Helmet religion and fear tactics

Some unspoken marriages are seemingly inexorable.  The baseball and the bat.  The typewriter and the ink ribbon.  The bike and the helmet?  All my cycling life I have been told that the two must and will co-exist.  I took it as being part and parcel with the activity and never gave it much attention.  Going to mount up the bike today?  Going to wear my helmet: and thats that.  Its rather tough to think or argue the contrary when there is no outward force giving momentum to such contemplation.  But here I am today as a cyclist, mechanic, student/teacher and blogger of many-things-cycling who does not wear a helmet.  Touchy a subject it will always be; constantly having to defend the stance of cycling without the seemingly common sense "aid" of a helmet, but I am here to touch on why it is that I find myself comfortable engaging in such a taboo act.

Fear sells

I was always told that you can more often than not find answers in life by following the paper trail of which money leads.  Asking questions regarding who has the most to gain will almost always yield truth in the face of such uncertainty.  When it comes to the best selling kit in the cycling apparatus world, helmets stand unchallenged as an easy #1.  A no-brainer it is that the "riding without a helmet as suicide" rhetoric is purported most by the interests that be.  The helmet manufacturing corporations have one very specific job, and that is to produce, stylize, distribute, lobby and most importantly sell us the idea that the helmet is to cycling what peanut butter is to jelly.  

I am not as interested in talking about all of the contradicting, highly refutable, and usually inaccurate metrics by which the helmet is measured "successful" in testing as I am in contemplating the often desperate, fear based approach by which helmet companies and the cycling industry as a whole have used to scared us into buying their usually ultra expensive, highly stylized and frighteningly light-weight/thin helmets.  We seldom do research ourselves these days as the same can not be more true for the at-face-value approach we so often see with regards to the helmet.  We swear by its efficacy, seldom question the surrounding facts and history all while spitting spiteful venom at those who quietly oppose the use of them.  I have seen no other aspect of cycling that has drawn as much desperate extremism as the religious like sacrament that is bicycle helmet usage.

not a fear tactic...

Would you..

Walk in a helmet? Wear a helmet in the work place?  Play outdoors on the playground with your kids wearing helmets?  Call me crazy, but I strongly feel that the likelihood of injury is just as high during these activities as during a bicycle ride.  The type of bicycle riding we are talking about of course makes all the difference as I am speaking of people who are out in public, riding their bikes safely while achieving non-racer speed or high level risk taking.  I am talking about people who are using bikes to get around, cruz and recreate as opposed to those doing tricks, attempting to break strava records down mountain trails or dodging in and out of traffic in an unsafe fashion.

Reflecting back I recall far more incidents of potential injury occurring during walking, working and driving than I ever did riding my bike.  Slipping and falling have happened more than once in both the street and the work place within the not to distant past for me.  Though I am completely aware that hitting my head could have happened during either instance it never crossed my mind to take it upon myself to wear a helmet during these otherwise safe activities.  Walking, working and general outdoor/indoor play and of course driving have without question an inherent risk of injury.  The real question is whether or not it is personally acceptable to subscribe to the notion that bicycle riding yields a higher danger that requires supposedly "life saving" safety net equipment.  Would we would still be as inclined to pedal in the first place if mandatory helmet laws were put in place?  By looking at the huge decline in active cyclists within nearly every county/city/country where the previous has been implemented we can see that the answer is almost always a "no".

definitely not using fear tactics in this public announcement from AZ

But isn't it safer?

From everything that I have discovered during my research of places where bicycle helmet laws have been enacted and implemented, the results yielded seem to be overwhelmingly contrary to the goal.  One of the most known, meticulously documented and openly criticized instances was when Australia passed a still in use compulsory helmet law in 1991.  The law was straightforward; cycle with a helmet or pay fines.  Over the years the evidence that helmets may actually achieve opposite effects started trickling in: helmet use was discovered to perpetuate diffuse axial brain injury (occurring from the head turning quickly due to the increased diameter of helmets), the duration of time spent in hospitals for cycling related injury increased, helmeted cyclists were more likely to be hit by overconfident and negligent drivers in cars, risk compensation in cyclists increased greatly thus increasing injury, and Australia's cycling related serious injury rate rose 22% greater than in the Netherlands (the bicycling mecca with one of the highest densities of bicycle commuter per capita that observes and enforces no helmet laws).  This data and census can be found all over with a quick internet search; abundant data and studies from actual neurologists, surgeons and various third party investigators.  Of course none of these studies are publicly advertised as it would directly undermine the excruciatingly hard work that helmet companies and their contracted lobbying agents have worked so hard for: getting a helmet (and preferably those expensive aero ones) on the head of every cyclist and other supposedly "high risk" activities as well.

