Posted: Thu Oct. 04, 2007 6:57 am
An interesting comment from a RoadBikeRider e-letter today. The last paragraph is the best.
2. BEST OF COACH FRED
Will the Real Coach Fred Please Stand Up?
Q: I don't get it, Coach! You've written about your Serotta Ottrott, a hot-rod road bike for sure. You won a state time trial championship on your Litespeed Blade, a high-end TT machine.
But you also write about riding dirt roads on an old mountain bike with drop bars. And I read in Product Tests on the RBR Premium Site that you have a Rambouillet touring bike with fenders and a Co-Motion tandem.
What kind of rider are you, anyway? You don't fit any of the stereotypes. -- George K.
Coach Fred Matheny Replies: I'm just a bike rider, George. I'm not interested in wearing a label.
You could find me competing or doing fast group rides and think I was a standard-issue recreational racer. But the next day I might be bashing over dirt roads, or tooling along country lanes on a day-long tour, or riding a brisk three hours on the Co-Mo with my wife Deb.
It's tempting to come upon riders and pigeonhole them based on their bike, clothing or riding style. I'm guilty of this, too.
Fenders? Must be a tourist. Jersey and shorts with words all over them? Either a local racer or a Euro-wannabe.
And how many times have you seen a rider and immediately condemned his position on the bike? Saddle's too low -- what a wanker!
My revelation came many summers ago when I was going to school in Boulder, Colorado, and racing for a local team.
I was into the cool-racer lifestyle. I wouldn't ride without wearing my team garb. I wouldn't be caught dead with a gear lower than 42x21 teeth. On race day my leather-strap helmet was tilted rakishly, just so.
Then one day as I was climbing Lefthand Canyon, a guy with hairy legs and a leather saddle bag swaying from his battered touring bike caught me.
"You must be a racer. Cool!" he said. Then he dropped me like a hot rock.
Hey, it's not about the bike! It's about the experience. Never, ever apologize for your bike or your sense of cycling style. You're riding, and that's all that matters.
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