Originally Posted by
badger1
Sadly, Stucky, the very fact that you knew/know who Grant Petersen is, and can even throw in an allusion to Just Ride makes you, like the rest of us posting here in Bike Forums on this subject, a faux-Fred (not to be confused with NüFred).
It is our tragedy as post-Modern 'unracers' that we can never actually be Fred. Being Fred is a state of being that is not conscious of itself; one can no more 'aspire to be Fred' or measure the state of one's Fredliness than one can 'plan spontaneity'. We are in a state of permanent alienation from our true identity -- living on the far side of a gap in our consciousness that forever condemns us to subject Fred to our gaze -- thus making Fred the object of our cycling desire.
We long to unite with, to be at one with, that-which-we-are-not. In this respect we are more alike Poseur than we would care to admit -- we are as it were the obverse of the Poseur counterfeit coin, condemned to a false existence. Indeed, one might argue that NüFred shares this essential quality with Fred: he/she is blithely unconscious of his/her ontological status.
Ah, but see: I read Grant's book (Even though I think he's a weeny) without regard to whether doing so would make me a fred, or diminish my status as a fred. I just do as I please. Now true, I would rather identify as a fred [Do we get to choose whether to use the roadie or the MTB bathroom?] but I don't do anything special to achieve my fredliness. As anybody who knows me would testify, it just comes naturally to me.
And being the maverick that I am, I think that even if there were other freds here where i live and ride, I would still be different enough to not be associated with them.
In fact, I'm not even sure what really constitues being a fred. But I do know, that if real freds were followers, I would be their leader! -Or perhaps this guy: (I even own the same bike!)