I'm not serious...

Here we go...my blog 2.0.

I had a blog in the past, but honestly, not much to talk about. Well, maybe too much to talk about, but no focus for my rantings. I talked about a lot of bike related stuff, but I was all over the board, giving my opinions about everything from parts to politics and everything in between.

Recently, I've had an epiphany if you will. We, as cyclists, can get far too serious about our sport. Let me explain...

Unless you're making a living on a bike, such as a messenger or are a cyclist with the name of Armstrong, Leipheimer or if your name ends in a vowel (Cipolini, Vande Velde or Sastre) then you can be serious about cycling. If not, then, well, you're taking it way too seriously.

I have recently seen people, heck, friends, get so serious about doing well in a local race that they couldn't even go on a group ride with some friends and have a beer or two afterwards. They had to go on a "training" ride.

In addition, if you're new to the sport, unless you've got the "look" (the right clothing, under 5% body fat, and a well-placed soul patch) forget being noticed in a bike shop. You could have a lot of money burning a hole in your pocket, but if you don't have the look, forget having the aloof shop employee offer help, much less a grunt when you walk into his (or her) personal space. That employee could take themselves a bit less seriously and maybe, just maybe, if they said "Hi" to that potential customer, they could get another person into cycling.

Remember that feeling when you first got on a bike? That feeling of freedom and fun? That feeling of being "wow'ed" by the fact you were balancing on those two relatively skinny tires? That is what we need to get back to. Sure, we have a lot to be serious about in cycling. Trail access, safety on the roads, commuting, are all reasons to be serious, but can't we have a bit of fun in-between?

That's what we're going to try here. Try to have a little fun (or poke a little fun). And FOR SURE, we're not going to be serious about cycling.