A sea of young and old cyclists miraculously managing to keep their brains inside their shells

I feel that my cessation of using a bicycle helmet is in a large way a quiet form of activism.  Instead of going around with a t-shirt that says in bold print "helmets can actually increase your chance of brain and spinal injury", I choose to ride carefully wherever I can without the use of one.  I personally prefer to take the risk of a good cut or abrasion to the head (which will very much heal) as opposed to risking permanent spinal and nerve injury that bicycle helmets can cause.

  Sometimes people ask about my rational behind not using one and I simply state the fact that I no longer blindly swallow the pill that is the common bicycle helmet/safety/fear rhetoric.  I state some basic but bold findings and suggest doing some research while making attempts at being as cordial about it as possible.  I fully realize that many will write me off entirely based on the deep seeded nature of our "helmet or risk death" conditioning, but i refuse to stop being honest with not only others but mostly with myself regarding these illusions of safety and their pervasive byproducts.  Please, think a bit for yourself: do some homework, weigh out the options and come to a logical conclusion of your own without the propagandizing of said corporations and conjoining lobbyists.

In defense of the beautiful bicycle

Not everyone can be picky when it comes to the bike they are afforded.  Some have a somewhat generic yet lovely hand-me-down gifted to them that served a family member or friend well for years .  Others had limited resources and jumped at the least expensive option because it was fast, inexpensive and easily acquirable with minimal research.  Not all of us have the luxury to take the time to purchase and build up a well riding, beautiful looking bicycle that suits our functional needs as much as it satisfies our aesthetic eye.  For some it doesn't even matter much altogether.

Then there are those of us who see the bike as more than just an object of pure utility, but as a gracefully functional piece of art that blurs this line entirely.  For some the bicycle is embraced as an object that will acquire not only tremendous use, but also visual admiration that warrants a treatment in beautiful design and assembly that parallels its function.  For those who see the bicycle as a marvelous object, the craft of bicycle building, assembly and repair becomes much more than just an act of labor, but an expression that elates the workmanship of bicycles to its highest form; an art.

Many people would consider nearly every aspect of this bicycle a constituent of art

Does it really matter?

Many a person has failed to understand my long time affinity with the bicycle let alone my attraction to the object in an artistic context.  Unnecessary and frivolous are words I have heard uttered in conversations that are suggestive of aesthetics' importance in bicycle design.  "Why is it that so many fail to see the mundane as beautiful" I have often wondered in my observance of the lack of love and attention given to so many otherwise potentially beautiful objects.  From kitchen knives to desks, I have seen both polar extremes of pure function vs pure form dominate the design and execution of various objects, both previously said and not.  For many its either one or the other while few manage to seamlessly teeter the fine line that so often dissects the two.  It is when function rests neither above nor under aesthetic that a seemingly perfect blend between the two begins to distinguishing an object as art vs the contrary.  What this whole "art" thing remains to be interpreted as is of course entirely in the eye of the beholder.  For some it is the gentle taper of a 4:1 airfoil that composes the down tube of a highly aerodynamic, fully carbon race machine.  For others it is a thin walled tube of steel that gently announces its encounter with its partnering tubes in the form of softly curving, color contrasting lugs.  Maybe a huge part of all of this is what the user plans to do with these machines of beauty.  Is it an upright, mellow paced cruz through town that the rider is looking for or perhaps an all out time trial effort that boasts the singular goal of speed?  Will swept back bars and a large leather saddle be the visual cue of a cyclist who wishes for optimal speed?  I wonder if conversely, a cyclist seeking leisure, comfort and practicality would find a pair of deep section, low spoke count carbon wheels attractive on their bike that is suggestive of everything BUT high speed?  Do intended applications give rise to particular aesthetic taste? Do our lifestyles and ambitions dictate our concept of what makes a bicycle beautiful to begin with?

