Originally Posted by
scoho
Huh, I have no idea what he's like in person, of course, but I didn't get a bitter/angry vibe from that article at all. It's filled with the kind of wry self-mockery and exclamation points that signal, to me, good humor.
Take, for example, the photo caption that exclaims:
Of course they're not, and of course he doesn't think they are, but the point is that he doesn't care--not about his own lack of aerodynamics or about roadies' excess of it. The bitter version of that caption would have said something self-righteous about roadies' obsessive pursuit of vanishingly marginal aero gains. Instead, he simply turns his gaze facetiously on himself.
Or this:
I mean, come on.
Finally:
If "plus size foot model" and "handlebars jacked up to the moon" and "lubed in extra virgin coconut oil" don't signal a lighthearted sense of laughing at oneself rather than a caustic rejection of everyone else, then I'm not nearly jaded enough--and don't want to be.
Exactly as I see it. In fact, my perception is that it's 180 degrees away from mean spirited. He refers to his own new style as "cliche". If that's not self deprecating humor, I don"t know what is.
It was time to take to the road with a befittingly cliche minimalist approach to both travel and life.
And I think it's worth noting that he
never even mentions any other rider(s) or groups or types of riders. He writes only about his own journey from racer to hippie. It's like he's saying, "I went from that kind of a geek to this totally different kind of geek."
Was it written to sell sandals? You bet it was. But I like his writing style and sense of humor. Anyone that can make fun of them self is OK in my book.