Writing a blog for a little over a week has been good fun and given me the opportunity to immerse myself a little more fully into perhaps my greatest passion (short of wife and kids, of course).  It has also already put me in touch with a whole bunch of new people who are as passionate as I am about cycling.

As part of this weeks Bike Porn Monday I showed a pic of a Trek TTX that is owned by a guy in Denmark called Morten Tillquist.  With a link back to his site, he obviously saw some traffic coming from this blog as people clicked over to see more.  As a result he posted on his forum about some guy in Australia showing off his bike.  I couldn’t understand a word, but thankfully a good friend (Ben - who runs a bike shop Pedals Plus) speaks Danish and so translated:

“OK, it might seem as if I am a little self indulgent, but it warms me a little when I notice that someone had named my TTX on their own blog.” 

Shortly after, I noticed in my blog stats that there was traffic coming in from his forum.  If you have a moment check out his site - you probably won’t understand the words, but you don’t need to understand Danish to appreciate the pretty pictures.  Morten, you’re not self indulgent at all - for those who like nice bikes there’s nothing better than seeing someone pimp their’s up so beautifully!

One of the things that I love about cycling is the people and social aspect.  Most of my best mates ride bikes - it seems that it’s a sport that you either get or you don’t.  Some people will question the whole idea of riding, “so, you went off for a 100km ride and that was fun?  Wouldn’t it have been easier to just drive your car?”.  Fact is they just don’t get it and probably never will.

Within the cycling ranks there are lots of different types of cyclists - from roadies to mountain bikers to triathletes; from pro’s to pro-wannabe’s to weekend warriors; from those who wear Netti knicks (generic, fairly low end brand in Aus) to those who will only ever wear Assos.  There are the lily white softies to the hard men who spin through the city on their fixies.

Whilst I’m always delighted to rock up to an event and meet fellow cyclists, I’m also amazed at how many times you come across some tosser who thinks he’s too good to chat to you.  Roadies have a bad reputation for this in particular, but you can probably take any one of the subcultures and find people who just take everything too damn seriously.  I tend to think that they do this either from a place of supreme arrogance or supreme insecurity. 

I recently came across some awesome bike gear being made in the USA which takes the mickey out of the tools who think they’re just too cool and can’t laugh at themselves.  I like it so much I went ahead and bought a jersey - can’t wait to wear it.  I’ve inquired about whether these guys - ElevenGear - want me to distribute their product in Australia - would love to see more of this gear going around:

Every once in a while you get a tangible glimpse of the spirit that is at the very centre of cycling - the passion, determination and courage.  In the pro ranks, I often think of Thomas Voeckler’s ride in the 2004 Tour de France where he persisted in holding onto the yellow jersey and the epic ride he made through the Pyrennes to narrowly hold onto the jersey ahead of Lance Armstrong - defending a jersey he was destined to lose, but keeping it for just one more day.

Then there are the ordinary people who just love the sport and somehow draw us in.  One of the more amusing blogs (particularly if you ride off-road) is the Fat Cyclist.  Whilst this is generally a pretty light hearted blog, a recent diagnosis of cancer for his wife has given everything he writes a depth to go with the humour.

Lots of triathletes read this site, so I thought you’d be amused by the Fat Cyclists idea of a triathlon (biking, rock/water sliding and eating bratwurst!) - check it out here: http://www.fatcyclist.com/2008/05/15/the-triathalon-is-so-on/

I grew up as a relatively devout catholic boy - to the point that I started what was called a “formation year” as part of the process of becoming a catholic priest.  I subsequently decided it wasn’t for me (clearly - I’ve now got 4 kids!) and over the years my spirituality has stayed but my religiosity has greatly diminished.  Nowadays when I think of spiritual experiences, as earthy and hippy as it sounds, I can’t help but think of riding my bike with a few mates - either through some great bushland or out through some sweeping hills on the roads through a national park.

So, whatever you ride, wherever you ride and whenever you ride - remember that the bloke next to you is just another cyclist out doing something that we all love.

Ride happy,
GJ.

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