Grant Peterson, Rivendell Bicycle Works, and Bicycling Coversion

* Warning. Caution. Achtung. Precauci'on. A winding, passionate post lies ahead at the next scroll turn. This is a long post. Exercise extreme caution. --Editor in Chief of HTH

   

    A couple Saturdays ago, Mel said she needed to get out of the house and get some fresh air, so we loaded up the Subaru and headed out. Our first stop was to the Washington Memorial Library. We had some overdue books we needed to take back and Mel had a list of several books she was in the market for. We didn't want that library guy from Seinfeld to come after us. Well, I guess no one does.

     After I grabbed the books I was looking for, we (FH and I) helped Mel put a couple holds on several selections by standing very close to her and giving her loads of moral support. We also walked around the library looking in some corners we don't usually go to and we made our way to the section that has all the books about every sport or outdoor activity you can think of and I wanted to peruse their selection of bike books since I've been riding my bike more than running as of late and have been sort of consumed with many thoughts about bike design, bicycling, and commuting and if you ask Mel, she could easily say that my brain has looked a little like this:

Or

     And you would get this or at least be a little like this yourself if you would have spent the last month riding your two-wheeled machine back and forth from work for around 14 of the past 20 working days and in town for errands. So, we located the books they had about bikes and we both sat on the floor and pulled several selections from the shelf and gave them a very thorough looking over. FH was surprised they still had the books about or by Lance A. and he did make a couple wise cracks about the fact that, "it wasn't just about the bike", but we did find two great books and one that has made a big impact on my thinking about cycling. And when I say big, I mean gigantic. 

 
    If you know me, you know I tend to be easily influenced. This has been both good and bad at certain moments in my life. And once influenced, I tend to keep up an action or a thought for a very, very long time. I met this fine looking curly haired brunette girl almost 12 years ago and I am still trying to keep her as my girl.  I read my first Wendell Berry book around 10 years ago and I'm still talking about it. I ran my first mile when I was in the 8th grade and I'm still running. I strummed my first guitar 21 years ago and I am still playing. And now, two Saturdays ago, I picked up this book (see pic) and I can see it influencing the rest of my life in relation to cycling. 

    If you read my post about the Strava Base Mile Challenge, you know that I have really been rethinking my views about cycling. When I consider the amount of actual guilt-free, extra time in my life, I don't really have any. And when I think about how much time, effort, and money it would take me to get into the place and shape where I would be considered a real cyclist or a racer of some sort, it is not hard for me to become easily depressed. I don't see this happening in any realistic scenario, but this is where my thinking has been evolving. I love riding bikes. I really love riding bikes with my wife and am really looking forward to putting FH into one of these (see pic) and all three of us heading out into the sunset.

  I have always loved riding bikes even though when I was learning, I acquired the name "Clyde Crashcut" and have never really been that great or strong of a rider, I still love it. So, when I look at my very nice bike, a Trek 1000 SL that God gave me, I have two choices. I can either hang up the bike and walk away with my head down because I will never be a "real cyclist" or I can sell my bike and buy a three-wheeled trike and resolve to use it in a retirement community only. Those are two choices I didn't want to be forced into. I needed a third and much better option. I needed an option that was very similar to the one I had when I was a kid and used to ride my bike for hours around the neighborhood with my sister and friends. That is where my thinking has been headed and then I found a book with a red jacket written by this man:

Grant Petersen

   The man is Grant Petersen. He has spent his life around bikes both professionally and recreationally. He worked for the Bridgestone Cycle (USA) until they closed their North American doors in 1991 and when those doors closed, he opened up Rivendell Bike Works and that is where he is at today. At Bridgestone, he designed bike frames and bike components and now does basically the same thing for his own company, but with a completely different viewpoint. He used to build bikes like this:

  

But he now builds bikes like this:

The Atlantis, aka "David's Dream Bike"

And this:

The Hunqapillar

     He used to build and design bikes for pro cyclists, but now he builds and designs bikes for what he has called the "unracer". This is the term he describes everyone who loves cycling, but is not actually sponsored by a company and doesn't ride the major tours of the pro cycling circuit. Which makes up everyone besides around 500 people on the planet. If you look at the pictures closely, you can see some similarities because after all, they are all bikes, but when you take a closer look, you see how different they really are. His older designs are made of smaller frames, different components, complex gearing, and very skinny tires. While his new designs contain larger, more durable frames, wider tires, baskets and racks, different seats, different handlebars, and much different, and much simpler gear sets. His old designs are made of "racer" specific materials and aren't made to last, while his new designs are made of materials that will last one a very long time.

