| The Wonder of Cycling | | | | a day or two or ten or more. You prepare |
| | | | with great care. You pack one or two |
| Is cycling when you have two skinny wheels, | | | | panniers, gather maps, ensure you've packed |
| form a peleton and screech around corners? | | | | that rain jacket. You tweak your touring |
| Do you think you know more of what you're | | | | bike, tighten a screw or two, and maybe |
| doing with all that metal and rubber? Or is | | | | adjust your seat for the right attack on the |
| it the clothes that make the cyclist? Do you | | | | extra hill or two. Or you plan a days' route |
| look faster with all the latest spandex | | | | ensuring you'll climb two steep hills or |
| shorts? And what about those jerseys -- is | | | | three, enough to make the thrill of the |
| that Lance Armstrong on your sleeve? Do you | | | | descent pure. |
| look more like a contender? Tour de France | | | | |
| here you come! Or are you only a true blue | | | | Sometimes you want to challenge yourself on |
| cyclist if you tour the countryside a 100 | | | | the back roads - the hills and the valleys |
| days a year? Or is cycling jumping on the | | | | the dirt and, oh yes, the adrenalin! You pump |
| cruiser to fetch a quart of milk at the | | | | those mountain tires just right. You check |
| corner store? Is it racing down hills braking | | | | the breaks and check your seat's suspension. |
| as little as possible? Or is it meandering | | | | You ride left, check right, jump this stump, |
| thru the countryside on a tandem? | | | | fly over that rock, and spin up the hill, |
| | | | sweat the ridge and zoom, jump, and zoom down |
| Cycling is all of the above. Any kind of | | | | again. |
| biking is cycling and well worth your while | | | | |
| and effort. You just may need a particular | | | | Of course you have challenges on your daily |
| type of bike for thoroughly doing it well. | | | | commute, as well. (See the section on traffic |
| You choose to bike, no matter how hard or how | | | | safety). As a courier or bike commuter, you |
| far, because you want to continually enjoy | | | | dart swiftly between cars and past |
| that sense of freedom you first experienced | | | | pedestrians. You require a strong enough bike |
| as a kid, when your parents let go of the | | | | to withstand the potholes and have it look |
| training wheels. | | | | roughed up enough not to attract the thieves. |
| | | | You feel good about being environmentally |
| Today you bike for many reasons and perhaps | | | | friendly. The courier enjoys the thrill of |
| you cycle many styles. Let's examine you, the | | | | beating the vehicle traffic. |
| racer. You want the road bike 'cause you're a | | | | |
| 'wanabe…wanabe' a racer, a winner! You | | | | Sometimes the commuter is happiest with a |
| wish you were sleek, fast, and the ultimate | | | | cruiser bicycle where you do not worry about |
| hill climber. Maybe you already are! You pump | | | | what type of clothes to wear, or have to |
| your wheels just above the max. You meet your | | | | change your street shoes. Do you remember how |
| group. Helmet on! Derailleur checked for the | | | | you cruised the neighborhoods with your |
| third time. Odometer on! Go! You alternate | | | | buddies when you were a kid? You biked the |
| with the riders back and forth. Soon the | | | | sidewalks, you biked the roads, sat there |
| peleton forms. And on you go like a rhythmic | | | | proudly with your hands on the handlebars |
| machine! Leader, ender - full lungs, take a | | | | looking to and 'fro laughing at all the |
| breather; maybe win the glory, the winner. | | | | motorists you thought were silly for driving |
| | | | cars just to sit there in needless traffic |
| There's no better weigh to experience the | | | | jams. Well as adults, think of cycling once |
| rhymic flow of movement of you and the bike; | | | | more; just hop on your cruiser bike and go! |
| to move the body forward and become one with | | | | |
| the bike than as a touring cyclist. The | | | | Why do bicyclists need to cycle? Cycling is |
| beauty of panoramas invite you, the smells | | | | in your blood or it's not! What is the bike |
| entice you, the thrill of the total oneness | | | | to the true cyclist? It is the only machine |
| with nature and the rhythm with you and your | | | | that is actually driven by the body. You are |
| bike brings you to new and back to old tours | | | | the engine and the steering wheel. You are |
| alike. | | | | one with your bike. You move with freedom |
| | | | and control. Paul Fournel said it eloquently |
| Since the 1870's, people have been touring on | | | | in his book, Need for the Bike, "In life's |
| bicycles. The historical record of one | | | | orchestra, the bike is the double bass. Hard |
| cycling club, the London's Bicycle Touring | | | | to forget it!" Einstein road a bicycle |
| Club formed in 1878, is evidence of early | | | | often, as a casual cyclist, while he |
| touring. Cycling is a feeling. You touring | | | | contemplated the universe. In their book, |
| cyclists have a need to just get out there - | | | | The Noblest Invention, the editors of |
| get out there to smell the roses, to traverse | | | | Bicycling magazine stated that Einstein said |
| the countryside, to zoom-zoom. You love that | | | | this of the bicycle:"Life is like riding a |
| feeling and want to have it often. Touring | | | | bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep |
| can feel effortless or hard-working. | | | | moving". Tell that to those who wonder why |
| Sometimes you want to see the countryside for | | | | you bicyclists cycle. |