*["Thinking cyclists" obviously excludes mountain bikers and most roadies.]
On one hand we've got nifty bikes, and on the other we've got assholes in pickup trucks, so clearly there's a lot to contemplate--which I invite you to do as I binge on in-flight entertainment and tiny bottles of liquor.
Love,
--Wildcat Rock Machine
XOXO
Love,
--Wildcat Rock Machine
XOXO
26 comments:
One more lap?
Neat column, and I hit the daily double: an asshole with both a nifty bicycle AND a pickup truck. If a Susan B Anthony herself showed up on my doorstep she could not convince Ms Phred to avail herself of the empowerment of cycling, nor pry her fingers from the wheel of the silver Honda minivan.
Podium? Could it be?
hoping to join in as the last leg of the trinity but i suspect some butt-biter is already there was for mediation or moderation or masturbation or whatever it is that snobbie does these daze to curate our posts.
Podium blabla, liking the outside mag bits
Dis you ask the pilot “what air pressure are you running”?
now that I've read the inside-out column, a couple of comments
This is an amazing time to be alive
As far as i'm concerned, any time is an amazing (aka good) time to be alive. assuming i'm actually alive of course.
At the end of the 19th century, however, we had it pretty damn good. . . .
We also owned the roads. Cars were thin on the ground, still playthings for the rich and at least a couple of decades away from mass production
maybe in mouse decades but our almighty father of mass production the f'n henry was producing the Ford Quadricycle at the end of the 19th century. ok, so not mass production as only 3 were built but how about 2,000 model As in 1903. that's more than nissan made for my mass produced '93 zx convertible. As for the rich, these and subsequent Bs, Cs, etc. could be had for the typical prices we pay today in the range of 30,000 to 50,000 in today dollars US.
as for the golden age, tough to say. but certainly the war of extermination against cyclists argues against this being the golden age. but then, i'm still glad to be alive today and glad i still crank the pedals even when i'm regretting that my knees hurt.
You know, I live in a relatively civilized town, and the plain truth is that we have very few gravel roads, and those we do have are spread out and non-adjacent.
For the life of me, I cannot figure out what I would do with a gravel bike.
I also cannot figure out the true distinction between a dedicated gravel bike and a decent cross bike.
The cross bike certainly seems to be more than adequate to perform all the tasks a gravel bike is designed to take on.
I guess that it is my luddite way of thinking that has left mankind mired in the middle ages without significant advancement, eh?
And now that I’ve read the column - my answer is this age is golden (not just the president’s pee party golden)
How many people were able to enjoy bicycles back in 190-whatever? Today just about anybody can access a bike and ride anywhere they dare. More cars? Yes but also more roads and trails. Maybe more assholes but that comes with population growth/crowding..
Walking down the street I passed a station for our version of citibikes and a spattering of the park-anywhere rental bikes. And now there are rental e-scooter things piping up.
The glass is at least half full ...
Yes, in olde-timey days, there were less cars to kill you.
But also in olde-timey days, the road surfaces sucked and were just as likely to kill you.
You choose.
hopefully enough pressure to evacuate the contents of the loo.
Your column is trending on my newsy feed.it's a goody.
you have no right to be the funniest person alive
the rest of us are exceedingly jealous
There may be a lot more cars out there, but as someone who started cycling when 60's and 70's smog monsters ruled the roads, I can tell you that tailpipe emissions are way down overall, coal rolling aside.
Most MTB and road enthusiasts are actually cabbages disguised as humans.
I don’t think I’m a cabbage but I’m a mountain bike enthusiast, so would I even know?
A cross bike or a tourer are the most versatile bikes and fully cover whatever the “gravel” crowd thinks they need. However, a good rigid mtb with alt bars can cover a pretty good cross section of needs too. It’s nice to see a growing market for useful non-Fred bikes. Golden age? Yes, considering the variety of bike parts and tires now available. Traffic and trail crowding wise, no, it’s been better.
Excellent column Snob!
As a Farthing Fred myself, I have given these subjects a lot of thought. Just a quick note that one of the main benefits of the safety bicycle is functional brakes. While some P-fars did have "spoon brakes", they were relatively ineffective, and fairly dangerous. Think of sitting on your handlebars, and grabbing the front brake... One other thing about P-fars is that you really can't ride out of the saddle effectively, which is tough when riding fixed. Geared P-fars did exist briefly, but they never caught on for very good reasons!
I think "gravel bike" is an unfortunate marketing term. I got a specialized diverge a few months back. While it's considered a gravel bike I'd classify it as a "do everything well enough" bike. It's fast on the road, handles the rough and tumble of city riding, and it's decent on trails. This so called gravel bike is the most fun bike I've ever owned. I can take it on a long road rides and mix in some trail cut through sections. I can also jump it off curbs and not stress potholes when city riding. I don't feel like I'm sacrificing much of anything when I ride it. It's fast and strong.
It was the best of times
It was the worst of times
Thanks for your thoughtful column, BSNYC. You speak for many of us.
You-know-who's (comment #2 above) description of me is eerily accurate. The golden age of cycling will arrive when it is possible to purchase a bike that is laterally stiff yet vertically compliant.
Did anyone comment on your scofflaw piece? Tell us about that.
Is it the golden age of cycling? Modern orthopedic medicine and accompanying modern anesthesia were able to repair a fractured femur well enough that I am able to ride a bikecycle during an era when modern antibiotics still work means, cars aside, I'll vote for now or at least somewhere in the last 50-ish years.
Then again, it might have been nice to ride from Denver to Colorado Springs on a path built exclusively for bicycle use by the Denver Cycle Path Association.
My news feed says the WSJ ran a story about the clash between bicyclists and ass-holes in cars (or something like that) - but I can't find it. Probably just more click bait...
I also wrote a good persuasive essay just follow this link! Cheers!
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