Robot’s Useless Reviews – False Flats
Have you ever been riding along, probably on a road bike, and hit something unexpected, a pothole, some sort of garbage, and been absolutely sure, rolling away, that your tire was flat as a result?…
Latest Posts Page One Op-Ed Classified Talk
Hey, Just Ride
For the most part Oregonians never allow weather to derail adventure. But every now and then, Mother Nature spits out a bit too much rain with the temperature just a pinch too cold, and I snuggle in…
Revolting 55
The Meaning of Life. This episode is about the meaning of life. First and foremost, how do you keep from falling into the abyss of hopelessness and despair? And once you’ve done that, how do…
Triangulation Strangulation
Here's an SAT question for you: C can ride, but not until 9. B wants in, but he's got a client call at 10. J is down for whatever time, but doesn't have a mountain bike. The whole thing was M's idea.…
TCI Friday
TCI Friday works best if you contribute your thoughts below in comments.
The World Cup is on, which is of no real consequence here on TCI, except that it provides an object lesson in how to grow…
Video – L’Eroica 2022
Oh, Italy, cut it out. You're just too goddamned cute. For those unaware of L'Eroica, it's a sort of OG gravel event. Riders are required to ride period bicycles and encouraged to don kit of a…
Dying to Get Home
Data science has made massive strides in the last decade. It's the evil magic that allows retailers to buttonhole you wherever you go, and the good magic that lets us understand, in clear detail, the…
Paceline Podcast 309
This week John and Patrick talk Christmas lists and gift giving and do their best to focus on experiences rather than stuff, but let's be honest, cycling is a sport of stuff, especially in the…
A Useful Review – Fillo’s Walking Tamales
I'm no food blogger, but I love when I discover a thing that's not meant for cycling but ends up being perfect for cycling, so I'm telling you about these ready-to-eat tamales, Fillo’s Walking…
Featured Posts
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…
Triangulation Strangulation
Here's an SAT question for you: C can ride, but not until 9. B wants in, but he's got a client call at 10. J is down for whatever time, but doesn't have a mountain bike. The whole thing was M's idea.…
Page One
Hey, Just Ride
For the most part Oregonians never allow weather to derail adventure. But every now and then, Mother Nature spits out a bit too much rain with the temperature just a pinch too cold, and I snuggle in…
Triangulation Strangulation
Here's an SAT question for you: C can ride, but not until 9. B wants in, but he's got a client call at 10. J is down for whatever time, but doesn't have a mountain bike. The whole thing was M's idea.…
Video – L’Eroica 2022
Oh, Italy, cut it out. You're just too goddamned cute. For those unaware of L'Eroica, it's a sort of OG gravel event. Riders are required to ride period bicycles and encouraged to don kit of a…
Op-Ed
TCI Friday
TCI Friday works best if you contribute your thoughts below in comments.
The World Cup is on, which is of no real consequence here on TCI, except that it provides an object lesson in how to grow…
TCI Friday
TCI Friday is best when you weigh in. Read. Digest. Feedback.
I did a whole spiel yesterday, on the Paceline, enumerating the things I'm grateful for. I have this idea, actually, that if you're…
TCI Friday
Baseball is the great American pastime, but way more people ride bikes. If you tune into a baseball game, especially if you haven't watched one for a long time, one thing that might strike you (not…
Classified
Robot’s Useless Reviews – False Flats
Have you ever been riding along, probably on a road bike, and hit something unexpected, a pothole, some sort of garbage, and been absolutely sure, rolling away, that your tire was flat as a result?…
A Useful Review – Fillo’s Walking Tamales
I'm no food blogger, but I love when I discover a thing that's not meant for cycling but ends up being perfect for cycling, so I'm telling you about these ready-to-eat tamales, Fillo’s Walking…
TCI Book Club – Michael Pollan’s Food Rules
If there's anything I hate more than a diet book, it's a LONG diet book. Let's also distinguish a diet, a short-term plan to lose weight, from Diet, the way you eat every day, forever. I have no…
Talk
Revolting 55
The Meaning of Life. This episode is about the meaning of life. First and foremost, how do you keep from falling into the abyss of hopelessness and despair? And once you’ve done that, how do…
Paceline Podcast 309
This week John and Patrick talk Christmas lists and gift giving and do their best to focus on experiences rather than stuff, but let's be honest, cycling is a sport of stuff, especially in the…
Enter the Deuce 10
Conceding that your child’s options have dwindled to only one course of action is a difficult concept to digest. As a younger man I might not have accepted the news and just put my fingers in my…