Bicycling is
Fun!
Photo of my bike, in my favorite cow pasture near
Olema, CA
The Ideal Bicycle (in my
opinion)
Why I think French touring
bikes are great.
Almost everyone who falls in
love with bicycling, does so during childhood. It is probably as close as a kid
can get to flying, and with nothing more than the power of their two legs. For
me, cycling became a more serious interest during the high school years. Once I
decided to race, I had to “train” a lot. This meant going for long, often
solitary rides in the wooded parts of the Bay Area. These extended medtations
salvaged much of my sanity during those adolescent years. After a few year
hiatus during college, I decided once again to get on the bike, out of the
sheer love of bicycles and of riding them. I then realized that as a racer, I
never enjoyed the racing as much as the riding itself.
The technology of racing
bikes has always influenced recreational bikes (and vice versa), but never more
so than now. People commonly think that, in order to have a fun ride, they need
the latest technology and the lightest bike. Racing bikes are great—for
racing. If you want a comfortable, practical bike that will last you many
years, a racing bike is probably not for you. Racing bikes are designed with
short term goals in mind. They are rarely used by professionals for more than
one season. Nor are they made for comfort. This in part explains the popularity
of mountain bikes in the mid 1980’s. While not as well-suited to the road,
their big tires and upright position are much more comfortable than many of the
road bikes which emulated “high-performance” racing bikes (small hard tires,
low handlebars, difficult gears, etc.).
If lower-priced bikes should
emulate anything, it ought to be the traditional French and English touring
bikes that people in those countries have enjoyed riding in the countryside
since the late 1800’s. Here’s Sandy Holdsworth, famed bicycle builder, out on a
ride, probably in the 1940’s
