What I’m Reading: Just Ride by Grant Petersen
Cyclists are bombarded with information: advertising, in-ride chats, blogs, tweets. Sometimes we spend so much time making sure our kit looks good, our bikes look good and our pre-ride stretching was done that we forget we’re here to Just Ride the bike! Sure, there is a certain amount of fun toting up the miles on the mileage chart, planning the details of what variety of Gu® is going in the jersey pockets, making sure we look like “real” cyclists and not getting dropped on the first hill. But the bike is such a darn simple machine. Quiet, unassuming, but always ready to take us on an adventure.
Grant Petersen, founder of Rivendell Bicycle Works and former U.S. marketing director for Bridgestone Bikes, turns off the marketing blather, gives us a shake of the shoulders, looks us in the eye and says, “Let it go. Get back to basics.”
If just one image comes to mind after reading his book, this is it:
Grant’s book is a collection of short essays. Flip it open to any one of them and start reading. You’ll agree (although sometimes begrudgingly) or disagree with just about everything he says. What do I mean? Here’s a selection of chapters:
The weight ruse
Racing ruins the breed
Bags, not armloads or sweaty backs
Pumps, not greenhouse gas
Drink when you’re thirsty, not before
Surprise: fabric doesn’t breathe
I had a ball reading this book. Grant is so … down to earth. He takes us back to a kinder, gentler world of bicycling — one that’s pretty much been lost in today’s whirlwind of faster, lighter, stiffer. Every cyclist will relate to this book — love it or hate it, but you won’t be able to put it down.
The Details:
Just Ride by Grant Petersen
Workman Publishing
ISBN 978-0-7611-5558-4
Comments
I read the book over a month ago and felt Petersen was too opinionated and made claims without documentation. His premise to just ride and enjoy the experience is more inline with the way it uses to be. Today, it’s about performance and performance bike. If you don’t ride a performance bike, i.e. carbon fiber, you are not a cyclist. “The industry is driving the market not the consumer. ” – Georgena Terry. I stopped riding with my club because other riders avoided me when I showed up with a 1987 Miyata 1000 LT steel classic. I have the wrong equipment. Petersen has the right idea about being comfortable and enjoying the ride instead of riding through the country and never seeing it while trying to beat the latest Strava or Rapha challenge.
I read a review of the book a couple months ago.
The main point was to keep it simple and just go out and enjoy yourself.
Who could disagree with that?
After visiting the Philly Bike Expo yesterday and talking to frame builders and cyclist who are passionate about cycling, I decided to re-read sections of “Just Ride” with a more open mind. Petersen wants people to ride and enjoy the experience instead of worrying about who dropped you on the hill, or the latest Strava or Rapha challenge. “Just Ride” is about enjoy the cycling experience regardless of what you ride.