     Mr. Petersen is not shy about his views on cycling and gets a lot of flack for what his writes and what he says, but it doesn't seem to bother the guy because he keeps writing and talking. And his fame is radipdly growing because he has nit a nerve and a sentiment that a lot of other people are feeling as well. He has been given the name or title of being a, "retro grouch", which I think I know what is meant by the term, but am not completely sure. He ruffles a lot of feathers in the cycling community by dividing everyone into a "racer" or "unracer", but I don't see why, because he labels himself as an "unracer". I think there is a misunderstanding here. When I read Petersen describe an "unracer", I do not have the feeling he wants all cycling to become somewhat of an "Upward" sport where everyone is a winner, but instead wants people to realize that hobbies are things you don't have to do and if you are doing something that you aren't required to do by your life, then it shouldn't be something you dread. I completely agree. He also ruffles a lot feathers by being pretty rough on pro cycling and what designs, equipment, attitudes that come out of it. He feels that instead of good things trickling down from the top, he feels that pro cycling harms the sport instead of helping it. His biggest arguments really hit home with me and how I have been feeling as of late about cycling. To sum up Grant Petersen's core beliefs about cycling, I will use an excerpt from the book:

"...the message in this book is to jettison the influences of racing that make your bike less than fantastic. Don't suffer in the name of speed, imaginary glory, or Internet admiration; don't ride bikes that don't make sense for you; don't wear ridiculous outfits just to ride your bike; don't think of your bike as a get-in shape tool and riding as something you to have suffer to benefit from. Your bike is a useful convenience, and a fun, somewhat expensive, toy, and riding is best for you when it's fun." --page xi

 
     This is exactly the mindset that I've been trying to form and instead found it clearly written in the book instead. The book comes in at 212 pages including the appendix and is chock full of very useful and extremely practical lessons that Mr. Petersen has gathered during his life with bikes and among the cycling community at large. You can easily read the book cover to cover in a few sittings. I did and I'm a slow reader. Mel could read it in a single setting. It is written more like a magazine and less like a book. And if you like riding bikes, it will change the way you think about your hobby or it will at least challenge it. I found this book very, very enlightening and very helpful. In fact, I changed something about my bike after reading the book only for a few short moments. Whether he is discussing bike frames or the clothing one should wear while riding, he never strays too far from the above quoted feeling. The book is broken into eight parts and each part is full of a multitude of 1-5 page articles that if you love cycling and are willing to call yourself an "unracer", then you will find very useful and very rewarding. Here are few things I have gleaned from the book:

• The correct way to pedal.
• How to think about and use the 27 gears on my bike.
• How anytime spent on the bike whether its 5 minutes or 5 hours is enough and worth it. 
• How wearing everyday clothes is more practical and much cheaper than putting on loads of spandex.
• A multitude of safety related matters that I instantly found useful in my daily commutes to work.
• The correct way to wear a bike helmet. 
• Good ways to personally and cheaply keep my bike running smoothly and how to keep it clean. 
• The correct riding posture and position.
• The differences of all the tires and which tires are for what. 
• The differences in frame materials and why steel and aluminum frames are better than titanium and carbon frames.

   These are not all the items I have acquired from the book, but it seems that I got something from all 89 sections of the book. I really enjoyed his section on "Velosophy". It was well-written and changed my thoughts about cycling forever. He spends his time in this section discussing how to change one's "bike-o-meter" and reinforces the idea of using your bike for fun and for commuting. I also really enjoyed his thoughts on how to make your family enjoy your hobby instead of hate it. The section on what he calls "S240's" got me very excited. All they are, are sub-24 hours overnight trips that you take from your house and cycle out about 2-3 hours from your home, camp out, and then ride back home. This is a very simple, yet awesome idea that I plan on getting my family (Mel & FH) to do as soon as Ford is old enough. The pic below is of some of the guys from Rivendell Bike Works on their way back from an S240. 

  If you haven't read the book. Give it a read. It won't take you long and it will be worth your time. If you used to love riding your bike when you were a kid, but have given that type of riding up because you think you need to be the next stage winner of a TdF in order to be seen as legitimate to your peers, but hate spandex and don't have the time, desire, and an extra $15,000 to spend on a bike, but still want to ride around for fun, then Grant Petersen and this book are what you've been looking for. Since I've read this book, I have gotten wider tires put on my bike along with a rack on the back. I have also gone from using blinking lights to using solid lights when I ride early in the morning and at night. I have also acquired two steel framed bikes (for free from a family that was throwing them out) that I plan on converting to either neat, retro touring bikes or fixed-gear bikes. 

   I will end the post here. I could say more, but won't. Read the book. Look up Rivendell Bike Works. Subscribe to their blog. Look up Grant Petersen and read his other interviews. Go throw away your spandex, put on some regular clothes you love to wear, grab your wife and kid, and go for a ride like you did when you were a kid. If someone makes fun of you, feel sorry for them because they are really missing out on something cheap and very fun. And as Grant Petersen says, "don't count the miles, measure the minutes and the amount of joy you are gaining from riding." I couldn't agree more.  

Happy reading, riding, and watch the film at the bottom. It last almost 30 minutes, but you will gain something from watching it, even if you don't ride. 

   David