I’ve been slowly catching up with this riveting discussion from the prior thread and have finally come to the end. Dayum! Some incredibly stupid shit said and some extremely funny shit said (haven’t laughed at Tarck like that since agility in the mountains.)
TBH, I thought this was pretty funny to see after the over analyzing comments. Tarck is about over analyzing shit.
I’m encouraged to see more people that aren’t like me getting into cycling. Part of me wonders if our need to force reality onto her head in the clouds perspective is the wrong way to go. It is the same hazing tribal attitude of most in/out group dynamics.
Other than the obvious need for a buddy to walk with into something new instead of dealing with the potential judgment of someone who knows better than you, there is another aspect of the whole ‘beginners seeking beginners’ dynamic that we may be missing. The reality of cycling is that it will show many people how physically hard real life is when they may have lived a life sheltered from this fact. It may be fun, exhilarating, liberating, zen, enlightening, and all the other shit we’ve each discovered along the way. But it can also suck. It can make you question what fuck you’re doing. It will make your inner coward start speaking in it’s most silky tongue telling you that pain is optional afterall. Perhaps the head in the clouds perspective is useful ignorance for those diving so gung ho into a very complex and challenging activity and subculture.
One last thing. There has been some sexism along the way, but that has not been the main theme, imo. Classism plays a larger role. Most of what we find so fucking funny about her writing, the completely unnecessary use of italics, the sappy sentimentality, and all the rest of it is probably more common for those who have the luxury of choosing to ride a bike instead of having it be the only option.
My ten cents (inflation, bro). I’m sure most of you know this, though.
Did you happen to see what happened when I suggested that the choice to commute by bike was a privilege that is enjoyed by relatively few people? She rejected the idea and the commenters flipped the fuck out.
I saw it mentioned on here, but if you can provide a link, much appreciated. If it’s back in a tarck thread, I’ll go dig it up if you don’t want to look for me.
Oh, to be ignorant of one’s position of privilege and sense of entitlement.
TC: I would say I was mostly ignorant of all things cycling for the first five or six years of riding. Oddly enough, unlike many other things I get intensely into in life, at my long term detriment, I purposely remained ignorant and needlessly re-invented the wheel over and over again during that time. Jacked up shit on my bikes and ruined parts that if I’d known better or taken the time to get the advice of someone who did, would have spent way less money and enjoyed my riding so much more. Probably be even stronger, too. Mostly I was ignorant of resources and I didn’t have a lot of money during most of the Bush years. I learned a lot by being willing to do it the wrong way and learn from my stupid mistakes, though. And I didn’t try to pretend I knew more than I did.
Some good points in there, but a lot of fawning, too.
I, personally, over-analyze everything, but that’s been my job for 25+ years. It’s taken me a hell of a long time to get to the point where I don’t require perfection to be happy or have fun.
My first statement on the subject was made on May 20th at 4:45. I was resopnding to a comment by Garth at 11:59 of the same day. A little more than halfway down.
My first statement on the subject was made on May 20th at 4:45. I was resopnding to a comment by Garth at 11:59 of the same day. A little more than halfway down.[/quote]
Everyone is right on that thread. TimLOKOed is just more so.
@ ryan. i don’t get what you’re saying at all. a lot of what you’re saying seems based on assumption. where’s the sexism and classism? and i don’t get wwhat you mean about people not like you getting into cycling and cycling as a choice vs. the only option. are you talking about non-hipsters? do you have a few duis? only monied peope type in italics? and what does it matter?
beginers seeking beginners
well u kno
me and dook were talking bout this the other day when talkin about two semi newbs goin on a ride
and pretty much bein ready to quit at 7 miles
and ps we been on rides with these two and some other newbs and we will go at painfully slow pace and pull these dudes along
u kno
coz we so fast and all
well when ur newbz u wanna ride with the same skill level
some do
but we lol’d at when we talked about how we first started riding
and we felt fire in our quads after 1.5 miles of what we thought was a crazy fast pace
lulz
not to mention the 52/16 gears with no brakz and no foot retention on my sweet fixie
and dook riding 50/14
and me sayin well that gear ratio don’t seem too bad coz i ride 52/14 and it’s perfect
lulz
so no brakz
with those gearz and you can pretty much only get a real cadence up downhill
and by then ur goin about 35mph
with no brakz
lucky we ain’t dead
musta been that zen agility we had
hey check my sweet fixie bro
lulz
ps i ain’t never posted that pic here
we were all newbz at one point
cept doofo coz he never even owned bikez
The were a few comments back in this thread that were said jokingly that were pretty ignorant as far as sexism is concerned. Mostly Monocle’s bullshit. Using brifters and such. As I said, not the dominant part of the discussion.
