Do you have a relationship with your bike?
Dave Carr, August 2000
Your pal, the bike. Do you have a relationship with your bike? You should. I do. In racing--in cyclocross, especially--your bike is sometimes your only friend. How many times have you faced some technical piece of a circuit and thought: Here comes that long hill--I hope my gear shifts right. A little muddy ride-up: Come on, tires, dig in…Yes. Thanks. A sketchy dismount: May these wheels track straight. And so on. You and your bike do these things, together, fifty times every race. (That’s not an exaggeration. Count up sometime.)
Most of us take our bikes for granted. Whenever something screws up--flat tire, blown derarilleur, whatever--perhaps you take it out on the bike. I have had bitter arguments with my shifter on occasion. But when everything works, do you ever stop to share your appreciation?
Maybe it’s that, in cyclocross, the top guys have two or more bikes at every race. For them, bikes are just a tool, an accessory to be quickly cast aside whenever mud builds up or tires go flat. With a situation like that, no wonder those guys don’t get friendly with their bike. The other bike would always be jealous.
For working class ‘cross racers like me, there’s only one bike.
My bike.The other day after returning from a particularly tough Surf City race I was hanging my bike in the garage. Another week’s work--training, practice, race--was done. Saturday I had cleaned the bike carefully in preparation for Sunday’s race. Now on the wall there was my Redline: a little muddy, scratched up a bit, with the pungent odor of used-up chain lube.
Still, ol’ Red was still sharp and ready to go again. It had been a good day and standing there for a second I realized: I’m proud of my bike. Nice job. We did good. See you next week.
I turned out the garage light and went inside to stretch and take a bunch of Advil. Too bad I can’t count on my body the same as my bike.
So develop a relationship with your bike. It’s a good thing.
Go back to the NVV Cyclocross Circuit