Paceline Podcast 388
This week John talks work, as in working in the bike biz. Patrick looks at how women hucked their way through the glass ceiling and into the Red Bull Rampage and rider Robin Goomes went home six…
Latest Posts Page One Op-Ed Classified Talk
Mediocrity You Say?
Once upon a time I raced. Translated that means that if I was not at work I was riding - or better said - training. If you race/raced you know. All focus is on training: on the bike, off the bike,…
A Useful Review – The Shimano Pro Stealth Sport Saddle
I’m finding that some saddles that used to work for me don’t anymore. To prevent numbness, and even pain, I'm finding greater comfort on wider, flatter saddles, which brings me to the Shimano Pro…
Hey, Just Ride 96: Ride the Hiawatha
By John Rezell
At first it sounded intriguing, if not inviting.
Ride the Hiawatha, a 15-mile stretch of an abandoned railroad now a mountain bike trail carved into the side of a mountain with a…
How to Dodge Bullets
The bullets come flying, but at this point in the film, you know they're not going to kill the chosen one, Neo, Keanu Reeves in a leather trench coat. Instead, the bullets slow seeming to hang in…
Revolting 148
The Three Body Problems. Never mind the sci-fi novel or the mini-series they made from it. Today we’re talking about the design problems with the human body, which are as obvious as the nose on your…
Video – Colors of Mexico
I am an unabashed lover of Mexico and the Mexican people. Because some of my best friends in the world are Mexican, I have been fortunate to spend long stretches of time there and to have seen the…
TCI Friday – The Bars We Hang Around
I cringe when I hear people use this formulation, though it's one I've used once or twice myself. It goes like this, "There are two types of people..." If there were two types of people, one type…
The New Road Culture
We had a comment not too many months back from a longtime reader who said, in effect, he was going to stop reading the site, because he thought it had become too gravel and mountain bike centric.…
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…
Hey, Just Ride 96: Ride the Hiawatha
By John Rezell
At first it sounded intriguing, if not inviting.
Ride the Hiawatha, a 15-mile stretch of an abandoned railroad now a mountain bike trail carved into the side of a mountain with a…
Page One
Hey, Just Ride 96: Ride the Hiawatha
By John Rezell
At first it sounded intriguing, if not inviting.
Ride the Hiawatha, a 15-mile stretch of an abandoned railroad now a mountain bike trail carved into the side of a mountain with a…
How to Dodge Bullets
The bullets come flying, but at this point in the film, you know they're not going to kill the chosen one, Neo, Keanu Reeves in a leather trench coat. Instead, the bullets slow seeming to hang in…
The New Road Culture
We had a comment not too many months back from a longtime reader who said, in effect, he was going to stop reading the site, because he thought it had become too gravel and mountain bike centric.…
Op-Ed
Mediocrity You Say?
Once upon a time I raced. Translated that means that if I was not at work I was riding - or better said - training. If you race/raced you know. All focus is on training: on the bike, off the bike,…
TCI Friday – The Bars We Hang Around
I cringe when I hear people use this formulation, though it's one I've used once or twice myself. It goes like this, "There are two types of people..." If there were two types of people, one type…
TCI Friday – Hand-me-down bikes
Sadly, I see that JonBenet Ramsey is once again in the news.
Netflix plans a documentary on it, and some news agencies are reporting that there might be new DNA testing that could reveal a killer…
Classified
A Useful Review – The ODI Dread Lock and Elite Pro Lock-On Grips
Normally, a person would review one product at a time, but I'm doing two today, because I'm real clever and also because I do what I like. Day-to-day I ride two different grips, and these are the…
A Useful Review – The NightRider Lumina 1000 Boost Headlight
With summer’s long days beginning to wane, and the local shops exhorting everyone to bring lights on their evening rides now, it's high time you sorted back through whatever drawer you threw yours…
An Extremely Short Conversation About Bottle Cages
You know, sometimes I don’t want to think about products. Part of the reason TCI is independent is that we don't really care to navigate the treacherous waters of product review, being inundated with…
Talk
Revolting 148
The Three Body Problems. Never mind the sci-fi novel or the mini-series they made from it. Today we’re talking about the design problems with the human body, which are as obvious as the nose on your…
Revolting 147
Anthony Bourdain’s Nightmares. In the night, when the hungers come, the mind capers at the culinary possibilities lurking in pantries and refrigerators. Weekend mornings, when we’re maybe not our…
Paceline Podcast 386
This week John examines Tadej Pogacar's win at the World Championship Road Race last weekend and tries not to ask the question any knowledgeable cyclist ends up asking. Patrick considers bike lights…