I believe I have read/skimmed all the comments by now and as a European who has emigrated to the U.S. what strikes me as odd is the feeling I get that riding a bike is something special. Something you need a club for, extra things to buy, something a bit exotic. I believe the core of what Grant says is that it is not something special. It as normal as driving or walking down the street or taking the bus, and in fact those things can often be combined. My impression is that he promotes using the bike as your get around daily tool as much as you can, and that may mean to wear whatever suits the combination of your tasks, not only your bike riding. This is how I experienced life in Europe. But, if you go out for a ride that has no other tasks to it than just riding then I believe you should feel free to dress for the physical exercise involved. In my own case that means bike shorts made of lycra and other more or less bike specific attire as needed for the weather. I just don't see the conflict here. I have several bikes, but I notice that the one I grab all the time is my Hunqapillar, even though I own an excellent German city bike for going to the grocery store. So the Hunq does it all, but I may not wear the same clothes all the time. When younger I would often wear running shoes while walking around town in jeans, but I would never go for a long run wearing those jeans even though I still wore the same shoes. Why not adopt the same practical and non-ideological attitude?
On Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at 3:08:44 PM UTC-6, Jon in the foothills of Central Colorado wrote: > > In the new Adventure Cyclist Mag > > PETERSEN RESPONDS TO READER > > LETTER ‘UNRACING? UNCOOL’ > > Racing attitudes, bikes, clothing, > > and diets have become the norm and > > normal, and are so pervasive that many > > adult cyclists, maybe even some you > > know, accept the racing standards as > > the only legitimate way to be a serious > > adult cyclist. What I tried to do in the > > book *Just Ride *— and what we do here > > at Rivendell Bicycle Works — is offer > > an alternative, a model to other adult > > cyclists that there is another way. This > > letter is not an ad for either. I’m simply > > saying where I come from and what I > > do. > > We are the mice trying to squeak > > above the roar at the base of the > > waterfall. It is no time to be wishywashy, > > but I try hard to not offend. > > Inevitably, a declarative position on > > any matter is bound to raise a few > > hackles with those who have a different > > position, but it still hurts to be judged > > by a stranger who would probably like > > me, and whom I’d surely like, in person. > > A good number of our customers are > > middle-aged and older folks trying to > > fit in some activity as they age. They > > often have the means, and they’re > > influenced by what they read and see > > that promotes racers as a good model — > > and that’s something I don’t agree with. > > They shop as innocents and come > > out of it dressed like racers and riding > > bikes that are not only inappropriate > > for the kind of riding they do, but are, > > on top of that and more egregiously, not > > comfortable. We undo that. You may > > see ego or evil behind it, but I don’t > > feel either of those. I see racing and > > racers as fringe and am simply trying > > to legitimize an alternative point of > > view, one that I feel strongly about. I’m > > trying — certainly not singlehandedly — > > to make people feel good about riding > > without dressing in pro-team gear and > > copying so many other affectations of > > the racer, and that is what Unracing and > > *Just Ride *and Rivendell Bicycle Works is > > all about. We’re nobody’s enemy. Some > > of my best friends pedal cliplessly and > > in spandex. It’s cool. > > Grant Petersen > > Walnut Creek, California > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
