I was cruising through bike sites and ran across this Grant Petersen article. Neat.

http://www.bikereader.com/contributo...deforever.html

Some food for thought, really. "Grow old with the best bike you can afford" - I like that!

--J

I like it. Could really apply to all possessions.

Paul

Pretty boring, casual attitude towards riding - reverse everything he says, and you have my philosophy. I want to be like one of our local club riders, John Sinibaldi, when I grow up. He is 91 years old, and rides long 5 days a week. He is a two-time olympian, and ten time national cycling champ. We were going down the road the other day at a fairly casual 22 mph, and there was my hero riding right along with us!

It's a nice article and for me personally I like the philosophy. But, I think skydive69 has a good point. The most important thing is to find your own niche in bicycling ... do it the way you enjoy most and then you'll do it forever. I also swim and it's clear that Grant Peterson is responding to some disastrous attitude/pressure without stating so. I love to swim and I swim workouts ... I know people who love to do so for years and years ... not training for a competition, but staying fit for life. I think we all need to push ourselves sometimes and to relax sometimes. The hard part is staying in touch with the balance in our lives.

Do you also want a 3 page spread in Bicycling magazine? :p

Keep in mind he's the guy behind Rivendell. Of course he's got that attitude.

I read the Bicycling magazine article about Mr. Sinibaldi. Tough as nails, I like the story about him saving the women from the dog!

"Hills are nothing to me!!!"

John Sinibaldi

Most other cyclists would look at me some kind of joke-- I've never paid more than 300 bucks for bike and haven't rode a 100 miles in one day in over 15 years. I don't even own cycling shoes anymore.

I understand there are other choices that cyclists can make, but a person's chances of becoming like Sinibali are almost zero. Real life will get in the way. I used to train for 20 hours plus a week when I was kid and I was never worth squat as a racer. I've helped a few folks get into cycling though the years and I watched them become club riders and compete in big races like the STP (Seattle to Portland) and for the most part.... watched them burn out and quit riding. Keep it fun and save money commuting-- I think it's the best way to keep riding. Racing is cool as well, but I don't think it's a long term option for most of us.

The reason I commute by bike is I have a wife, job, house and no time or money to be a weekend racer or club rider. It would be fun. I may do it in the future. But it's just not in the cards right now.

Anybody who feels like flaming me is free to do so! As long as you state just how long you've been cycling. Anything less than 25 years.... Well I'll be laughing.

Well, flame me, too.

I got back into cycling due to commuting. I started on my nice old hardtail MTB, that was harsh, got an old cross bike, that was harsh, too, but better. Then went looking for a new ride.

I wanted fender mounts, and at least rear rack mounts. Lots of room for tires, since my commute is 20 miles and a busted spoke could be a disaster otherwise. STI was great, but it adds little, really, and it goes out of adjustment and that bites.

So I stumbled onto Rivendell. And you know what? A whole hell of a lot of what they sell makes sense for somone like me, someone not in a paceline, not racing, someone just riding. More sense then about 99.9% of everything else you see at your LBS.

So, that article speaks to me. Good stuff.

I don't ride with Sinabaldi, won't ever do so. I'll ride with myself or with friends, cover lots of miles, look like phreds, be happy about it.

Point A to Point B. That's what commuting is about.

Cyclying really should be like that. Get out and ride. Do it on a Wal*Mart Magna or a Litespeed, just ride. But it isn't that way, and anyone trying to move up from casual rider to road rider can tell you it is so. Go to your local road club beginner rider with an MTB and slicks. See what happens.

Not sure what the article is really about but I find that my bike is now more useful than my legs or my wallet.....I actually ride more than I walk, and I never ever take the bus anymore. So I can enjoy biking, save money, and get exercise everyday for the end of my life. That´s a good thing right? ;)

I personally defer to anyone riding that long - I am not even qualified to clean your cleats (if you still had them :D )

To some of the others who mentioned John - I guess I missed that article. I have only been subscribing to the magazine for a few months.

It sounds like you've already achieved what the person in the article was talking about.

That is absolutely true. It's about just having fun. I ride bikes because it's fun, not for fitness or to reduce pollution, although those are great benefits. Biking is a guilt-free pleasure that doesn't require tons of money, or time, or even effort. I ride hard because that's fun for me. That may change as I get older and life gets in the way. Find your own style, do what you like...that's really the point of the article. It's not meant to be taken literally.

I go faster on my litespeed than the magna though.
Hmm.. maybe a Magna Litespeed...

Even though the statements in the article include "go slow", I find that during most of my commutes I push the pace, just because I want to.

The "chasing technology" statement really speaks to me, and is one reason I hunted around for a reasonably nice steel bike with traditional geometry. I don't know if I will ever ride across the country, but with a few modifications I could comfortably do it on my steed.

I just ride to get places, no car. Some friends invited me over to their house for thanksgiving and they said-- don't worry we can come pick u up. They live 3 miles from me, they seem to feel sorry for me and my lack of a car. I was like, no thanks, i'm going to enjoy riding over there.

Then one of their 18 year old kids was like, you don't have a car? How do you get anywhere? I said, no i have 4 bicycles, and i love it.

The turkey was great but they just didn't seem to get me and my bicycles. I was prudent enough to avoid mentioning that both my friend and his wife are obese and im fit. Life choices man.

When I started commuting by bike, my younger coworkers thought it was (seriously) crazy that I rode 4.5 mi one way- 2/3 of it is level. You would think I was commuting from Mars. They are in their 20's, most are already gaining weight, and live closer than I do. The ones closer to my age understand and are actually envious, but (honestly) live too far away to commute. Of course that doesn't keep them from tootling around their home turf (or doing SOMETHING to stay active) and some of them have bikes from younger days in need of minor repairs just sitting around the house.

One lady asked if I missed my car's air conditioning. Ok, I had to give her that one.

About half a billion people ride to work by bike maybe? I love it but I wouldn't say it takes a whole lot of dedication or inteligence or athletic prowess. A little gumption maybe? and a bike? I do it, so it can't be that hard!

Sometimes the toughest thing is just getting all the negative stuff out of your mind and getting on with it. With that I'm off to ride to candy factory (Brown and Hailey's) to buy Christmas presents for my family.

It kills me to see how many young men ride buses!! I can understand woman not wanting to ride for utility purposes but young men do not have an excuse. The city buses do not travel more than 10 miles and the average bus rider only rides for about 6 miles. It's really ignorance that keeps most men from bike commuting or shopping. All those countless hours wasted at bus stops is sickening.

Hey, prudence... might be the wrong choice here. If they are your friends, maybe a bit of truth wouldn't go astray in telling them they are obese and they are likely to suffer long-term consequences because of it?

After commuting 60km total a day for almost 2 full months. Yeah how can you say 4 miles is a lot. That's not even enough time to clip in.

I ride because I like to ride. I race because I like the thrill of racing. I do not go out and workout on the bike 5 hours a day and do massive amounts of intervals, etc. I enjoy the freedom of riding. I also enjoy new technology, or course I never give up my bikes so on that case I will probably have my current bikes 10 years or so... assuming I convert my current bike to TT...

Other things in life can be rushed, say computers. A new processor is going to make you faster, a new bike may or may not.

Go out and enjoy the ride...

Some days I ride fast, some days I don't.
Some days I'll ride in the rain, some days I won't.
Some days I commute, some days I take the Ute.
Some days I tour, on those days I endure.
To some this may seem silly or not very smart,
That's OK, it's my own philosophy. Signed....jharte.

I love cycling. :D