Cycling is more than just a sport—it’s a way of life, a passion that connects people through adventure, endurance, and the freedom of the open road. Whether you’re a seasoned cyclist or just beginning your journey, the Cycling Independent is here to bring you insights, stories, and the latest updates from the cycling world. Stay inspired, explore new trails, and embrace the cycling lifestyle.
Latest Posts Page One Op-Ed Classified Talk
My First Mountain Bike Ride
It the spring of 1989 I purchased a GT Avalanche through the bike shop I worked for. It had the new 7-speed Shimano Deore group with this brand-new shifting technology called Hyperglide. I'd ridden…
Revolting 245
You and Your Younger Self Walk Into a Bar. How much of the story that we tell ourselves is really true? Were we really that cool, that rad or that fast? Or have we spent the years telling ourselves…
Paceline Podcast 481
This week Lori and Patrick welcome Tom Boss, the Executive Director for the Redwood Trails Alliance, a mountain bike advocacy organization based in Sonoma County, California. Tom talks about the…
The Limits of Good Faith
"They just want you to buy the new stuff." We've seen the comments in social media, heard those words on rides and back when they were still a thing, read them in letters to the editor in magazines.…
A Useful Review: Shimano Deore XT Di2
The first time I rode Shimano's Dura-Ace Di2, I had a funny reaction. As terrific as I thought it was, it struck me as not offering nearly the improvement it was destined to present when recruited…
Revolting 244
Meet Me at the Goat Parade. All over the world people sensed a disturbance in the force, two powerful forces colliding, as though gravity shuddered and let out a fart. What happened was Robot and I…
Paceline Podcast 480
This week is the second half of Lori and Patrick's two-parter on ebikes. This week they look at "out-of-class" ebikes and some of the problems they pose as well as California's response to them, in…
A Useful Review: Redshift Sports Quickdraw Seat Bag
We had Erik de Brun from Redshift Sports on The Paceline a couple weeks ago, and he said they had a new product coming. Well it has dropped, or whatever the Gen Z kids are saying. It’s a seat bag…
Featured Posts
Llamas, Donkeys and Sage
The Wuanita loop in Saguache (“Saw–watch”) County, Colorado was my third bikepack, but my first without the handholding provided by a 2021 “Bikepacking 101 Course” offered by Rim Tours in Moab, or a…
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,…
Paceline Podcast 481
This week Lori and Patrick welcome Tom Boss, the Executive Director for the Redwood Trails Alliance, a mountain bike advocacy organization based in Sonoma County, California. Tom talks about the…
Page One
My First Mountain Bike Ride
It the spring of 1989 I purchased a GT Avalanche through the bike shop I worked for. It had the new 7-speed Shimano Deore group with this brand-new shifting technology called Hyperglide. I'd ridden…
Paceline Podcast 481
This week Lori and Patrick welcome Tom Boss, the Executive Director for the Redwood Trails Alliance, a mountain bike advocacy organization based in Sonoma County, California. Tom talks about the…
Op-Ed
Poison or Cure?
Here's a little secret I never tell non-cyclists: At times, the bike can be both the poison and the cure. I want to explore this, in part, because I and several people I know are suffering with a…
Hot Take: Bikes Are Too Good Now
I just wanted to crack the passenger side window, like one-and-a-half cranks of the old lever that did the job when you could actually "roll down the window." But we don't roll the window down…
Ebullition/Doubt 38: Tense and Nervous and I Can’t Relax
We always parked on the “landside” of Atlantic Avenue, generally at my mom’s friend’s house. This was back when it was still possible to rent a place on the north end of Virginia Beach long before…
Classified
A Useful Review: Dirt Baggies
It seems unlikely that I sweat more than the average cyclist, but I have avoided baggy shorts for the simple reason that I've had issues with my skin becoming irritated because the baggies didn't…
A Useful Review: Hunt Enduro V3 Wheels
Let’s begin with an agreed-upon maxim. Wheels can have the most immediately noticeable effect on your bike’s performance. Wheels are often the first big upgrade that riders make for their bike as it…
Robot’s Useless Reviews – 15spd Telepathic
Some of you may be aware that I don't love to write reviews. It's because I'm just not that interested in the technical details of most products, but also because I believe, sincerely, that most of…
Talk
Revolting 245
You and Your Younger Self Walk Into a Bar. How much of the story that we tell ourselves is really true? Were we really that cool, that rad or that fast? Or have we spent the years telling ourselves…
Revolting 244
Meet Me at the Goat Parade. All over the world people sensed a disturbance in the force, two powerful forces colliding, as though gravity shuddered and let out a fart. What happened was Robot and I…
Revolting 243
The Monster Truck Jam of the Planet of the Apes. The human condition is a cage we’ve spent nearly 300,000 years trying to escape from. Can we kill a wooly mammoth? Actually, we can kill ‘em all. Can…