September 4, 2012

What is a Cyclist?

When I first crafted the idea of cycling across America and started this blog, I wasn't even close to being a cyclist, and never thought I'd ever consider myself one. A cyclist is someone with a lean body wearing an ugly outfit on a road bike, riding at lightening speed. If you didn't fit that description, then you were not a cyclist...or so I thought.

Well, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that there's all types of cyclists: there are those fast people on lightweight bikes, and there's mountain biking enthousiasts, or day riders on beach cruisers, or bmx punks, or those who, like myself, travel long distance on a bicycle - not that I don't like to move fast, but I like the travel part of cycling.

I wear bike shorts, paired with an awesomely ugly jersey, tank top, t shirt, button down, wool shirt or a wind breaker. My legs may be lean and muscular, but I don't have a typical cyclists body. I love my inefficient bike sandals. I want to ride lightening fast, but prefer a steel frame. I carry a frame pump and have a heavy Brooks saddle. My handle bars have a double wrap. Sometimes I don't wear gloves. I wear fast sunglasses, and I wear fun neon sunglasses. Beast is outfitted with a bell that just begs to be rung; I ring it with such joy. I will own a road bike one day, but right now, Beast is my pseudo road bike; I ride it hard, pretending it's a feather weight. And I have bar-end shifters that click loudly into place.

My name is Patrice, and I'm a cyclist.

Photo: Beast and I in Sisters, Oregon


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