Originally Posted by
Viking55803
As the originator of this thread I've followed it with interest and amusement. Some folks understood exactly what I was saying, others didn't so much read it as read INTO it! I was not referring to an identity, persona or label; my post was not about being a cyclist or a biker or a bike rider.
It was about the experience of cycling and how some of the words used by people who don't ride bikes seem inadequate to describe the quality of that experience…
In my experience it takes time to reach a fitness level where longer distance cycling, whatever that might mean, is truly comfortable. For me it is on longer rides and higher sustained effort that the joy of cycling lives.
It's not about the clothes or the bike, true, but a well-fitted and finely-tuned bicycle is a marvelous machine and many cyclists come to feel love and affection for these inanimate objects. I even coined a term: velosexual, for those that carry more affection for their bike than their partners!…
Thanks for reading and posting!
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
Just last week I was discussing cycling, while riding with a “roadie” Bike Forums subscriber I had recently met, and I was somehow prompted to comment that I posted more to BF as an experience than about the technical or mechanical aspects of cycling. So in considering your post, my first thought was I think I see the distinction you are drawing, but then thought it seems to hint a bit of elitism…I am a real cyclist; the others are just riding their bikes, though I presume that was not the intent…
But to get back to the immediate experience you described, as I understand it, I describe to myself as "becoming one with the bike."...
When I first joined Bike Forums in 2008, I posted in my Introduction:
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
…I stumbled upon this Forum from another totally unrelated Blog and I was quite impressed at the volume of activity and range of interests….
But I don’t think many discussed
“velosexuality” in those days. Last year though, one subscriber “came out” and asked
”Do you cherish your bike?”. Among the replies:
Originally Posted by
ill.clyde
My bikes are tools ... but they are tools I cherish.
Maybe it's unnatural, but the bikes I own are extremely meaningful to me and play an important role in my life.
I don't baby them by any stretch, and part of cherishing a bike is riding it often, in my mind.
So yes ... in my mind, I do cherish my bikes.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
Agree. My pristine carbon fiber bike is especially cherished because I don't take it out in the rain. My beater mountain bike is also cherished even though I take it out anywhere, any time. As a year round cycling commuter, the bikes have an added significance and importance for my lifestyle.
Most importantly, my bikes are very personalized for fit and quality, perfectly for my encompassing cycling lifestyle. Shopping for a new one is a challenging and unwanted hassle, as when my cherished and classic Bridgestone RB-1 was totalled.
So as Merriam Webster expects by their definition of cherish, I will “hold dear, feel/show affection for, keep/cultivate with care and affection, and entertain/harbor in the mind deeply and resolutely (as in my daydreams and planning about riding)” my bikes, as long as we both shall live.
In several of the replies, the subscribers even “vexted” (velo-texted) pictures. So far as I'm concerned, just call me "Romeo of the Road" ("Casanova of Carbonfiber"?).
