(Who am I kidding? They're all mellow.)
I should mention that I once again encountered skateboarding dog walker guy, and I'm pleased to report that this time he did not fall down. He was, however, deeply engaged in taking video of his dogs with his phone while riding the skateboard. I did briefly consider asking him for his thoughts on the recent sled dog doping scandal, but decided against it.
Anyway, I of course rode a rigid bicycle today, and as usual it was a highly enjoyable experience, despite the Internet's insistence that this is not possible:
Indeed, my Outside post on suspension continues to get people's baggy shorts in a bunch, for a number of people have informed me that the bros over at Pinkbike are currently having themselves a real bro-down over it. Alas, I can't be bothered to link to it, and while I did skim it for a few moments my eyes glazed over as soon as I read the inevitable "cars and motorcycles all have suspension so bikes should too" comment. I should also point out I've never read Pinkbike for the same reason I've never worn a Monster energy drink jersey, and all I really know about their community is this, which frankly is more than I ever want to know.
Anyway, it's odd that the baggy-shorts-and-shinguard set is so touchy about someone saying you don't need suspension all the time, since it clearly works for them and the kind of riding they do, and as far as I'm concerned that's never been in question. Perhaps the reason they're all butt-hurt is that their posteriors are overly sensitive from years of coddling from suspension bicycles.
Anyway, may the Pinkbros ride on, and may their Red Bulls be eternally chilled, their pick-ups brilliantly polished, and their Go Pros always fully charged.
Finally, speaking of Outside, they've just posted my latest column, and I'm pleased to announce it has absolutely nothing to do with suspension:
I look forward to many Facebook posts about how drivers pay for the roads and how without cars we'd never be able to get our full suspension bikes to the trailhead.
Ride safe this weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday.
--Wildcat Rock Machine
44 comments:
Great Outside column. I sold my car yesterday with the intention of going full time on my bike, and I have this column to thank partially for inspiration.
Podio?
Aw nuts...wasted time by reading both the column PB
wasted time in the sense of missing the sprint...fine column....
Does Anyone Mount Vernon?
Bike MS in NYC this weekend. I know charity rides are not cool, but I like this one. It raises a lot of money for a great cause and some nice car free sections. Closing down the west side highway and FDR sends New York drivers into a homicidal rage, which is a bonus!
It's not the cars you hate, it's the auto-centric culture and ithe sense of self-entitlement once behind the wheel that drivers all get that you hate!
Lt. Obvi,
It's not like I hate them as machines. As a bike person, I'm instantly attracted to any wheeled vehicle. (Recumbents and unicycles excluded, nothing personal.) No, what I hate about cars is that, excluding actual weaponry, no invention in modern history has been as successful in eliciting the very worst from people and making death, maiming, and general mayhem a part of everyday life.
—Wildcat Etc
...WRM, I found myself in such a fit once recently (I think I even mentioned it here) that I could have committed an act of violence against the driver. Similar to your mentioned instance, I had my daughter on the back of my bike and we were cut off quite abruptly by a woman who parked next to a hydrant (she didn't even have a kid with her to drop off). I came next to her and calmly said, you know you almost hit us? she made a gesture with her hand to signify that I should just go f*off. And that's when I exploded on her.
...I know you say always that these interactions never make you feel good about yourself, and I certainly went into a funk for the better part of an hour... but, the point for me is a much bigger picture... a lesson I want to teach my daughter (not necessarily about violence or using 'bad' language--neither of which I did, except for using the lob lord's name in vain) about not allowing people to step on her or put her in danger without her stamping her feet and making her voice heard.
...Not sure if I got that message across to my daughter that day as both of us were silent for the rest of the ride home.
That is so absolutely spot on. You spend enough time riding in a city and one of two things happens: you hate cars, or you say fucks it and lease a Hyundai. I think the main reason there is so much dissonance in the endless car vs bike debates is that most motorists have never tried to use a bike for regular transportation. Whereas a cyclist that has never used a car for transportation is exceedingly rare. So these debates are like having a conversation with your dog about why you shouldn't eat cat shit. A driver will never see it the cyclists way until they ride themselves to school or work.
Regarding your latest Outside article: nicely done. I wish I could say I "enjoyed it" while reading the article, but the subject matter is too deadly serious, and too close to home to be enjoyable. Nice touch with linking to the iihs.org stats.
