Grant writes: "I think by virtue of sheer number inferiority, that riding "unracerly" whether or not you like the label, needs a label to be a thing, and without the label or being a thing, it will get etch-a-sketch out of sight and mind continually by the dominance of the other stuff."
I agree about the label. Do we have also have a label that defines as what we are, rather than what we are not? >From time to time when I am riding, someone asks me if I'm training for something. No, I say, this is the thing. I just ride because I like to ride my bike. A friend of mine is a new-ish rider. He has some sort of superlight bike, like almost all the riders around here, and then he was also riding some other bike to work, and it was stolen. So he emailed me and another friend about what he should get for a new commute bike. I suggested a few things, something with lights, fenders and a basket, for example. He ended up buying a used Seven ID8, which, he proudly said in his email, weighs 17 pounds. Nice bike, I emailed back. But I privately wondered, how does that 17-pound bike work for commuting? If you feel like buying a gallon of milk and some potatoes on the way home, do you have somewhere to put them? If it is pouring on your way home, did you have somewhere to stash your rain jacket and do you have fenders so you don't get a stripe up your back and a bike covered with grit? If you feel like taking the long way home along the dirt trail on the levee, will your tires stand up to it? I needed some term to use with my friend, to say, you have your light racey bike, but this one should be-- unracery. Or whatever. But he, like most of the riders I know, thinks that lightness is the most important factor in choosing any bike. If someone buys a new bike, the first question is ALWAYS "How much does it weigh?" -- -- Anne Paulson My hovercraft is full of eels -- 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?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
