tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-827707900784884389.post8254038139890828811..comments2017-09-24T19:56:35.181-07:00Comments on Keep walking, even if it's steep: Review It!!Jim Bangshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11618333090634257257noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-827707900784884389.post-33578831318356598372013-01-10T08:30:16.826-08:002013-01-10T08:30:16.826-08:00You are right TJ, semantics and perception. Toy or...You are right TJ, semantics and perception. Toy or tools? Each of us gets out of our rides and the machines we use what we put into it and take away from it.<br />I am really not putting down the carbon bike racer type in the full matching kit. I hope that was not the perception I gave. I am certainly not, in any cycling world, qualified to pass judgement on the style of riding anybody does. I'll just never be one of those racer dudes. Any more than I'll be the super single track mountain bike guy, or the snow biker with ginormous fat tires. I think it is great that the cycle world has all these options to appeal to many different people.<br />I have seen first hand the strange looks and talk that I have had with racers types when I have been on a self-contained tour. As we look at each other, and bikes, I can tell we both are thinking "No way am I ever doing that!"Jim Bangshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11618333090634257257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-827707900784884389.post-52237836725724778032013-01-01T12:50:11.633-08:002013-01-01T12:50:11.633-08:00I haven't read it yet, nor either of the Snob&...I haven't read it yet, nor either of the Snob's books or Fatty's either...I haven't read Ride One or Ride Two and in fact, the only cycling book I ever remember reading was when I was twelve years old and I found a book at the library about a french orphan who goes on to win the Tour of something or other. It was a good book but that was forty five years ago. It went into great detail about training to be a pro and discussed diet and exercise and training and even how to trim your toenails properly so they don't bleed during the grueling climbs. It was great and when I put it down I knew I would one day be a professional cyclist. And who knows? I ain't dead yet...<br /><br />Thar whole toy discussion is a semantic wrestling match. Is a Maserati a tool or a toy? How about a saxophone? A rifle? They can all be used to perform a chore or function, and they can all certainly be fun to use, which I guess is the difference. But I get where Richard is coming from. I used "toy" as a derogatory term in my post about returning the OX29 Walmart bike. <br /><br />I follow the Booger of one of those crabonic cyclists you mention, Jim, and really enjoy his perspective and take on the whole spandex marvelosa syndrome. Those guys are amateur atheletes and thus their bikes are far from toys...but at the same time they use them as instruments of play.<br /><br />Me, I just came in from a 34 mile loop that took me three hours to ride. There is a hardpack dirt section of five miles through forest canopy that i did twice just because it was so mysterious and quiet and smooth and wonderful. I don't know if my bike at that point was a tool or a toy. I do know that it was Me 'Little Darlin' because she did her magic and disappeared from beneath me as I flew silently along that lost lane. Man! That's what it is all about, guys. The disappearing bicycle! More miles in '13!<br /><br />tjTim Joe Comstockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05351911607475089105noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-827707900784884389.post-51732840894207863482012-12-31T15:40:56.696-08:002012-12-31T15:40:56.696-08:00Sounds like an enjoyable read, but one I'd nee...Sounds like an enjoyable read, but one I'd need to keep an open mind while reading. I'm one of those strange ones however that enjoy riding my "racing" bike. I actually find it comfortable, even for long distances. Can't say I agree with his helmet ideas much either. I do agree with the idea that one should ride a bike for the pure enjoyment of it, whatever that enjoyment is. I'm not one who sees my bike as a toy, but rather as a fitness machine, something to keep me healthy and fit for the remainder of my life. If I saw it as a toy, I would have never progressed beyond the $50 Walmart bike and the 5 mile rides I thought were so tremendous. So, yeah....I see it as a tool, not a toy, becoming fit was what got me into riding in the first place. I'm one of those people who enjoy work, and won't apply myself to a toy nearly as strenuously. Seriously, I think you're a bit that way too. Thanks for the book report..... I'll give you an "A"....... Maybe the book's just not really my style. RichardWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11065102209541255736noreply@blogger.com