The cold, hard, fatality facts represented in those stats are the first thing our auto-centric culture chooses to ignore. Followed closely by the facts that driving a big SUV doesn't make you "sporty" in any way, and that cars have a permanent negative impact on the driver's physical and financial well-being.
...BTW, that is one sweet piece of commentary. Chapeau!
It is such a good feeling to do an errand on a bike and whiz by the lines of large, SUV things stuck in traffic.
Where I live it is generally faster to ride my bike than take my car. I can't help but notice the rage on the faces of the entitled ones behind their fuel guzzling monsters(yes, electric cars need fuel from power stations).
My car is useful for certain jobs, sure, but getting around town easily ain't one of them.
If you ever decide to take requests, please ride over and write about the Poughkeepsie Bridge (now-know-as the Walkway Over the Hudson.) As a fellow connoisseur of vintage infrastructural, I would enjoy your opinion of this bridge (how it compares to the High Bridge, etc.) I know this is an all-day multi-modal trip for you, but you and your family could enjoy the fall colors in the Hudson Valley. Maybe go apple picking. Also, Poughkeepsie is not as bad as you think it is (how could it be?)
Coincidentally, I drove to work today because I was tired because I could not turn off the Chiefs-Raiders game last night, and its Friday so traffic will be lighter, and I rode a century Saturday (wearing a Bikesnob Seal-of-Disapproval jersey), and and AND
I feel so dirty - it's a beautiful autumn day and I drove...
Oh, what death and mayhem?
During my four years of secondary school (way back before seat belt laws) only about 213,000 of us in the USA lost our lives to auto accidents.
Over our four years of fighting in WWII, about 420,000 of us were killed
(both stats pulled from Wikipedia)
So there. Cars are 50% safer than the deadliest war in human history!
Addendum to your OUTSIDE contribution: Sometimes the drivers throw stuff at cyclists too.
And you’re right about programming the brain. As a youngster I was terribly surprised, and even miffed, when I learned pedestrians have the right of way.
I love big cars. It's the people I hate. Same with bikes. I drive my car like I ride my bike. I just assume that everyone is an idiot. (bikes included) You can never assume the he or she knows what they are doing. The exception are Triathletes. With them, you can always expect the weird.
I'm normally a nice guy, but sometimes I wanna be a jerk, and that's what my car is for.
Great article in outsider mag. Logical, persuasive and well thought out. Can't wait to see what complaints people have about it
Anon 4:43: A statistic that has long intrigued me:
Total US fatalities, Vietnam War: 58,220
Total US auto fatalities, 1973: 54,589
Dear Anon @4:23 - Not eating cat shit is one of the areas on which my dog and I agree.
Ride safe all!
(If you are near Fort Greene and the Navy Yard in Brooklyn in the next few weeks, stop by Red Lantern Bicycles at 345 Myrtle Ave. (between Carlton and Adelphi) for coffee or bikes and parts. It's a nice shop that, sadly, will be closing at the end of November. It seems the rent is just getting too high.)
WCRM,really good piece you've written inside outside.
Leroy,enjoy the marshalling.or is that marshmallow?does your dog get to wear a safety cone hat while helping you?
What kinda projectile can be used against a projectile like a motor vehicle?
I agree completely, but in same day tit for tat about cyclist entitlement here in the US's frozen snow cone, here's fatuous comment from Vancouver (imagine that!) from someone who works for the Canadian Broadcorping Castration (OMG!): https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/vancouver-cyclists-are-reaching-peak-entitlement/article36680763/
Really appreciated the clarity of the essay too, Snob. Thinking about Anonymous 4:23's comment, though, i don't believe the issue is a lack of understanding from motorists. They know cars are dangerous and they're pissed that because we're not driving one too they have to be careful. If only we would wrap ourselves up in metal everyone would be equal and everyone could get back to texting in peace, but oh no, this selfish cyclist has to pedal all vulnerable next to me... The example from the essay is perfect because of the driver's disdain: we're perverts to drivers like that. Questioning the supremacy of cars is like a crime against nature for them.
But somehow riding stays fun even in the face of that... wild!
Standing on the corner of busy six-lane intersection waiting for light to change to permit crossing, eyeing what lanes I need to watch out for... I arrive at truth on foot, on the bus, inside my apartment at midnight as the waves of auto noise roll past. A loud tailpipe shakes me from the inklings of a dream.
Seems that you have as many fans as detractors over at Pink Wank, Mr Snob. Man, that Vernon (who the fuck is he exactly???) is a squeaky little follow-the-corporate-status-quo weenie.