Conversely, others would consider this to be highly artistic in execution

Treat your self

Regardless of your cup of tea, or coffee for that matter; I am here to say that I feel we should all be sensitive to one an others' selective taste.  What stands out as art to me might be a repulsive bit of kit to your sensibilities.  I can't expect my desired flavor to resonate deeply with all whom it concerns, but I can make an argument for the search of flavor altogether.

For those of us who might eventually spend decades with a bicycle in our possession, it only makes sense to acquire something that satisfies our visual desire as much as our physical.  When expressing our taste in the form of color palate, component selection, tube bonding and line flow in frame design we are merging multiple elements of beauty that give our ride a unique, personal bit of artistic character.  Will any of the previously mentioned adversely or positively affect the handling characteristics, weight or overall feel of the bike?  The answer is usually no.  But if that is the case, why not experiment with flavor a bit?  Why not take some time and spice up our experience in a way that gives it multiple dimensions that might otherwise be lacking?  For what reason can one argue the revocation of additional layers of depth that only seem to enhance our relationship with these potentially beautiful objects that we integrate into our daily lives?  For what reason should we avoid splicing elements of artistic craft into the "every day" work and product that we inevitably spend so much time laboring over and acquiring?

Why I turned down a full time, well paying job at a small local bike shop

I was recently contacted by the owner of what will remain an unspecified long time favorite bike shop of mine.  Small, homey and friendly are all words that have described my experience at this place over the years, and I feel honored to have been reached out to by the shops founder/owner.  He offers full time (even through slow season), good pay, some perks.. not bad I am initially thinking to myself as a smile comes across my face.  I spend the afternoon pondering the though on and off, considering the pros and cons while looking at my current transitional situation as I take obligatory time off from Esperonza community bike shop after being brought on as a "seasonal" teacher/mechanic/dork.  It of course sounded appealing initially and was somewhat tough to come out and say no, but I did, it feels good, and here is why.

Sticking to my guns

 Somewhere along the line a while back I made a creed of sorts with myself that I would focus on fixing bikes and find used parts far more so than I look to sell new counterparts.  It wasn't super strict as I was working for Stevie's Happy Bikes at the time, primarily brought on to repair bikes and eventually sell mostly used bikes as well (along with the occasional new sale here and there).  I was in love with the gig: being able to fix and often resurrect what were mostly peoples older, sensible, practical and usually serviceable bikes.  It was sort of a mini godsend for me as I had such a big affinity with building up bikes for myself and friends with as many nicer quality, used parts as I could find (be it freebees, ebay and craigslist scores or "boneyard" bits from my favorite shops).  I was getting paid to do what I already so much enjoyed while having great access to unique used bits as Stevie's was truly one of the last shops to support and sell older bikes and parts.  Reviving bikes, keeping workhorses running and helping people source affordable bits for their steeds became the daily MO as it all felt right.

After leaving Stevie's and transitioning to Esperonza I got an even more in depth taste of what I so desired. Not only was I exclusively wrenching bikes without selling a single thing, but I was helping teach people how to work on the bike they already had.  Using donated parts, take off bits from otherwise useless bikes and retrofitting anything necessary to get the job done was business as usual.  Working more and more in this context had me feeling even strong motivation to encourage people to work within their means while supporting positive ideals about the kind of riding that can realistically be done on most bikes.  Between writing on the blog here and teaching/wrenching at the community shop, it was as if I was truly becoming an ambassador of the types of ethics and ideals that I have grown and am still developing.  Being able to endorse various real world thoughts and feelings without undermining any sort of bottom line has been amazing.  Not needing to push expensive upgrades and bikes at the shop or contradict the messages of hypothetical blog adverts has given me the creative freedom to make stream of consciousness recommendations, being unfiltered in my opinions and sharing giving real world, no BS feedback and honesty.

This is my idea of a shop.  Tools, a stand and peoples bicycles.

