It doesn't....

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TheBikeRacer.com

Edited for clarity.....


"seeing all these threads about what makes a roadie a roadie, and who do you wave to, etc. got me kinda thinking about why i ride bikes in the first place. i started off riding bikes when i was little and refused to EVER use training wheels. back then, it was the ticket to freedom so i could go to the neighborhood produce stand and get a banana or a soda or something. in middle school, it became the cool thing again to start riding. i'm surprised the school cafeteria survived b/c we were all saving our money to buy bikes, or upgrade the bikes we had.

i still get mad when i go home to visit to see the development that's occured over the woods where we used to spend summers building trails. as some of the kids got older, they got into cars and girls, but for me the bike was always there.

i ride to work most of the time to enjoy the sound of the air going by and to smell the fresh cut grass, instead of listening to the cookie cutter pop-rock and getting pissed at traffic. i'm at the place i'm at right now, b/c i wanted to go to school somewhere w/ tons of riding opportunities around. about a year ago i got a job at a bike shop, which has been the best experience i could have ever imagined.

yeah, some people suck, but they're generally those that are more interested in saving a dollar or two on a water bottle cage instead of hanging out, getting to know you and other riders around the area and making friends.

right now, i would say that the majority of my friends are older guys (i'm 21 in college) w/ families and careers that i've met thru cycling, races, and rides. however, ALL of my friends ride bikes. (i'm dont consider myself a snob, i just like hanging around people who love bikes.) my folks think it's absurd how much i spend on new bikes and parts (i still haven't told them about the new addition), and my dad thinks i'm kinda fruity for shaving my legs. my girlfriend gets pissed that i come home bleeding more often than not, or worries i'll bread something on my body while out riding. allright, i guess it's time to turn the sappy rant off, and go hit the trails.

happy riding, ya'll"


Thanks for the rant. I like bikes, but I also like paragraphs.

Thanks for your post, as a roadie who speaks to everyone,and rides offroad(mtb) road/tt and commutes on a bike,i think its funny how people look down there nose at different groups,but then will post: how do i change my tire? A local roadie group is full of asses, but i have found asses in every group,and bad riders in every group.

Amen

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Simple Simon
Where's the Fried Chicken??

I don't care what kind of bike you ride, what I care about is what kind of bike you spend your money on.

thanks for the editing. it makes me look much more intelligent.



as to what i'm personally riding: MTB: 2004 trek fuel 90 w/ disc brakes; 2005 trek 2300 (full ultegra 10sp); formerly a trek 1000 that is now a single speed w/ only front brake attached and bull bars; 1960ish schwinn 3 sp w/ internally geared sturmey archer hub, and the huge front lamp that still works.

Okay, if you can afford four different bikes, you aren't allowed to post a thread like this.

If ya gots to ride something it should be a beauty. The most expensive bike in the wrold won't cost $10,000 ish. The crappiest new car is $12,000. Why not have the best? It slays me to hear people bitch about how expensive a new bike is when they are driving around a $600 a month car note, that will be traded in in 5 years.
My buddy has a 1972 Jack Taylor that is perhaps the finest styling bike on the road period.

As long as you enjoy what your doing its cool, whether its mtn biking, road cycling, Tris, running, golfing, sailing etc... Everyone has their own source for fun.

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SUPPORT OPERATION REBOUND:
http://www.operationreboundcalifornia.kintera.org/ejs3

Kestrel Syndicate
Macca Fan Club

"I have started many stories about bicycle racing but have never written one that is as good as the races are both on the indoor and outdoor tracks and on the roads. But I will get the Velodrome D'Hiver with the smoky light of the afternoon and the high-banked wooden track and whe whirring sound the tires made on the wood as the riders passed, the effort and the tactics as the riders climbed and plunged, each one a part of his machine; I will get the magic of the demi-fond, the noise of the motors with their rollers set out behind them that the entraineurs rode, wearing their heavy crash helmets and leaning backward in their ponderous leather suits, to shelter the riders who followed them from the air resistance, the riders in their lighter crash helmets bent low over their handlebars their legs turning the huge gear sprockets and the small front wheels touching the roller behind the machine that gave them shelter to ride in, and the duels that were more exciting to anything , the put-putting of motorcycles and the riders elbow to elbow and wheel to wheel up and down and around at deadly speed until one man could not hold the pace and broke away and the solid wall of air that he had been sheltered against hit him..."

From A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway. This is part of about a 2.5 page passage in the book. The passage is about the beauty of bicycle racing and riding and the different kinds of races Hemingway loved to watch, the different techniques of the riders, "the cherry brandy" one of them sipped as he got ready to sprint... The bike itself is only one small part of the whole feast. It really captures it.

it doesn't matter what kind of bike a person rides. and it doesn't matter what kind of hobby a person has either.

i have a nice bike because i find it to be a long term investment and a comfort thing. the news guy who lives around the corner from me has been riding his 20 year old classic steel bike for well, 20 years. this guy makes a shit load more money than i do, but he's riding what he wants, just as i am. it's a personal thing. i love to see him out and dig his bike, just as he digs mine. everybody has their thing and what's neat as a cyclist, beyond riding, is being able to appreciate what's cool to others...their gear, bikes, and philosophies. we all make the world go around.

Ditto that. An ugly acting rider can make the most expensive colnago seem worthless.

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"In the blocks you're a prisoner, the gun releases you."