TCI Friday – Wear and Tear
What's wrong with you? I usually leave the question until the end, you know, to build some suspense, to be a little coy, maybe even flirty, but it's straight to business today. What's wrong with you?…
Latest Posts Page One Op-Ed Classified Talk
Video – Hangin’ On
I don't know what's in the water in Scotland that produces so many amazing trials riders. Obviously, you've got Danny Macaskill, Ali Clarkson and Ben Travis (I'm leaving more out). So, Ben Travis has…
A Useful Review: Crank Bros. Cigar Plug Tool Kit
I’ve got a couple of devices for installing tubeless plugs, but one of my favorites is the Cigar Tool Plug Kit and CO2 Head from Crank Bros.
The kit comes with a knurled aluminum cap into which…
Paceline Podcast 397
How are things on planet bike as 2024 comes to a close? John looks into his crystal ball at what 2025 may hold. Patrick tackles the subject of road tubeless and, believe it or not, he says he has a…
Don’t Let It Happen to You
I'm concerned about your pelvic tilt. I know. I know. That's a weird way to open a conversation, but I have a number of reasons to suspect you've got a posterior pelvic tilt problem that may not have…
Hey, Just Ride 105: Terror & Dread
Bouncing down the rocky singletrack with the Umpqua River roaring more than a few hundred feet below, I slow to stop on a wide open corner with the cliffs falling straight down while exposing a…
aging?
Have you been riding a while and are you are getting old? Let us see - cycling version.
1 - Your cycling buddy has never ridden or seen a tubular tire, but you still have a tube of tubular…
Verbal Turds
On more occasions lately than seems reasonable, rational, or sane, I’ve been yelled at for riding two-abreast on the bike path. Okay fine. This breach in etiquette would leave me chastened were it…
Revolting 157
Bad Reasons to Talk About Batman. Batman is clearly the best superhero because he doesn’t have any superpowers and because he isn’t even sure whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy. Also, because he…
Featured Posts
Becoming a Cyclist on the Long Way Home
“When did you get into cycling?” he asked invitingly. Our wheels hummed side-by-side down a quiet rural highway somewhere in Wyoming, or maybe Nebraska, it’s all a blur. I privately hazarded a guess…
A Good Time at the Dollar Store
I spent several hours in Rustee's yard, organizing myself in the rain-slush-snow. My bike bags kept filling up with water as I packed them, but I happened to have a large sea sponge in my car so I…
Part of Me
In my dream, I am riding up a steep climb on a narrow road winding through redwoods, barely able to turn the pedals. But I am happy. Ecstatic, really. I am one with my bike, an extension of my body,…
To Love and To Be In Love
I met my wife on a college camping trip in 1992. At the time I was trying not to spend the week drunk beyond imagining. A friend convinced me to sign up for this trip through the community service…
The Perfect Sport
I've been a cyclist most of my life. My life has had little permanence, but cycling has been as close to permanent as anything short of my parents. Cycling didn't care whether I rode or not. My bike…
The Corrections
A thing I wrote years ago for Red Kite Prayer. On this Monday, when the words are all stuck in between my ears, refusing to find my fingertips, a good reminder that sometimes it helps not to try so…
Crash Therapy
The conversation in my head while riding Bull Run last weekend in Moab was dawdling along something like this:
“I’m riding really well. I’m gonna try to keep it mellow, keep from redlining cause…
When You’re Uncool – Riding with Dave Stoller
Back in 2016 my friend James Winchester pulled together an incredible number of people, bikes and machines to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the venerated Italian brand, Masi Bicycles.
…
Letter from the Editors
The year draws to a close, whether you're done with it or not, and 2022 was a banger here at TCI. Readership grew throughout the year. More people listened to our podcasts. Subscribers subscribed,…
Lost and Unlost
Crater Lake. The Pacific Coast. Ghost towns in the high desert. That's cool, but how can you do so much riding alone? This question is usually followed by a comment like "you're so courageous." I…
The Shirt Off Our Backs
A call to commerce! An unsubtle, attention-grabbing shout out! A gentle plea.
Please witness the arrival of the brand-new, classic Cycling Independent Black t-shirt.
