Big Tent
Last month, Kent Peterson wrote a lovely piece (he does that regularly) about how lots of bicycle riders think lots of other bicycle riders are morons, maniacs, poseurs, and wannabes—basically, jerks who aren’t “real” cyclists like they themselves are.
I myself have fallen prey to this sort of thinking; many is the time I’ve seen someone with mountain bikes on top of their SUV and said to myself, “What a phony! Real cyclists ride from the door; anyone who carries their bike is using it merely as a toy and not saving the world like me. They suck and I rock!”
But as I was riding home tonight I reflected on that attitude. In part, my ruminations were inspired by riding the old Miyata Triplecross, my late 80’s “hybrid,” with funky Scott AT-4 handlebars, a bike I’m sure many people would judge to be unworthy of a serious cyclist.
And yet, there I was, doing my daily commute, earning whatever props that earns me on a bike that has probably seen more miles than any other I own, as real a cyclist as I ever am on any bike that I have.
So I thought that I ought to seriously interrogate my biases and prejudices about other riders. I ought to consider cycling a much bigger tent that welcomes all kinds of riders.
So what if someone is merely a “weekend warrior” and only rides in groups around the lake on Sunday mornings. Who cares whether someone else is what my .83 buddies and I refer to a “squid”—those guys in the dye-sublimated Spandex advertising cycling products or teams? Why should it bother me if another person favors a full suspension high-tech rig that never sees pavement except from the top of a car?
At least all those people are on bikes and as far as I’m concerned, that’s all that it really takes to be a real cyclist.
Well that, and a Brooks saddle.
I myself have fallen prey to this sort of thinking; many is the time I’ve seen someone with mountain bikes on top of their SUV and said to myself, “What a phony! Real cyclists ride from the door; anyone who carries their bike is using it merely as a toy and not saving the world like me. They suck and I rock!”
But as I was riding home tonight I reflected on that attitude. In part, my ruminations were inspired by riding the old Miyata Triplecross, my late 80’s “hybrid,” with funky Scott AT-4 handlebars, a bike I’m sure many people would judge to be unworthy of a serious cyclist.
And yet, there I was, doing my daily commute, earning whatever props that earns me on a bike that has probably seen more miles than any other I own, as real a cyclist as I ever am on any bike that I have.
So I thought that I ought to seriously interrogate my biases and prejudices about other riders. I ought to consider cycling a much bigger tent that welcomes all kinds of riders.
So what if someone is merely a “weekend warrior” and only rides in groups around the lake on Sunday mornings. Who cares whether someone else is what my .83 buddies and I refer to a “squid”—those guys in the dye-sublimated Spandex advertising cycling products or teams? Why should it bother me if another person favors a full suspension high-tech rig that never sees pavement except from the top of a car?
At least all those people are on bikes and as far as I’m concerned, that’s all that it really takes to be a real cyclist.
Well that, and a Brooks saddle.
posted by Professor Dave at 9:33 PM
1 Comments:
I look at it this way -- all miles on two wheels are better for the planet and the person than the same miles in four wheels with engines.
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