No more hippies and explorers!

[HopeValleyPaul]

Great article in the guardian this morning.

No more hippies and explorers: a lament for the changed world of cycling
http://gu.com/p/4t9bm?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[Pat]

I enjoyed that, then made the fatal mistake of reading the comments!
Best we don't tell anyone else what we do.......it will go the same way as the rest of it!

[Bearbonesnorm]

The first thing I thought while reading that was 'shut up'. The second thing I thought was ... what he's searching for has never been lost, the author has simply lost touch with one cycling reality and found himself in another. What he's missing is what he used to do, while some have continued to do it and more discover it daily.

If he stopped his hand-wringing for a minute, he might realise that what he seeks (and more) is right there and he'd be welcomed with open arms ... however, given his tone and ability to whine, I'm not sure I'd like his company on a 3 mile, midnight deathmarch across some desolate boggy moor.

[Ian]

So he doesn't like the competitiveness associated with road cycling (that must be nearly as old as cycling itself, seeing as we've had more than 100 years of the TdF), yet he's inspired by the competitive drive of Lael Wilcox on the AZT.

Me thinks he's looking in the wrong place for the enjoyment he used to get out of cycling, and he's got the hump 'cos he's now got kids and can't bugger off on the bike whenever he pleases.

Anyway, this comment amused me:

This column is like, when you're a teenager and you like some obscure band, and you keep saying "why does everyone listen to that manufactured pop poor show they should like this obscure band which is brilliant and only I can appreciate" and then that obscure band finds some commercial success, and then everyone does listen to it like you always said they should and still you cry because now you no longer feel like a special snowflake.

and

"Other people who like it like it in the wrong way! They don't like it the right way, like me! I preferred their early stuff, before they went commercial."

[whitestone]

Wearing rose tinted spectacles whilst looking behind you isn't advisable on a bike

Things change, sometimes for the better (like my Strava times), sometimes for the worse (like my waistline), it's how we deal with it that marks us out. Go back thirty+ years to when I took ownership of my first bespoke bike and there were cliques within cycling even then, it's human nature to group together with like minded individuals. Against this "conformity" is a desire to stand out from the crowd, individualism, eccentricity, call it what you will. Early adopters (and those who see themselves as such) often move on to pastures new when what they do becomes popular.

Perhaps he's after Type 0 fun (someone tells you that you were having fun and you believe them).

[GregMay]

Reads like a semi intelligent piece that should be in the Mail.

I was waiting for the "it was better before they came along" xenophobia.

Person stuck in past with their own visions of what it should be gets scared (annoyed) by what others are doing.

Mih.

[Ian]

Against this "conformity" is a desire to stand out from the crowd, individualism, eccentricity, call it what you will

Singlespeeders

[whitestone]

Against this "conformity" is a desire to stand out from the crowd, individualism, eccentricity, call it what you will

Singlespeeders

" It's one of those irregular verbs, isn't it: I have an independent mind; you are an eccentric; he is round the twist." Bernard from Yes Minister

[LSJ]

This article made my day...
Whining is apparently universal, and he must be king of the whining universe!

But I just don't get it. he is complayining about If he want's to get lost on a squeeky steel mount, without strava, wearing chafing shorts and a flat cap. What's stopping him.

He obviously have a confidence problem (and shitty gear and bike ), since he feels that people look down on him....

I think most people don't give a toss about what he rides and how lost he is..each to their own.

But in the bicycle circles hasn't it always been like that.. Ever since i had my first racing bike it has been the amount of how many gears (motobecane 14? gears downtube shifters, light blue), how narrow tyres (changed now, but that time 23mm pumped to the extent of explotion), what kind of gears, and how light the bike could get. We commuted 8km to school on a bike path, so it was often a race to come to school (girls weren't interesting then , so sweating buckets, no problem). So the 14 boys in the class had a "equipment race going on" And if you into a proper bike club, ohhh dear the talks of gear and equipment... And there is a great deal of snobbery in the bicycle world too, but it have always been like that.

Same story some years later with HiFi....

Same again with cars....

Until you grow up and realize the best kit doesn't always get you there first (and then its kind of embarrisng to have the latest 5000 £ bike, when you get beaten by a older man on a 1000 £ bike)


He should put the positive glasses on...,More people are now riding bikes in the UK, and he can still do what he likes to do.. instead of just being a selfcentered crybaby...


Lars (that only owns two 1000 £ bikes )

[RIP]

"intelligent piece". "in the Mail". ? ;-)

[Richpips]

If Lael was on Strava she'd have 99% of the QOMs on the TD and that race in the video. To suggest she bimbles along is rubbish.

[ddraver]

So he doesn't like the competitiveness associated with road cycling (that must be nearly as old as cycling itself, seeing as we've had more than 100 years of the TdF), yet he's inspired by the competitive drive of Lael Wilcox on the AZT.

That was my thought too

Plus another unkind one about people that live in London being somewhat blinkered...

[Dave Barter]

I might have read the article differently but it seemed to me that the author was saddened by a shift in cycling culture rather than having a go at a certain set of riders. I think he was saying that Strava/Lycra/Smashing it had become the norm, the "representative" of cycling and that he saw that as sad when cycling should be represented by (above all else) adventure, incident and out-of-the-ordinary. I agreed with some of the sentiments. I think the Strava generation may miss out on some of the customs and ways of the road club, a tradition that many don't like but is worth preserving. I also note that friends of mine who have recently got into cycling won't do anything unless it is signed, with food stops and a medal ..and Facebook postable afterwards. Maybe he phrased it poorly but I can sort of see what he is getting at.

[voodoo_simon]

I thought the chap was a bit of a snob, the comment Ian highlighted about the music /band summed it up well for me.

Don't get me started about those type of people either, or the ones that moan about old bands changing their style of music as they age

[fatbikephil]

He clearly has never read the surly blog....
As far as I can see nowt has changed in the cycling demographic its just that there are more people doing it across the board so racer types are more noticable. As above - don't moan about it just do what you do and stuff everything else

[Charliecres]

... Just do what you do and stuff everything else
+1