Shops, sales and growth

To tie things back into here, my fundamental problem at hand is that most of the bikes that we bike shop workers/owners end up dealing with/selling are the higher end, race oriented bike toys.  Its not that I have an issue with people going out on their weekend recreational ride with one of their usually many bikes as much as it is that I have no desire to be a sales person/facilitator for said lifestyle.  There are plenty of bike shops that are already more than happy to make this their priority and it is exactly these bike sales that keep the already close to closing doors open for these shops.  The slow season shop instability stems mostly from business models that boast growth centralized around the season to season rush for the next "new" bike/product.  This inevitably demands that newer tech which is usually no better in quality, value, serviceability or compatibility gets sold in order to keep the revenue/jobs/overhead/net going as said.

Call me crazy but I just cant bring myself to become a cog in the motion that is the buy-sell-grow-repeat bike shop formula.  $1,000 entry level mountain and road bikes coming with a gamut of parts that will only be serviceable for a limited amount of time is not something that I am quick to get behind.  Brifters that gum up and become almost impossible to bring back to good order, hydraulics that only seal for so long and can't expect to work after a few years coupled with frighteningly rare service parts, suspensions that might have product support in the future, the trickle down of electronics in mid range componentry (and inevitably the entry level bikes when cost effective enough as we saw with hydraulics, suspensions and other new tech/standards) and the ever changing dimension standards are what I have to look forward to selling, endorsing, and supporting at nearly any thriving bike "shop" today.

 I use quotations above for the word bike shop because not all bike shops actually sell product beyond service bits, accessories and some small upgrades.  Not all shops are trapped in the jaws of the dealer vice with the obligation to continue to carry the newest said bike from "x" brand to keep the doors open another day.  Though they may be few and far between today, there are indeed bike "shops" that are primarily repair based and offer something that speaks far more to me than any of the aforementioned.  

Just wanting to wrench

   Really, at the end of the day I just want more than anything to service bikes.  I want to help keep the massive abundance of stuff in this world that we have already produced functioning as long as it can.  Ultimately I want to continue to encourage people to try to the best of their ability to live within their means, unsubscribe from the heavy marketing fluff and the "its never good enough" pressure to always seek the lighter, faster, quieter, most expensive products that the over saturated market place always has to offer.  I love bikes and seeing people get on them; but I even more love helping steer people in the direction of bikes that will fulfill their desire to ride for longer than the new-standard-daily/ultra high tech/nu-material-market is willing to support. 

 I don't want to sell disposable bike stuff.  I don't want to encourage people to buy disposable bike stuff.  Even if its what people are asking for, I wont be the mouthpiece sales pitch for this stuff that I fail to find a drive to support myself.  I can't bring myself to perpetuate an industry's increasingly insatiable habit of profiting from our often feeble nature.  If cutting edge tech is what the industry wants to sell while people continue to find the need to buy it then so be it, but I won't be the next in line to dole out the product in an industry that is drowning itself in waste, redundancy and gimmicks.  

Your bike hides no secrets: A mechanic's desire to see well loved bikes

After turning the wrench on bike after bike you begin to notice patterns and anomalies in the sort of lives that bicycles live.  They start speaking to you in differing ways as you nurture them in the stand, attempting to fulfill the love they are so often crying to receive.  Its something that I imagine paralleling a therapist listening to story after story while attempting to navigate the tribulations, secrets, aspirations and difficulties of various patients.  Servicing  peoples bicycles is like having a door opened to the deeper realities of these little machines.  Its as if we mechanics have been granted an intimate tour that tells us of the love and attention or neglect and carelessness that said bikes have experienced.  From severe cases of reoccurring trauma and abuse to paranoia induced cleanliness indicative of overbearing love, we see it all as the bike hides nothing in its varying states.  To the mechanics eyes, ears and hands your bike bears no secret.

Riding on a flat tire to get back home is one of the quickest ways
to throw your wheels seriously out of whack.  Getting a ride or walking
will save you a headache down the road

Your bike wants to be loved

Numerous are the occasion that my soul has been crushed as bike after bike arrives in my stand to share with me their all to often harsh realities.  Skipping gears, bent derailleurs, broken spokes, bald tires, bent handlebars, indexed bottom brackets and headsets: you name it, these are the more obvious first signs that often foreshadow much deeper neglect.  From overambitious and "beyond the intended use" of the bicycle to blatant misuse, I see bikes in states that absolutely amaze me.  Often times I have pondered wide eyed with my peers as we contemplate and imagine the stories behind these bikes.