This just screams classism to me:
Their obliviousness to their own position of relative privilege speaks volumes.
The whole argument seems to revolve around people wasting their money on shit they don’t need instead of focusing on practical solutions and the accumulated wisdom of those who have the experience to know better. This distills down to a class argument to me. Upper middle class problems vs. working class problems. ‘Some shop rat can’t speak to me that way! I have a right to be treated with respect you know!’
As the economy goes to shit, these barriers will break down. I think we’re seeing it already. Maybe the easy communication of the internet will allow us to come to a better understanding quicker as we all transition into a new era.
As for choice vs. only option: I am talking about non-hipsters. I don’t have any duis, but there did come a time where I couldn’t afford to register, insure, and put gas in my car and still eat. I rode the fuck out of my hybrid for years before I could afford something better. After I was finally able to find a decent job again and could afford to buy a car, it didn’t make sense to me anymore. The lack of the expense of a car + decent stable job has meant that I’ve lived what I’d consider a pretty privileged existence. It sure isn’t at the income level of Lovely Bicycle, though. Maybe I should blog.
The fact I’ve lived well into my 30s without any children, unplanned or planned, also gives me an economic advantage. I think my income level is well below the average. But, I live more and more comfortably all the time.
Those who have the option to buy an SUV and drive all over and justify paving the planet but instead decide to get into cycle commuting is pretty awesome. Even if they are ignorant of so many other things. Or those who belong to the predominant religion in this state. The car/sprawl culture and the LDS church go hand in hand. You can’t have one to five wives and 20 children without a Suburban. Still very happy to see more LDS folk out riding their bikes, too. Even if they tend to ride like idiots and prime all the motorists with bad examples of what riding in traffic is about. Just like their rebelling hipster kids.
[quote=doofo][quote=Reasonable Facsimile]Some good points in there, but a lot of fawning, too.
I, personally, over-analyze everything, but that’s been my job for 25+ years. It’s taken me a hell of a long time to get to the point where I don’t require perfection to be happy or have fun.[/quote]
whats ur job
?[/quote]
I test computer hardware/software, but recently my focus has been on developing process and procedure for the testing. I also generate a lot of statistics/graphs/charts/etc on the testing being performed. It’s a regular laugh riot, I tell ya.
[quote=jordanpattern]To bring up the topic from last week…
I think I’m Lovelybicycle’s target audience. I’m a woman, and I’m (more or less) new to cycling as an adult. I’ve been looking for blogs that will be informative and relatable. Sadly, LB doesn’t do it for me. I took a look at the blog, and clicked on the “Fixed Gear As Skill Builder” entry, which sounded up my alley. However, I stopped reading about 5 sentences in, right after this:
Seriously? Just because I am a woman and still new at cycling doesn’t mean you have to write for me as if I was recently lobotomized! Maybe some people enjoy this kind of thing, but I cannot deal. Fucking yikes.[/quote]
Jordan,
The reason you don’t get it is because you are sexist as shit. You’ve embraced the male dominated world while forsaking your femininity.
Also, you can’t be the target audience because you’re able to survive posting on Tarck without completely bursting into vintage raleigh 3spd step-though flames.
[quote=Mr. Bear][quote=jordanpattern]To bring up the topic from last week…
I think I’m Lovelybicycle’s target audience. I’m a woman, and I’m (more or less) new to cycling as an adult. I’ve been looking for blogs that will be informative and relatable. Sadly, LB doesn’t do it for me. I took a look at the blog, and clicked on the “Fixed Gear As Skill Builder” entry, which sounded up my alley. However, I stopped reading about 5 sentences in, right after this:
Seriously? Just because I am a woman and still new at cycling doesn’t mean you have to write for me as if I was recently lobotomized! Maybe some people enjoy this kind of thing, but I cannot deal. Fucking yikes.[/quote]
Jordan,
The reason you don’t get it is because you are sexist as shit. You’ve embraced the male dominated world while forsaking your femininity.
