Living in an urban area with a high "hipster" (could this be the current day hippy?) count myself, I can tell you I feel quite the opposite of the author. There are so many people buying vintage or fixed gear bicycles and just cruising on the weekend with them. The "serious" road cyclists who want to go hard are a minority over here.

Personally, I feel like the hipster bikers are posers, because most of them would never commute on their bike, or ride it to the store or something. It's just to show off how cool they are on the weekend to their friends. Mind you I live in a very hilly area, so riding a fixed gear bicycle for a utilitarian purpose over here is ridiculous.

If anything, the "sporty" cyclists are the real "explorers" I guess, because at least they ride the distance and get out of the city, thus "exploring" something.

Besides that, the author seems to have nostalgia for something that didn't ever really exist. I don't think times have changed that much probably. There have always been cyclists in it for the sport, or for leisure.