It seems that basic education, riding technique and simple bike care are often the missing aspects that underscore the varying states of countless bicycles that I and thousands of other mechanics have rehabilitated.  The lack of pre-ride once overs, post ride tlc, post crash inspection, fines in bike handling and the employment of gentle shifting techniques become glaringly obvious as we scan through the aftermath.  Even the best mechanics in the world (no I am not one of them) need your help with preventive maintenance and good riding technique if we are to help keep the gears going as you expect to see a return on the life expectancy of the beautiful bicycle(s) you worked so hard to acquire.

Cyclocross rider Katie Kompton finessing her way through the rough stuff
by letting her body weight off the saddle and her limbs act as suspension

Be gentle and you shall be rewarded

If there is one big drawback (there are many) that modern racing has on recreational and commuter cyclists (no i am not anti racing) its the deeply ingrained mentality that we often have to "mash" and "go hard" at mostly any cost when riding "seriously".  We feel the need to take big risks, push our bodies and gear to their absolute threshold and in turn write off any adverse side effects that incur to our gear as necessary casualties.  "Yeah man.. I totally broke my pedal while I was crushing down that rock garden" is the kind of stuff I hear regularly as some cyclists almost seem to boast about their suffering bikes.  Its as if getting gnarly is directly proportional to how much you can manage to fuck your bike up throughout a season.  Hearing things like "My drive train is totally blown.. I mean I put in so many miles this month on that new cassette" as said rider fails to recognize that shifting under 100% load on uphill pushes will make short use of any cassette/freewheel regardless of how well the shift ramps seem to function is not uncommon.  This is the mentality of a culture that is dominated not only by a hyper disposable/throwaway approach to cycling but by a gear smashing, getting rad at all cost attitude and is reverberated throughout the adverts and rhetoric of the racing world.  The bottom line is that regardless of whether you consider yourself a casual/recreational cyclist or a serious/sporty rider, there is so much that can be done to prevent us from wasting our way through unnecessary amounts of gear by being realistic, riding safely and understanding basic mechanics.

getting aero sometimes means getting air tho....right?

 

  Experiment, watch, listen, learn

As a developing and learning cyclists (and veteran cyclists too for that matter) there should be no shame in asking questions, watching tutorials, attempting to get your hands dirty with basic tune ups and watching experienced cyclists ride.  Learning starts as soon as we open up the doors to criticism, engaging in trial and error and become ready to try new things.  From riding techniques to mechanical advice, there are people out there in the cycling community who want to help you out in any way they can: Forums, local bike shops, group rides and bloggers/vloggers to name just a few.  There is a sea of resource out there to help you give your bike the love it needs in all the good ways you can.  Education is what firstly predicates the subjects discussed in this post and I hope the doors of curiosity and question asking will be the byproduct of my words here.  Please ask! Please help us mechanics take care of your bike as we want nothing more than to see it in a healthy state of being!

Is recreational cycling just a rich boys club?

Cycling as a sport has historically been predicated on racing.  We have modeled our bicycles and appearance as cyclists (both on and off the bike) for decades now after our favorite racing heroes.  We have measured our physical efforts by the same athletes and in turn molded both our rides and riding styles with performance based metrics and goals in mind.  The bicycle lifestyle has become a pseudo carbon copy of what we see on euro-sport/sporza, read in bicycling times/dirt rag and lust over in bike shops the world over.  Entry cost into this sport of ours soars easily into the quadruple digit figures before factoring all the cycling apparatus, lifestyle gear and accessories. 

Being taken as a "serious cyclist" even within the supposed "non-racing" cliques has become increasingly difficult as bloggers work diligently to bombard our desktops with images of the slickest, newest, most stylish buzz-kit of the moment.  Acceptance into these uber-chic cycling communities seems to be a silent rite of passage dictated by monetary status, physical ability and lush amounts of leisure time.  Seldom do we see features of "serious" riders/rides with people who use lots of "dated" second hand gear, lack adventure/racer cred or have the ability to engage in "epic rides" for whatever reason physical, monetary or social reasons.  We see photo dump after photo dump of typically well dressed, male cyclist riding on often strikingly beautiful hand built/custom bikes, with absolutely amazing bling parts while often looking like doppelgangers of one another.