Excuse the smirking…
Letter from the Editors
Hello Friends,
Just us, checking in from the end of summer (unless you're one of our Southern Hemisphere readers...we're not trying to be hemispherist). It's been a busy time for us, Padraig…
Just To Be Alive
I know just enough about bikes to know that I don’t know s#*$ about bikes. And I don’t want the mountain of what I don’t know to ruin the truth of what I do know … which is I f*@%ing love riding my…
The Crash Samaritan
You open your eyes. Disoriented. Dirty. Details are sharp but nonsensical. Rising dust motes. The tick of a spinning freewheel. A dog with five white whiskers licking your arm. The smell of Christmas…
Introducing: Turtle Wandering
A good friend of The Cycling Independent, Elizabeth Allen, has started a really cool new video blog series called Turtle Wandering. In her words, this is the description:
"It is about the places…
Non-Zero Sum Gains
I have been thinking an awful lot about cycling advocacy and inclusivity. Why? Because I dream of a self-powered world, one in which all citizens glide around on a bicycle of one flavor or another. I…
A Year of Shelter
Life changed for us 365 days ago. I doubt you or anyone you know would have been willing to guess that the life you're living today was even possible. It was certainly beyond my imagination, and I…
What We Would Say
I chose cycling because it's the only time I don't feel like a klutz.I chose cycling because I can't stick the ball. I chose cycling because I didn't play team sports.I chose cycling because I'm…
We Need You On This Ride
I'll be brief.
Our primary goal at The Cycling Independent is to make our community as large as we possibly can. Part of that is selfish. We can't continue without your financial support. This is…
Editor’s Letter
Right now you might be thinking, "How can this be an editor’s letter on a website? This isn't print!"
You very well should be thinking that because we’re not just another website with a bunch of…
The Cycling Independent: a Statement of Purpose
The way I tell the story, my love of magazines, of periodic publications, began with Skateboarder Magazine in 1977, but that’s not actually true. I can trace it further back, to Boy’s…
New York to Provincetown
A single day can feel like a month. Processing a massive ride afterwards is like staring at a Salvador Dali painting. Fifty miles dissolves into a blurry moment.
Turns out it took a village…
Paceline Podcast 397
How are things on planet bike as 2024 comes to a close? John looks into his crystal ball at what 2025 may hold. Patrick tackles the subject of road tubeless and, believe it or not, he says he has a…
Page One
Video – Hangin’ On
I don't know what's in the water in Scotland that produces so many amazing trials riders. Obviously, you've got Danny Macaskill, Ali Clarkson and Ben Travis (I'm leaving more out). So, Ben Travis has…
Don’t Let It Happen to You
I'm concerned about your pelvic tilt. I know. I know. That's a weird way to open a conversation, but I have a number of reasons to suspect you've got a posterior pelvic tilt problem that may not have…
aging?
Have you been riding a while and are you are getting old? Let us see - cycling version.
1 - Your cycling buddy has never ridden or seen a tubular tire, but you still have a tube of tubular…
Op-Ed
TCI Friday – Wear and Tear
What's wrong with you? I usually leave the question until the end, you know, to build some suspense, to be a little coy, maybe even flirty, but it's straight to business today. What's wrong with you?…
TCI Friday
One conversation I've had a few times recently, with a few different bike shop owners, is about the lack of differentiation in the road bike market over the last couple seasons. It's not that there…
Freestyle: the Genius of King Crimson’s ‘Indiscipline’
Freestyle is what it sounds like, a departure from the rigid structure of our Monday through Friday bike banter, a chance to explore other topics, other formats, and other ways of amusing you.
…
Classified
A Useful Review: Crank Bros. Cigar Plug Tool Kit
I’ve got a couple of devices for installing tubeless plugs, but one of my favorites is the Cigar Tool Plug Kit and CO2 Head from Crank Bros.
The kit comes with a knurled aluminum cap into which…
Road Tubeless: a Solution
I suspect many people who have any experience with road tubeless have concluded that term is an oxymoron, like postal service or jumbo shrimp, and I can’t blame them.
A few weeks back I had three…
A Useful Review – The Walz Wool Cap
It’s that time of year when you might want something more than a helmet on your head. I tend to wear a cycling cap under a road helmet, and I’m not sure if that’s because I think it looks good or…
Talk
Paceline Podcast 397
How are things on planet bike as 2024 comes to a close? John looks into his crystal ball at what 2025 may hold. Patrick tackles the subject of road tubeless and, believe it or not, he says he has a…
Revolting 157
Bad Reasons to Talk About Batman. Batman is clearly the best superhero because he doesn’t have any superpowers and because he isn’t even sure whether he’s a good guy or a bad guy. Also, because he…
Paceline Tandem: Matt Fritzinger of the Blue-Tailed Skinks
This week we have an interview with Matt Fritzinger of the Blue-Tailed Skinks, a kids' mountain biking program in Sonoma County California. Matt was the founder of the NorCal League, which grew into…