April 1, 2024

Old friends:

Finding comfort in the familiar is a cherished part of life, but there’s a magic in how the sense of newness seamlessly transitions from one bicycle to the next, each new version embracing modern ideas and components that bring a freshness and bit of nostalgia to the ride.

We’ve all been there. You get tired of your bike. It’s fairly simple. Your bike just gets boring. Maybe it’s getting older and the geometry doesn’t seem like it works for you any longer. You had so much hope and anticipation when you first bought your new steed but somehow that sheen is lost. The comfort is still there, but the excitement is gone, left on the trails of the past. So what is a modern cyclist supposed to do? Rehash the glory around the campfire with friends? Yes! Install new parts to an old bike in hopes of sparking a new relationship level with an old friend? Sure! Why not just ride what you have? Because it’s boring. I get it, some days I get ready for a ride, and head out for a planned 20 to 25 miles and something seems off. The tire pressure is good, the chain is lubed. It’s just the overall feel of the bike that is bothersome. There is an itch that comes from riding the same bike over and over. Not like a raggedy pair of shorts that chafe you leg in a bad way, rather a deep feeling that can only be resolved when you retire or sell your current bike and replace it with something new.

The connections we have with our bikes is beyond words. My current line up of bikes consists of a gravel/rando set up, a rigid steel/carbon parts 29er, a gravel monster, and a 1980’s Giant Iguana cobbled-together-mish-mash with a basket and thumb shifters and sweet custom bars. There are others hanging in the garage collecting dust that I ride occasionally but I’m down to four in the quiver right now. Rotating between these four keeps me fairly satisfied but, there is that itch, it’s telling me to sell the gravel/rando bike and get something “better” that will suit my planned adventures. In reality the bikes I have are perfectly capable of taking me anywhere I want to go.

When you swing your leg over a new bike there is a level of anticipation that makes one giddy with excitement. You’re so sure this is the one. The parts selection, the tires, everything should be perfect. When you step on the pedal for the first time it’s like the first bite of breakfast on a Sunday morning. The magic of the bicycle fills your soul from the moment you start pedaling until you end the ride. You want this feeling to last forever. Then one day you grab your bike and the ride just doesn’t hit the way it did. It’s difficult to pinpoint the problem, maybe it’s all in your head, maybe the bike has lost it’s mojo. At that moment you know it’s time to figure out a new bike solution.

This is the beginning of the cycle, the scratch of the itch is about to begin again. You know the deal. Some philistines toss their bike aside like a piece of useless debris and buy the latest and greatest, without a passing thought to the good times that were had on the discarded bike, while others replace every component and keep the dream alive. Others go through a long drawn out break up which entails removing a part or two until their once loved machine is reduced to a bare frame covered in dusty grease. Letting all of this sink in it’s no wonder why we all love bicycles. They are by their very essence the tools that make our relationship with ourselves have meaning and depth. Your bike is your bike, mine is mine, but they are the same. Even in the bad times our bikes are there, ready for us, waiting to be ridden again. Have a great week and enjoy your bike as it is today.

Peace,
Paul

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