This is often the first point of contact for newly interested people getting into cycling.  The blogs, the races, the magazines and bike shop experiences will almost always leave a taste in the mouth and a mental echo of how cycling should look, feel, cost and be like.  If the first image planted in our newly developing cyclist psyche is that of an affluent white male flooded with recognition and style points, we will continue to see individuals attempt to measure their own personal experience based on false ideals and disproportionate representation.

The message hasn't changed much since the early
century. Get rich, get fit, get a nice bike, get the girls.

Cycling has no race, status, size or color

Silly though the header above may sound, it feels almost essential to emphasize the fact that bike riding is something that nearly anyone, anywhere on the planet can do for relatively little to no money at all.  The activity in and of itself is one of the few social equalizers that exists today: an activity where people can exercise, engage socially with others and negate costly forms of transport simultaneously.  Cycling is a hobby that transcends the definition of hobby in the sense that it melds seamlessly with lifestyle to the degree that the user makes it so.  The line between "bicycle commutes" and "serious bike rides" become blurred as longer rides often become forms of transport, exercise and social stimulation all at one time.  

The problem with these hypothetically simple and low-cost forms of cycling is that they often never occur due to elitism, sexism, and varying forms of prejudiced that unfold in the aforementioned contexts.  The glamorizing of unrealistic levels of monetary success, superior fitness and high social status are key deterrents to an otherwise openly accessible and affordable activity.  As people are increasingly introduced to these false faces of cycling they are being subconsciously swayed from ever dipping their feet into the waters of experimentation.  If you never believe that you can take up cycling as a form of commuting or sport because you are either too poor, physically unequipped, not macho enough, the right color or gender, or simply not smart enough to learn about it all, you have fallen victim to the alienation of modern-day elite bike culture.

The legendary Jacquie Phelan.  One of cycling's first big female faces to break
norms and give women cyclists a positive image.  Still riding that same bike...

Representation and integration

When we start walking the walk and talking the talk we can begin to make a tangible difference for long-established cyclists and new faces alike.  When we invite people on our rides who have "inferior" quality bicycles that are "ill-equipped" for the job we can truly start opening new doors for those who are curious.  It is when we represent the masses of cycling with realistic physical figures, black/brown skin tones, and non cis-gendered passing males in adverts and blog posts that we start to tear down the walls of alienation and misrepresentation in cycling communities.

Whether writing blog posts or talking about these things personally with people, I try my best to use images of people with all physical builds, photos of women, children and faces of color and all walks of life in general.  I try to make it clear that anyone is capable of getting into riding if they desire, regardless of what contrary words and images the marketing powers that be have conjured for display and sale; regardless of monetary status or class.  I try to encourage everyone to treat one another equally, with similar levels of respect regardless of preferred cycling disciplines, age, social status or any other potentially divisive factor.  When I ride my bike and discuss cycling ideas, I try to do so in a way that I would want others to do as well; attentive, careful, compassionate and all-embracing.  If we can all broaden our horizons, subscribe less to the "serious" rhetoric, ideals and behavior that dominates the cycling waves and be more openhearted/minded about all of this, we will grant such a service to all parties considered by helping perpetuate this simple little activity that we have all come to love so much - and not just our white male counterparts.

