Road Ride.

The magic ends by mile 10. The group will surge, gap, and separate, only to regroup at every stop sign. I’ll hear fifteen repeated screams of “HOLE!” for every minor road imperfection. And then no mention of the actual hole. Some guy in front will set a PR for his 30 second pull. Wheels overlap, brakes are tapped, and some guy in the back will go across the yellow line and speed past the peloton for no apparent reason. A breakaway?!

Absolutely correct that everyone is an expert and they’ve self-quantified themselves on Strava to prove it. The same thing is happening in racing where, at times, it feels like the racers spend more time watching pirated Eurovision streams than racing themselves. Like hey those aren’t tactics, but ignorance to the well-established dynamics of a race.

On G+, John Friedrich, summed it up

My cycling experience is primarily mtn, followed by city/urban, with group recreational road riding something fairly new for me. When I started road riding in earnest a few years ago, bike handling and awareness of my surroundings are things that I saw a great deal of value in that I found most groups lacked. I haven’t been steeped in road culture (I still don’t shave my legs) but I do respect that pack customs and traditions exist for a reason- to keep the group efficient, fast, and safe. I find it frustrating that so many cyclists new to road riding feel like they have something to prove- enough to place themselves and the rest of the group in danger.

This is a sport steeped in tradition, over a century old, and you want to ride big miles like a Pro in baggy shorts with hairy legs? Sure, you independent, can-do, American individualist! But note that there’s some old guys in the sport that can drop some knowledge on you they learned from even older guys who actually raced in Europe, back in the day. On those roads you’ve only seen on TV.

Before the internet, before custom bikes, and before Lance, it was done better. Learning to ride was an apprenticeship. The goal was to become a member of the peloton, not merely a guy who is sort of fast on a bike. Membership was the point, not to be the local Cat. 5 champ. You were invited to go on group ride if you showed a interest and a willingness to learn. You were uninvited if you did not. You learned the skills from directly from the leader, who took an interest in riding next to you on your first rides (and not next to his friends, like better riders do today).

A generation proved themselves on rides and moved up through the ranks. This one has Stuart Smalley smartphones apps that tell them how good their ride was. Maybe they should unlock the tradition badge instead

Thanks WSJ and Kevin Helliker for the follow up to my Giro Road review. I’m quoted along with the Fredcast and others about the trend away from wearing team kit. We don’t think that trend extends to baggy shorts on the road, but Kevin figured out what’s going on too. David wrote about this trend last year

But what occurred to me last night, while looking at the crestfallen before me, is that Lance has tumbled from his pedestal at a time when his pedestal may no longer matter. Cycling is no longer in the hands of the professional athletes but in the hands of companies like Rapha who have just finished a power transfer that’s been quiet and smooth while the walls of professional cycling come tumbling down.

Is it a Lance backlash? Sure, but I think the trend is more about individuality. To not look like or ride what everyone else does is why Handbuilt bikes builders are thriving. Also in areas with a thriving bike scene, it lessens the amount of commuter challenges you get, when you’re not in kit.

Kevin writes

Snap-on shoes. Shaved legs. Bright-colored jersey over Lycra bibs. Any deviation from that look could subject a cyclist to howls. He even might be called a “Fred”—cycling lingo for loser. Getting it all right would still elicit snickers if he called the outfit a uniform. It’s a kit. Got it, Fred?

That the WSJ also noticed this trend, has got me pondering why our culture criticizes itself so much – we all ride, but amongst us is “the other.” Likely because there are so many different types of riding. A super fan dresses up like his/her heroes, or a racer is fit and lean so f’ing what? I’ve written about the Hipster is you too and observed Fredville here in Seattle.

We need to celebrate the sport and bike better across all the niches. As if to punctuate this point, this cyclist said to me, “Bike to Work, what’s the big deal? I’m Belgian.”

Belgian doesn’t get the big deal about the bike in the States

Indeed. It isn’t a big deal. Just the bike and cyclists.