Video – Going the Distance with Lael Wilcox
I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest TED fan. I find the format really cringey, and the whole "We-did-some-research-and-found-out-this-one-crazy-thing" vibe to be sorta like pseudo-intellectual…
Latest Posts Page One Op-Ed Classified Talk
TCI Friday – Trail Dog Edition
Trail dogs are so cool. I binge-watch amateur trail dog videos almost as much as Belgian Malinois takedowns. Maybe I need to get out on my bike more. I've wanted to write about trail dogs for years,…
The Speed Trap
What is fast, and why do we care about it? First, let's sort fast from speed, because they're not the same thing. Fast is a relative value. It's a judgment. You can only be fast in relation to…
A Biased Review – Shimano SLX
Shimano North America is one of our key sponsors, so let’s acknowledge that, but as with all the products I bring up, I’m only bringing up things I really like, because otherwise, what’s the point? I…
Robot’s Useless Reviews – On Your Left
The Law of Diminishing Returns posits that, at some point, increased investment in a specific process fails to bring commensurate gains. This is how I feel about 'on your left' now. Twenty years ago,…
Random Start – A Love Letter to Cycling, Pt. 1
Or, How a 43-Year-Old Woman Took Up BMX Racing
This epic tale requires a little bit of background. Please bear with me while I set the stage for one of the most important events of my life.
…
Revolting 37
Bike Shops. This episode is about bike shops, what we like, what we don’t like, basically a recipe for success for small businesspeople everywhere and a love letter of sorts to the hilarious dirt…
TCI Friday
TCI Friday works best when you weigh in. Read, respond, relax.
As you read these words, I am sitting in a small bungalow in tiny Welsh village drinking a cup of hot, sugary tea and contemplating…
Video – Effects of PEDs with Tyler Hamilton
I'll be honest. I'm a fan of Tyler Hamilton's. I know there are a lot out there who lump him in with all the other riders who cheated. If that's where you're at, that's ok. With some years distance…
Featured Posts
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…
Letter From the Editors
This might get a little long, and it isn't, strictly speaking, about bikes, but if you're interested in what we do and how we're trying to do it. Read on.
We have been looking for a good way to…
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…
A Biased Review – Shimano SLX
Shimano North America is one of our key sponsors, so let’s acknowledge that, but as with all the products I bring up, I’m only bringing up things I really like, because otherwise, what’s the point? I…
Page One
Video – Going the Distance with Lael Wilcox
I'll be honest, I'm not the biggest TED fan. I find the format really cringey, and the whole "We-did-some-research-and-found-out-this-one-crazy-thing" vibe to be sorta like pseudo-intellectual…
The Speed Trap
What is fast, and why do we care about it? First, let's sort fast from speed, because they're not the same thing. Fast is a relative value. It's a judgment. You can only be fast in relation to…
Random Start – A Love Letter to Cycling, Pt. 1
Or, How a 43-Year-Old Woman Took Up BMX Racing
This epic tale requires a little bit of background. Please bear with me while I set the stage for one of the most important events of my life.
…
Op-Ed
TCI Friday – Trail Dog Edition
Trail dogs are so cool. I binge-watch amateur trail dog videos almost as much as Belgian Malinois takedowns. Maybe I need to get out on my bike more. I've wanted to write about trail dogs for years,…
TCI Friday
TCI Friday works best when you weigh in. Read, respond, relax.
As you read these words, I am sitting in a small bungalow in tiny Welsh village drinking a cup of hot, sugary tea and contemplating…
Ask Stevil
Periodically our resident sage pulls some questions out of the TCI punch bowl and drops the science. We suggest you take notes and try to abstain from drinking hot liquids while you read.
Do you…
Classified
A Biased Review – Shimano SLX
Shimano North America is one of our key sponsors, so let’s acknowledge that, but as with all the products I bring up, I’m only bringing up things I really like, because otherwise, what’s the point? I…
Robot’s Useless Reviews – On Your Left
The Law of Diminishing Returns posits that, at some point, increased investment in a specific process fails to bring commensurate gains. This is how I feel about 'on your left' now. Twenty years ago,…
A Biased Review – The Chris King GRD23 Gravel Wheel
I was involved in the launch of Chris King Wheels, and I continue to earn income consulting with them. They are not compensating me for this review. I have been riding these wheels for a few months,…
Talk
Revolting 37
Bike Shops. This episode is about bike shops, what we like, what we don’t like, basically a recipe for success for small businesspeople everywhere and a love letter of sorts to the hilarious dirt…
Revolting 36
Camping. This episode is about camping via bicycle, not necessarily bikepacking, with all sorts of gear, but maybe just riding out to a park or open space, making a little bivy or something, and…
Paceline Podcast 294
This week John takes on cycling and inclusivity, and how to bring more people into the party. Patrick talks to Jacob Rheuban of Prevelo Bikes and his thinking on kids and full-face helmets.
…