Rigid is flexible: the versatility of steel, all terrain bikes

I took a train up to Santa Fe yesterday and rode uphill out of town for a few miles into a beautiful trail system called Dale Ball.  The trails transitioned in and out of varying states of smooth and flowy, gradual to steep climbing/descending with rocky and technical sections throughout.  I rode about 8 miles total (of trail) and another 7 or so of pavement.  The ride was amazingly fun, I suffered no flats, my bike performed flawlessly, and riding at my own pace made for a great outing with no stress to rush; though I did ride somewhat quickly overall.  I enjoyed the ride on my beautiful, fully rigid 1985 Kuwahara All terrain bike (yes I did just use that term).  The bike is no frills.  Cromo steel, friction shifting and utilizing "old" technology by today's standards.  I rode on 26" x 2.25" tires inflated to low pressure.  Wide handlebars and a brooks.  No nonsense, good-ol time tested stuff that has worked well for me.  I find myself returning more and more to this style of riding.  A good pavement push up toward some wonderful dirt trail is followed by a ride on yes, the same bike.  You might be thinking "One bike.. for pavement and dirt trail rides?".  The thing is that I like to keep things simple these days.  There is something about riding a diversified bike for multiple disciplines that just keeps you honest.  I don't want to make this post about gear as much as I want to make it about riding fully rigid steel bikes, the type that will get you from your door, to the trail for riding/hiking and back to the place where you started from.

One of the earliest versions of the mountain bike beautifully made by Tom Ritchey.
A fine bike capable of doing just about any kind of riding.  Load it with gear and you have a camping/touring bike.

Wanderlust

I come from a background of riding pavement and lots of it.  My first real interest in bikes began with thin tired road/fixed gear/single speed bikes and thus all my riding was on pavement.  I learned the value of pacing myself, negotiating big hills, maintaining a healthy cadence for my not so amazing knees and overall good riding etiquette.  I loved road bikes and the freedom they provided me but I wanted more exploration.  I knew of vast trail systems that existed in my front and back yard with no real way of riding them on the bikes that I was building and using up until that point. Eventually at one of my local bike hangouts I found an early 90's, fully rigid rock hopper frame/fork and built it up as a single speed with plush 2.3" tires.  I subsequently gave it the full gear treatment, rode it everywhere and loved it.  I was surprised at how amazingly well the bike did for city riding as it did on the loose stuff.  I could roll over massive cracks and breakups in the roads, hop on and off sidewalks if needed, roll over just about any imperfection in the streets and feel very comfortable doing it all.  I definitely noticed a slight gain in weight and reduction in speed with the new "mountain bike" but was having so much fun and enjoying the new freedom on the thing that it didn't much matter at the time.  The bug bit me and I started really getting into off road riding.  I started looking all over and around town for single track, fire road and new hiking trails to explore.

One of the only photos I have of my first ATB.
preparing to carefully descend the rocky La Bajada

Doing it all

 

My skills as a rider went through the roof when I started riding rigid bikes on dirt.  The bike control learned by riding off road was something that would directly translate to my ability on pavement as well.  Conversely my endurance, pacing and technique from riding long road rides greatly enhanced my abilities on the dirt just as well.  It was as if both disciplines of riding mutually benefited one another.  The best part was when I started incorporating road and dirt into long adventurous rides without any particular theme.  Riding paved roads on these bikes to trail heads opened the door to out and back trip that gave me a little bit of everything in one ride.  It was engaging in this style of cycling that began to lay to waste to the mentality of the necessity for dedicated genre bikes.  I was discovering that I could do it all on one modest machine while challenging myself in the process.  Having a jack of all trades bike inevitably slowed me down on both the road and dirt, but as I became more comfortable with doing everything just a little bit slower and stopped comparing my speed with others, I knew that I could have a ton of fun with fewer bikes for fewer dollars.

 Much of this approach came from a time when I started to critically take note of how and why we cyclists endure so much pressure from the cycling industry and cycling culture as a whole.  The pressure to fit into boxes.  The pressure to look the part.  The pressure to be taken seriously as a cyclist by other cyclists.  I wanted to break free from the gear obsessed, mile counting, weight pinching, high speed at all costs culture and enjoy riding with what was accessible, affordable, and easily repairable.  It was and still is in a way to me a form of silent protest, a proverbial middle finger to the marketeers that have often tried to sell us lower quality versions of the bikes that we sometimes had all along.  Like so many others I only felt that I needed more, newer, ever so subtly differing bikes and gear when I allowed myself to be sold the idea that it was a necessity.

