Nice bicycling article in Washington Post

[Frank Krygowski]

Here's a nice bicycling article from the Washington Post. No
fearmongering, no terror - it's bicycling pretty much the way I like
to do it.

(Well, except for the dresses and high heels!)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080103246.html
or http://tinyurl.com/5mej6o

- Frank Krygowski

[DennisTheBald]

a pleasant read about real people and realistic riding

[Dane Buson]

Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gmail.com> wrote:
> Here's a nice bicycling article from the Washington Post. No
> fearmongering, no terror - it's bicycling pretty much the way I like
> to do it.
>
> (Well, except for the dresses and high heels!)
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080103246.html
> or http://tinyurl.com/5mej6o

Nice for the most part. A litle heavy on the disdain for road bike
riders/racers, but that's probably to be expected as part of the
pendulum swing.

--
Dane Buson - nn07tp08@unixbigots.org
Most rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who
can't talk for people who can't read.

[Shawn]

Dane Buson wrote:
> Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Here's a nice bicycling article from the Washington Post. No
>> fearmongering, no terror - it's bicycling pretty much the way I like
>> to do it.
>>
>> (Well, except for the dresses and high heels!)
>>
>> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080103246.html
>> or http://tinyurl.com/5mej6o
>
> Nice for the most part. A litle heavy on the disdain for road bike
> riders/racers, but that's probably to be expected as part of the
> pendulum swing.
>

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt that way. And I like my
tank-tread full suspension MTB, 'course I ride mine on real dirt.
It seemed to me the writer felt that those of us who've been riding,
commuting and generally living bikes for the last few decades before the
current gas crunch just aren't sufficiently fashionable for his tastes,
but the SUV refugees riding beaters in their high heels are tres chic.
:-ppppp
Great that these folks are riding, the more the better. But if they
continue, the author better watch out, all these fashionable Freds will
start turning into gauche cyclists riding drop-bar bikes in spandex (or
at least a helmet!). :-)


Shawn

[invasivenorman@gmail.com]

On Aug 4, 2:53*pm, Dane Buson <d...@unseen.edu> wrote:
> Frank Krygowski <frkry...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Here's a nice bicycling article from the Washington Post. *No
> > fearmongering, no terror - it's *bicycling pretty much the way I like
> > to do it.
>
> > (Well, except for the dresses and high heels!)
>
> >http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR200...
> > orhttp://tinyurl.com/5mej6o
>
> Nice for the most part. *A litle heavy on the disdain for road bike
> riders/racers, but that's probably to be expected as part of the
> pendulum swing.

What's a "road" bike?
http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/2008/03/terminology-folly.html ?

[Dane Buson]

invasivenorman@gmail.com wrote:
> On Aug 4, 2:53=A0pm, Dane Buson <d...@unseen.edu> wrote:
>> Frank Krygowski <frkry...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Here's a nice bicycling article from the Washington Post. =A0No
>> > fearmongering, no terror - it's =A0bicycling pretty much the way I like
>> > to do it.
>>
>> > (Well, except for the dresses and high heels!)
>>
>> >http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR200...
>> > orhttp://tinyurl.com/5mej6o
>>
>> Nice for the most part. =A0A litle heavy on the disdain for road bike
>> riders/racers, but that's probably to be expected as part of the
>> pendulum swing.
>
> What's a "road" bike?
> http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/2008/03/terminology-folly.html ?

Please, don't even start, or you might give me the vapours and I'll be
forced to have a lie-down. Possibly on a couch constructed entirely out
of Albatross bars, 650B wheels, and porteur racks. I think it should be
covered with leather from old Brooks saddles and finished in Shellac and
twine.

I know some of the type of people you mention in the article, sometimes
I even am one. But my city has hills, real ones. So if you're not at
least a little enthusiastic about the bike in and of itself, the whole
proposition is a non-starter.

Now if you go to Philadelphia or Portland or someplace else that
resembles a billiard table more closely [1], you'll see scads of just plain
'ole folks on bikes. I like it, it's great to see, but it's not going
to happen everywhere unless there are drastic economic changes spurring
it.

[1] Or Chicago as your IP address might or might not indicate. It's rather
flat there isn't it?

--
Dane Buson - nn07tp08@unixbigots.org
The instruments of science do not in themselves discover truth. And there are
searchings that are not concluded by the coincidence of a pointer and a mark.
-- Fred Saberhagen, "The Berserker Wars"

[Ozark Bicycle]

On Aug 4, 10:05 pm, invasivenor...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Aug 4, 2:53 pm, Dane Buson <d...@unseen.edu> wrote:
>
> > Frank Krygowski <frkry...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Here's a nice bicycling article from the Washington Post. No
> > > fearmongering, no terror - it's bicycling pretty much the way I like
> > > to do it.
>
> > > (Well, except for the dresses and high heels!)
>
> > >http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR200...
> > > orhttp://tinyurl.com/5mej6o
>
> > Nice for the most part. A litle heavy on the disdain for road bike
> > riders/racers, but that's probably to be expected as part of the
> > pendulum swing.
>
> What's a "road" bike?http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/2008/03/terminology-folly.html?

A terrific link. Bravo!

[Jeremy Parker]

<invasivenorman@gmail.com> wrote

[snip]

What's a "road" bike?
http://www.copenhagencyclechic.com/2008/03/terminology-folly.html ?

Once upon a time there were only two kinds of bike, the usual kind,
and "racers". Then it became 3-speeds and 10-speeds, then it became
mountain bikes and "road bikes"

Road bikes have dropped handlebars, other bikes don't.

Nowadays, to save money, there is a trend towards standardisation,
with only three frame sizes, one crank length, and so on.
Manufacturers want to extend this to types of bikes as well, no more
distinctions between tourers, audax bikes, criterium bikes, and so
on, which only confuse consumers.

The quality of road bike can be deduced from the model name, which
indicates the likely knowledge of the potential customer. If it's
called something like "racer" it's for customers who know nothing
about racing. If it's called "Tour de France", it's for people who
have heard of the Tour de France, but not the Giro d'Italia. If it's
called the Giro d'Italia, the quality is likely to be quite good,
although the bike is likely not to be optimised for riding in
anything else other than bright sunshine, nor optimised for carrying
a stack of papers to or from work, nor groceries from the store..

Gears on a road bike are likely to be optimised for young riders,
riding in terrain as flat as Copenhagen or Amsterdam.

Here in London UK, Copenhagen/Amsterdam type bikes are fairly easy to
obtain. About once every two years some retailer decides that those
are the kind of bike that Londoners "ought" to ride, now normal
people are starting to ride. He lays in a stock, and nobody buys
them. A little while later you can buy one of the bikes at clearance
prices.

Jeremy Parker

[Tom Sherman]

Jeremy Parker wrote:
> ...
> If it's called "Tour de France", it's for people who
> have heard of the Tour de France, but not the Giro d'Italia....

As in <http://www.gitaneusa.com/models_1.asp>?

Someone should make a Bob Roll signature edition "Tour day Frantz" bicycle.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
“Mary had a little lamb / And when she saw it sicken /
She shipped it off to Packingtown / And now it’s labeled chicken.”