I know a few months ago I shared my critique of the current load of roadie bloggers who think part of their “culture” is fetishizing rules on clothing and equipment. While I see these rules as a reflection of the writers’ personal insecurities, they are off putting and do not serve us well. So at [...]
Posts under ‘Opinion’
7 billion people, 7 billion cars?
According to U.N. estimates, the world human population will reach 7 billion today. Whether this milestone is good or bad, it should give us all serious pause in the attempt to export the current American lifestyle. The average American home has 2.28 cars. This means one car per adult. Now apply that to the world [...]
To Helmet OR Not to Helmet?
Through riding my bicycle I’ve met some of the coolest people I know. Although the two aren’t mutually exclusive, riding a bicycle and being cool. Maybe if riding a bicycle and cool were connected exclusively then helmet and bicycle would form together in a single thought bubble above riders’ heads at the thought of pedaling [...]
Austin Safe Routes to School response to A2W critique
Editor note: In September, I shared how my children’s school was selected for Austin’s Safe Routes to School, a program designed to encourage children to walk and bike to school and do it safely. I expressed support for this program but also offered a critique of how some of the fear inducing facts might cause [...]
The injustice of auto dominated streets
I attend church at the University United Methodist Church, and in recent months, there has been a new part of the service created to highlight an injustice in our society and to recommit as a congregation to fight against injustice in the world. This week, I was asked to lead this part of the service, [...]
When someone tells you The Rules, tell ‘em to suck it
Cutting through roadie elitism to find your two wheel bliss Call it the Rapha effect. Ever since the high end clothier started selling minimalist styled cycling clothing and producing high art films and a magazine, there has been a proliferation of blogs that seek to define what it is to be Pro including Embrocation, Belgium [...]
When a downgrade isn’t a downgrade
As I’ve been getting ready to start training for cyclocross season, I have been putting on some serious base miles on my road bike which got me thinking about the relative utility of components and when “upgrades” might just be more marketing than improvement. You see my road bike got downgraded about a year ago. [...]
Bikesharing saves lives?
As Austin considers a public bike share program, we have looked at success stories like Washington DC, London, and Sevilla. The focus of the coverage to date has been on how popular the programs are, how they are changing the nature of city streetscapes and how people view the bicycle. There has been precious little [...]
Friday Film Fun: Cycle Chic
Cycle Chic is a movement started by such sites as Copenhagen Cycle Chic and Amsterdamize to show fashionably dressed people on bikes in order to, as Copenhagenize’s Mikael Colville-Andersen says, “show the bicycle as part of the Good Life.” Spandex, helmets, and logo bestrewed bikes are out. High heels, suits, and simple, upright Dutch bikes [...]
Does Fred equal Poser?
Just saw this question posed over at BikeForums: Is a Fred also a Poser? What do you think? Are they mutually exclusive or one and the same? UPDATE: For whatever its worth, here’s the condensed definition of Fred from Wikipedia: Fred is a derisive term used by “serious” road cyclists to describe other cyclists who [...]