Fetishizing the bicycle-toy in the name of the "greenness"

So I wrote a post earlier this year titled "The Green Paradox" that asked some questions about the seemingly ass backwards mentality that pushes some of use to buy a labor intensive, cost prohibitive, toxic in production methods/materials and often disposable bicycle as a form of "transportation" in the name of greenness.  It talked about the act of mindless upgrading, the pressure to have the most future-tech bike possible and all of the issues that come to mind when contemplating the nature of mindless consumption for the promise of lighter, better and stronger.  You might almost forget that we are talking about bicycles here, but the lets remember that this is happening all around us in the typical guise of "green cycling".  You know, spending that $3k+ on a full suspension mountain bike or full carbon road bike is full of anti global warming merit after all; because when we aren't busy commuting for work, family life and leisure purposes in our 20-something mile to the gallon petrol guzzlers, gallivanting about on our mostly-plastic framed, hydraulic hosed, electronic filled, suspension oiled play toys is synonymous with a truly green pastime.  Yeah...

I was once visited by vaguely cyclist-looking riders that told me I needed to ride my local trails like this

Bikes are great.. mostly

Obviously I enjoy bikes and riding them, just as nearly anyone who is probably reading this does; but one of the biggest aspects that underscores the differentiating factor between sensible and "green" purchasing habits vs the contrary is a semi-concise awareness of the resource sapping that incurs in the form of labor, mining/extraction, refinement, manufacturing, packaging, advertisement, reallocation and upkeep/repair of such produced bicycles.  I am talking about the foresight that comes with knowing that the hobby (for most people) that is cycling comes both literally and figuratively at a massively exhaustive cost.  Getting out on the road with this years new play-thing is in every sense of the word taxing, and I can't seem to see it in any other light here.  Of course the input/output (resources used to miles traveled) of nearly any bicycle will stand strong against the automobile if leveraged in terms of miles per dollar, but that seems to be the equivalent of comparing the efficacy of a leaf blower to a rake made of pure gold, or ivory for that matter: as if to say that there is inherent goodness based on the fact that one uses human power vs some form of hydrocarbon-whatever.  Just because we are pedaling our way around neighborhood and trail systems with our expensive "green machines" does not mean that it holds enviro-clout under the scrutinizing eye.  

So where do we really draw the line?  What does the all too subjective notion of greenness really amount to anyway?  Its difficult to answer in short, and my observations above are certainly just that; subjective.  They come from places of personal observation, weighing moral values, asking challenging questions and embracing new changes.  Though the realizations that I come to and adhere by may be differing to many, I have to think that there can be a fairly general consensus as to what the hell we are really doing with bikes, what the cost/value of it all is and if it is really "green" at the end of the day.  My goal here is not so much to sit down and crunch various metrics, to shame any particular person or to encourage people to get off their already acquired bikes (be it the aforementioned varietal or not) as much as it is to encourage positive steps in forward thinking with regard to future consumption.  I am talking about embracing new ideas revolving around increased longevity, enhanced foresight, reduced redundancy and having a higher understanding of what goes into our "hobbies" and what in turn comes out of them.

non-fitness model female cyclists get rad on
 relatively normal/useful/repairable/affordable bikes!!!?
That KOM jersey on the right though... :)

We can't all be commuters.. but...

There is a huge number of people out there who would love nothing more than to commute by bike but for varying reasons can not.  From epic millage between the work place and home to physically debilitating conditions that prevent them from extended periods in the saddle, it is not my place or anyone else to shame and blame here.  Most people will only ever mount a saddle (or recumbent/"adaptive" bike seat for that matter) on the weekends, days off, after work or whatever else downtime is available.  Though we cant all be commuters, we can certainly exercise discerning levels of educated purchasing for these equally important times of cycling.  Maybe its just a short ride for exercise, a long ride from one cafe to another, or simply trying to develop good balance; a modestly priced, realistically designed, comfortably setup, repairable, strong and replaceable bike can and certainly will get the job done.  

We seem to forget that we can exercise, get around short distances, be outdoors and embrace cycling altogether with out subscribing to the notion that we need the ultra expensive, toxic bike toys that we are being sold as we try to look the part of the "serious" cyclist.  By attempting to "hang with the guys" we sell ourselves the notion that recreation riding "for fun" needs to be synonymous with ultra-luxury oriented bicycle/component consumption habits.  There is no reason why we can't get out there on a non-race-machine and get exercise, adventure, traverse from place to place and most importantly have a good time doing it all.