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Are You a Real Cyclist?

That was the predominant thought bouncing off the inside of my skull out putting in another 70 for this fall’s IM. As I hammered through town doing 26 mph + and caught a glimpse of myself in the store windows, I thought “geese, you look like a cyclist”. Next thought? What the heck is that? What is a “real cyclist”. Well, search that one and find a ton of ideas that quantify your cycling worth.

Running is much easier to figure out. There are plenty of dorks out there that are ready to tell you if you cannot run 8 minute miles that you aren’t really running. Straight, to the point quantifiable bull right there in your face. Hell, even some misinformed folks at Pearl Izumi bought into this idea for their “run like an animal” campaign. Where are these wiseguys when I’m trying to figure out if I can cycle?

Many of the tests I found online involve cycling in Europe (who cares), biking to work frozen (no distance set, which nullifies this as an important qualifier), ridden a recumbent (blech, I have and don’t see why that counts), had a bike stolen (hello, some of us have stories of Wal Mart going ballistic when we bring them in the store). Bogus. For real. Seems I am left on my own.

What do I think a cyclist is? I don’t really have any great ideas, but I thought a few things might be important.

First, you need to have a love for actually riding your bike. Does your bike get play time, or does it sit in the garage day after day longing to hit the road? There are many people who spend a fortune on their bikes and never get out there to ride them. It doesn’t have to be nice weather. Any conditions will do. There isn’t some goal hanging over your head. Out there putting in the miles only because I have an IM to complete-hell no. I’m out there because I love to do it! But I can be guilty of fair weather riding.

Work on your own bike. Appalling how many people cannot fix a flat. I have a neighbor who hasn’t ridden in a couple of years because her bike has a flat! “I will bring it to the shop later”. Or leave your chain drag on the guard, instead of adjusting it in. Yeah, I need work in this area. Namely, having a headset I can’t tighten down myself.

I would love to hear other people’s thoughts on this. I grew up hammering around on a Shopko Huffy and loved it. It just doesn’t feel right to say to be a cyclist that you have to have the latest gear or expensive ride or some expansive tour across Europe.

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