Dear Erastus Corning:
I am not a bike blogger of any sort but I dearly love the Walkway Over the Hudson, which I have used many times to ride between Poughkeepsie and New Paltz in order to visit a nephew at SUNY there. I await the extension of the trail west from where it ends now at Tony Williams park. My only suggestion for improvement would be convert the trail from asphalt to crushed gravel (like a Har-tru tennis court).
Love the essay. I commute every day by train to a big military installation. Most other people commute there by single-driver, no-passenger car. The pain they put themselves through to find parking is unreal. They complain non-stop about a problem of their own making. It's just sad to see the tragedy of the commons played out in front me in real time.
TIL:
There's a thing called pinkbike
and it's a thing.
OMG
the bro,
wow.
I wish I didn't L this.
not today
not ever
Did Black Mountain in Pisgah on a razor scooter with 98mm wheels and no seat....
people with rigid bikes are pansies.
Haters will say its photoshopped.
~from the interwebs
Did Black Mountain in Pisgah on a razor scooter with 98mm wheels and no seat....
people with rigid bikes are pansies.
Haters will say its photoshopped.
~from teh webz
Outside bit two thumbs-up.
I had been stewing yesterday morning after receiving an email from the kid's school that they had organized a "trunk-or-treat" event since it's "safer than crossing the road." The lack of logic there falls squarely to the brainwashed argument and all the more sad to fall on the nation's biggest single pedestrian fest and sugar hoedown.
While I want to address the school directly, like not yelling at the motorist, I'll bite my tongue and just organize a kid's ride on the next teacher-in-service half day. But, I will circulate the Outside piece among some (along with that video of Groningen).
As for pinkbike: what kind of industry shills are they? Wouldn't they want me to buy both a rigid and squish bike? And I would too if I lived where the doped dogs roam-- along with a Yuba Spicey Curry Bosch just to try- if only money and storage space wasn't so limited in a tight expensive city. Sadly with my limited resources, it's just one beater urban utility bike and one rigid trail bike for me (and then the rest of the family's bikes and the one car the bank doesn't own because when you buy one used car every 10 years that mostly just sits there you can actually pay for it in cash.)
She may have a point about Pinkbike. https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomments/?threadid=144719&pagenum=1456
Driving the other day (can't do everything via bike) I came upon a cyclist cycling down the road in front of me. Had to slow down for as many as 10 seconds to get around her. So now I can comprehend why drivers get so annoyed. TEN WHOLE SECONDS - SO OUTRAGEOUS.
Wifey and I were at the walkway over the hudson on grand opening day.been there many times thereafter.yep,they need to extend the trail into New paltz.eh, what's money?
Bike more. Car less
Oh and don't be a jerk... Sad how that needs to be said (drivers, PB, etc...)
wishiwasmerckx… (6:56 PM, 10/20)
Those statistics are startling. Something else to consider, which I just now looked up: 9,107 of the killed died in accidents. We can be sure some of those were vehicular.
--Anon 4:43
No Quiz = We don't need no education.
I rode the beautiful Tour de Bronx along Jerome Avenue for a couple of blocks...in a golf cart, because I can; anyway, I was admiring the diversity of riders and their bikes when I noticed one participant having a mechanical issue. A dropped chain. I fixed it, greasing my hands in the process. My fingernails are dirty. At least my armpits are clean!
Dear WCRM, I've had totally the same journey... I used to be indifferent to cars. I always thought having kids would make me like cars (or at least resign to them) but not so. Now I actively hate the fucking things. Having kids makes you realize just how much the auto industry has stolen from us. Our freedom, our independence, our community, and our kids right to get around safely. I feel like I'm actively abusing my kids by not moving away from the motorized shithole my city has become.
Anon on October 20, 2017 at 4:43 PM said:
"During my four years of secondary school (way back before seat belt laws)...."
Seat belt laws, like mandatory bike helmet laws, brought to you by Australia!
OK I rode a Sp*cialized Fuse and a Salsa Woodsmoke in a Fatty Demo and I'll be damned if I don't have the 3.0 bug now. Both bikes had forks but our terrain here is considerably rough and I am considerably old.
The Pinkbike Brigade loves walking their DH/AM rigs up any moderate incline anyway. They should consider hiking as a more productive activity ... but you can't make sik "edits" ... wait. Maybe they can slide down washouts or power hike through rock gardens in slow-mo. Hmm maybe onto something here.
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