On Tuesday, December 25, 2012 5:48:58 PM UTC-8, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > Anyway, after coming down the long descent of the Marincello trail, which > is basically a narrow, fairly smooth gravel road, not single track, I took > shelter from the downpour under a big tree. A couple minutes later a man > and a woman on full-suspension MTBs came down the same trail. They carried > on for several minutes in the parking lot, punctuated by hoots and hollers > and repetitive use of a new word for me "crazeballs", about how "intense" > their descent had been. Grant has written about how extreme equipment tends > to make mundane experiences seem more extreme - like the high adventure of > driving a Land Rover to pick up the groceries. I thought the Marincello > descent was fun and beautiful, but never for a second did I feel that I was > having an extreme experience or pushing the limits of my old-fashioned, > unsuspended steel bike.
I think this interpretation of Grant's thinking is misplaced. Your Land Rover example should be compared to airport policemen riding FS bikes at the airport. That seems extreme. Here, riding in the *pouring rain* on a "narrow fair smooth gravel road," may be exactly what the FS is made for! It sounds like these "crazeballs" were having a great time. What's wrong with that? How fast were they going ? Perhaps gettng up to speed on a FS bike going down this gravel road in the pouring rain is what made the ride fun and the cause for all the hoot and hollering? You sound like a very experience cyclist, but where these two "newbie" riders? If so, then their bikes did exactly what they wanted. Despite what many, including myself believe, alot of newbies or the "general public" find cycling on *gravel roads in the rain* intimidating and may not even try it, save their FS bikes. Instead of looking down on those with FS bikes, if it gets these folks out and riding, especially in pouring rain, then I say go for it! Good Luck! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/7FVYUEnrL_sJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
