Got done with my shift this morning and decided to go for an easy bike ride outside of Boulder... I completely forgot, but there was a HUGE charity ride going on, the Buffalo Bicycle Classic.
I think that we, the guys and gals who race across America or ride all the time, buttoned-up in our lycra and shaved legs, the riders and racers who are sponsored or maybe just get an extra discount due to our repeated visits to the local shop, tend to forget that there is a significant segment of our great sport that serves the people who simply ride for the fun of it, or ride their bike because their knees are shot from running, or maybe they ride because they want to remember what their old Schwinn felt like long ago. These are the people who pay full price for their gear and still wear their Livestrong bracelets, years after Number Seven.
I saw a massive amount of these working class heroes out on the road today as I rode past on my team bike, eating my grossly discounted Powerbar and wearing my Castelli team kit. I think we tend to get way too serious every now and again and force ourselves out onto the bike because we "have to." When was the last time you earned a paycheck from riding or racing your bike?
Look, I am a serious rider and take my sport with one part passion and one part lunacy, so it was refreshing to get out and chat with some of my comrades in sport who don't shave their legs (men or women), and who actually have never ridden on a bike made of carbon or Scandium. These are the true heroes of our sport and the people most likely to offer a friendly wave or a warm hello on a chilly, overcast Boulder morning.
1 comment:
you can say that again!
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