Too Goddamned Dope Not to Spread

Steven Hamilton from The Day Is Over (2004) from Elliot Van Orman Productions on Vimeo.

Jealousy

I watch bike videos. I read bike blogs. I follow pro cycling. I cycle. I ride road and mountain. I have a cruiser. I have two fixed gears. I like bikes and bike stuff.

One of the things I see a lot now are fixed gear focused blogs that post videos of various young folks performing tricks on their track bikes. Of course, the track bikes are mostly modified for trick-doing. BMX stems. Beefed up rims, etc.

And I think it's super cool. Totally inspiring to see a group of people doing different things with their machines, pushing the bounds of balance and timing in cool new ways.

I wonder to myself, "What would it take for you to learn to do trick X or trick Y?"

I answer, "It would take riding around all day on my bike practicing and falling down a lot."

And then I think, "Gosh, I sure do wish I could spend my days riding around, practicing tricks and falling down."

Seriously. I wish that.

Back Problems and Messengers

I have not been here for a few days. I have not ridden a bicycle since Friday morning. It was then that I stood up funny and my back went into spasm. This is what 37 years of playing like a five-year-old will get you.

So I've been off the bike. And that kills me, because it's a big week on the European road circuit that I take as such an inspiration in my daily riding. There was Stijn Devolder winning the Tour of Flanders again. Ghent-Wevelgem was today. A Columbia sprinter not named Mark Cavendish won that, and then it's Paris-Roubaix this Sunday. The very best of the classics.

Ah well, I'll be healthy again soon and back to pounding the asphalt.

I wanted to say something about messengers today, too. I don't know why messengers have become such revered bicycle riders. Most of those I see don't seem to know much beyond how to pedal (not that they have to be experts). They're mostly young. A lot of them seem to smoke. They're getting around and delivering packages, and that's cool.

There is nothing wrong with messengers. Don't get me wrong. I'm not hatin'.

I just don't see why people think being a messenger gives you some profound cycling experience that other people don't have. Also, messengers are NOT a homogenous group. Like the broader cycling community, the messenger population runs the gamut. There are roadies. There are punks. There are Freds. There are guys (and gals) who just can't get another job.

But, just as I don't universally respect racers or cyclocrossers or recumbent riders, I can't see that messengers deserve some exalted place either. As near as I can tell, they are almost indistinguishable from urban cyclists generally.

My overall feeling is that everyone who rides a bike is pretty cool, even those older ladies with their horrible hybrids and their neon yellow crossing guard vests. I mean, they're getting it done, aren't they? They're pedaling. And that's cool.

Friday Video FUN!!!!

Tour of Flanders coming on Sunday. Here's a quick taste from last year's race, a nice win for Stijn Devolder. What the hell kind of name is Stijn? Belgian, motherfuckers!

Check out the NASCAR-styley crash highlights too.

Wrecked

When I went to bed last night I was empty. Quads? Cooked. Calves? Tight. Hamstrings? Like piano wire.

But I didn't feel too bad when I woke up, so I rode. I was tired and sore, but it's the Tour of Flanders this weekend, so I rationalized that if those guys can go out and suffer on the cobbles, then I could slog through a day of low energy and muscle fatigue.

Well, I failed to factor into the equation that I'm 37 and their average age is about 27, that they live and breathe suffering, whereas I just dabble.

So at some point I wrecked my back. I'm sitting here at my desk, ice packed and ibuprofened. I can hardly walk.

I'll try to post some video of last year's Tour of Flanders for your Friday video treat.

There's a fight a brewin'.

As I poke around the innertubes here, seeking news and the glad tidings of fellow cyclists, I hear a rumbling, angry noise, the noise that precedes a rumble, an angry, rumbling, noisy, pre-rumble sort of angry noisiness.

Conflicts at Critical Mass events, between drivers and cyclists. Radio DJs advocating the automotive assault of road bound cyclists. Cyclists removing side mirrors with u-locks. Videos of drivers buzzing cyclists. Pending litigation. Low-level carping. Waving of arms. Shaking of fists.

Perhaps this is part of a natural progression, especially in our more crowded cities. Cars, those tyrannical beasts, are encountering more and more unpredictable, little, flitting cycley insects. A populace already pushed to the edge by their car-bound isolation and sense of asphalt entitlement are being shoved into the abyss by our (sometimes) well-meaning society of cyclists.

Perhaps we are reaching some sort of actual critical mass, a point at which cars have to really deal with bikes. There will be some necessary conflict. The rough edges of both populations will be planed smooth.

Maybe there's even a future in which we, the two-wheeled, will outnumber the four-wheeled.

I certainly hope so, but for my part, I can't advocate violence, no matter how much I feel drawn to it. I have engaged in conflict. I have shouted and waved fists. I have also, on better days, forgiven those who have cut me off. By and large, these road confrontations are born more from simple human frailty than actual malice.

I am always happier when I forgo the angry response. There may be a fight a brewin', but we don't have to show up for it. We just have to try to arrive alive and hope for a more cyclistic future, life in a velocipedic utopia.

Word.

Product Endorsements!!!!

I'm loathe to sell anything for anyone. Ever. BUT...this winter I encountered two products, which I found unswervingly helpful in my pursuit of year-round cycling happiness.

And now I share them with you.

The first is a pair of knicker tights by a company called Black Bottoms. I'd give you a direct link, but their site seems to be frames-based (LAME!!!!!), so I can't do that. However, the knickers themselves are the warmest and most comfortable I've ever worn. They cost $72 from the site. I got mine, new with tags, off eBay for $35, but I think they're worth $72. In cold weather, I'd wear them every day.

The other is this. So warm, so comfortable. Again, I get them cheaper on eBay, like $30 each, but they're worth more. This base layer with a t-shirt got me through days as cold as 30 with no problem.

I'm not a big gear guy. I don't like to get all skin-suited to ride around town, but the winter demands a little gearing up just to make riding possible, sans hypothermia.

There's a lot of crap out there. I own some of it. But these two products were big wins for me, so I thought I'd share.

Another recommendation I could make is to search eBay for old wool cycling jerseys. There are a ton out there for cheap, and wool is good.

You're welcome.