Hooray! Two new blogs I'll be reading:
Beth Bikes. I was fortunate to know this badass lady in college - before either of us were cyclists (I was a biker then, sure, but have since crossed a couple of important thresholds...). I'm not surprised that she's thrown herself into racing with such gusto - everything she does, she does 120%. I love reading race reports by people I know, so I look forward to more. Hey Beth! I'm glad your face healed! Damn!
Bike Snob NYC. When I first read a few of this person's post, I scowled, a whole lot. Come on! A whole blog dedicated to snark? Aren't there better ways to spend one's time? It's not that I disagree with him - yeah, just about everything that he mentions is stupid is really, really stupid. I just try not to let it get to me enough to blog about it... I prefer to try to be more positive than negative. But I've gone so far as to read the extensive comments to some of his posts, and the way that Bike Snob responds is considerably more tempered and even-keeled than I had expected. So that's good.
Oh. A third. A guy in the NYC fixed gear/alleycat scene or community or whatever here, is training for the Hour Record, and writing about it at Hour Record. "Training for the hour" sounds a little bit presumptuous, like taking on Goliath, but who among us here on the streets can say they're willing to punish themselves for a solid hour at Kissena just to see how they do? Plus, further marks in the "race reports by people I know" category.
I was thinking about focusing this blog a little bit more, since people enjoy my write ups of races, but here's the thing: alleycats are really, really awesome, but I don't want to get overly caught up in them. I mean, okay, I'm caught up in them, but I don't want to only write about alleycats. This touches on a bunch of stuff involving valuing processes and things that don't necessarily produce tangible results - "elevating the lived experience to the status of art" - and so needing to remind myself that I have a lot of fun with and on my bike, without racing. So I'm not going to focus it. Because, after all, what has riding a bike shown me? That I can get anywhere and do anything - and more than that, that I want to go places, do things, explore, try things, go to quiet spots in the city, cross through worlds, open new doors.
You can do anything on a bike. Anything. I swear. My challenge to you: bike every day for a year, and see if your life is better than before.
Beth Bikes. I was fortunate to know this badass lady in college - before either of us were cyclists (I was a biker then, sure, but have since crossed a couple of important thresholds...). I'm not surprised that she's thrown herself into racing with such gusto - everything she does, she does 120%. I love reading race reports by people I know, so I look forward to more. Hey Beth! I'm glad your face healed! Damn!
Bike Snob NYC. When I first read a few of this person's post, I scowled, a whole lot. Come on! A whole blog dedicated to snark? Aren't there better ways to spend one's time? It's not that I disagree with him - yeah, just about everything that he mentions is stupid is really, really stupid. I just try not to let it get to me enough to blog about it... I prefer to try to be more positive than negative. But I've gone so far as to read the extensive comments to some of his posts, and the way that Bike Snob responds is considerably more tempered and even-keeled than I had expected. So that's good.
Oh. A third. A guy in the NYC fixed gear/alleycat scene or community or whatever here, is training for the Hour Record, and writing about it at Hour Record. "Training for the hour" sounds a little bit presumptuous, like taking on Goliath, but who among us here on the streets can say they're willing to punish themselves for a solid hour at Kissena just to see how they do? Plus, further marks in the "race reports by people I know" category.
I was thinking about focusing this blog a little bit more, since people enjoy my write ups of races, but here's the thing: alleycats are really, really awesome, but I don't want to get overly caught up in them. I mean, okay, I'm caught up in them, but I don't want to only write about alleycats. This touches on a bunch of stuff involving valuing processes and things that don't necessarily produce tangible results - "elevating the lived experience to the status of art" - and so needing to remind myself that I have a lot of fun with and on my bike, without racing. So I'm not going to focus it. Because, after all, what has riding a bike shown me? That I can get anywhere and do anything - and more than that, that I want to go places, do things, explore, try things, go to quiet spots in the city, cross through worlds, open new doors.
You can do anything on a bike. Anything. I swear. My challenge to you: bike every day for a year, and see if your life is better than before.
posted by mattio at
10:59 PM
1 Comments:
yo- thanks for the shout out!
the bike is truly transformative. i have met so many people who have talked about the bike changing their life...when i started biking with the oakland yellowjackets (www.oaklandyellowjackets.org)-- sweetest bike club-- I met a bunch of older folks who would tell me all about how biking saved them from alcoholism, smoking, abusive relationships, etc. I'd see people who were in their mid-70s bike 80 miles on a bike trip!
I find the more types of biking I do, the more I learn about myself. At first I just commuted- awesome that the bike is so functional and an easy, fun way to get to work and do errands and see friends. Of course there is the social part of bike riding with friends. Then I started going on long 50+ mile rides and it just amazed me that I could get *there* on my bike! And suddenly I'd be home not knowing were 5-6 hours went. "What do you think about?" people ask me. I dunno- without sounding cheesy, riding is a real zen-like experience...being in tune with your machine, the road, and mind chatter just silences. After the long rides, I learned about skill building-- how to take corners, go down technical downhills, etc. This I am still learning...but the path of mastering the skills is just really satisfying. Riding downhill a curvy is like a dance, and when you can take it with grace and panache, it teaches you something about your ability to connect to the surroundings.
Then I started racing, and that taught me a whole new thing. I think this was exemplified by the fact that my first few races ended in pretty serious crashes....When you step to the line, you are putting trust in all those people around you- many of whom you don't know. You are going really fast, and at any time you can cross wheels, someone can wipe out in front of you, and oftentimes you can do nothing to avoid that crash. There is an obvious exihlleration of the competitiveness of racing-- going as fast as you can, being smart and drafting and knowing when to pull, being tactical and knowing when to attack or sprint -- you really need to understand pack dynamics and play to your strengths. But then there is also just the being in the race - racing is very amoeba-like...and just being there and trusting those around you, is cool itself. It is always nice to place well, but just doing it and being part of it is something special on its own accord. A ton of people love to ride and are hella fast, but don't make the jump to race because it is dangerous and requires you to be really conscious of yourself your interaction in the environment of other riders. Racing, in my opinion, is just as much about individual achievement as it is of group trust and consciousness. That is why bike racing is so much cooler than running racing (which I can say cause I ran competitively for so long)-it is just so much about group dynamics.
Alright, this is getting long and cheesy, but I thought I'd share my thoughts! We are just so lucky to have the bike.
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