Cycotherapy News Roundup: a tragic death, reflections of big bike vs. small bike and an other-worldly theory
We made it to another Friday, cycopaths. That means the weekend is here and so are your plans to shred it on singletrack or hammer on the roads or to simply ride around in the neighborhood.
Whatever your plans, I hope you find the following content as useful fodder for conversations to be had in the saddle.
Let’s get right to it, shall we?
headlines
The death of Gino Mäder
The cycling world was shocked last Friday when Swiss rider Gino Mäder, 26, of Team Bahrain Victorious died tragically after crashing during a descent down Albula Pass in the 5th stage of the Tour de Suisse. Officials are still investigating the crash, which was apparently not caught on film. A U.S. cyclist, Magnus Sheffield, also crashed in the same spot. The Ineos Grenadiers cyclist was treated for soft tissue damage and a concussion; he’s now resting under supervision, the team said in a statement. If you’re interested,
wrote a moving tribute to Mäder last week.We all know cycling is dangerous, especially at high speeds of 60+ mph on some of those descents in the mountains. The crash has some people, even riders, questioning race course routes and whether it’s necessary to have them snake down those roads. What do you think? Should race designers cut dangerous mountain descents out? Or would that just unnecessarily sanitize the sport?
Pelotons in UK become glorified clothes racks
Dang! I could have shorted the company and made some money. I knew this would happen … Peloton, the really expensive stationary bike that a lot of people bought into during the pandemic, is seeing a slump in sales as more and more people realize how much of a waste of time it is to spin mindlessly inside. OK, I embellished the latter part of that sentence. Still, sales are wayyyyy down. “The US parent company floated on the stock market in 2019 and its share price rose steeply during the pandemic, reaching $162 (£126) in late 2020. The price has since slumped to about $8 and last year the company announced it would cut more than 3,000 jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive.” Wow. That’s a pretty big hit. One can hope some of these Peloton customers fell in love with cycling, though, and put some of the money they had leftover into a bike they can ride outside.
Snow biking, anyone?
Little different than fat bikes … The UCI announced a few days ago its first-ever Snow Bike World Championships. It’s gonna be held Feb. 10-11, 2024 at the French ski resort of Châtel. There will be two competition formats: Super-G and dual slalom. The super-G is basically the snow-covered version of downhill races. The fastest person to descend a vertical drop of between 1,100 and 2,100 feet wins. Dual slalom is like slalom ski and snowboard racing.
It’s an interesting move, especially considering ski resorts’ struggle to stay open amid warmer winters and the pressure to keep making money during summer months (ahem, uhhhh hey ski resort, have you considered converting to downhill MTB parks when it gets warm?). Check out this telling quote from UCI’s president, David Lappartient: “At a time when ski resorts are increasingly keen to diversify their range of activities, snow bike presents them with a new opportunity. This winter sport is a new addition to the mountain bike specialties that have been growing strongly in the tourism sector for several years now, and are increasingly practiced from spring to autumn.”
Mixed reviews are pouring in for Unchained
It shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone that hardcore cyclists viewed the documentary as boring or just too simplistic. The gatekeepers gonna gatekeep. Here’s one verdict from The Inner Ring: “Vanilla, a tub of vanilla ice cream. It’s enjoyable but it’s not got much inside, it feels factory-made and relies on industrial additives for flavouring. The stunning images of the Tour de France in the height of summer and a lively edition of the race provide plenty to enjoy. Each episode is a feel-good tale of triumph over adversity where the central character comes good. Take it at this level and you can sit back and enjoy eight servings, and hopefully 95% of the viewers will.
“A refrain from many after the release has been ‘it’s not for us’, that the series is pitched at more casual audience rather than those who follow cycling. This feels unsatisfying, a great sports documentary should appeal to everyone.”
People more far removed from the sport, however, are a bit more enthusiastic. That was, by the way, the design. To capture a more general audience with the intricacies of the complex, brutal sport. Take veteran golf journalist, Will Kent. He wrote this: “Netflix has truly impressed me with this release, and I'm eagerly anticipating the possibility of a second season. As someone totally new to the world of cycling, I would give this a solid nine out of 10.”
How about you, cycopaths? What’s your verdict on the series?
feature of the week
Eric Mathy did a nice job on this story, published in the Radavist. Aesthetically, it’s pretty cool. He uses handmade cameras and lenses to create a really interesting feel to the images.
Topically, it’s another interesting angle. We all know the cycling industry went through a massive ebb through the pandemic as people decided to turn to bikes as a pastime. And now, when all the big manufacturers responded by churning out tons and tons of bikes and parts, there’s a glut of product sitting in shops across the world.
It’s great for the consumer. More sales. More options.
But it presents a challenge for the small guys. Mathy’s piece, therefore centers around the question he posed to some people at the Meet Your Maker handbuilt bike show in Napa, Ca.: How did they survive and, possibly, thrive as the Treks, Pons and Specializeds of the world amassed more of literally everything?
The answers were as unique as the individuals giving the answers, from “nah, doesn’t really affect me” to “yeah, it sorta does.”
Here’s one response I particularly liked, from Tony Pereira of Breadwinner Cycles: “People come to us because they get a unique thing that’s made by people that have a face. Like they know who is building the bike and they know the story.
There’s a story behind it. There’s a relationship with us. As a small builder, that’s always been the answer to this question. They’re buying something that’s uniquely theirs and they can’t get anywhere else. And then there’s also the experience of buying it and interacting with the people that are making it. That does present some problems with growth and scaling because at some point, parts of that get lost.”
book excerpt of the week
Now here’s a thought to consider. Every twenty minutes on the Appalachian Trail, Katz and I walked farther than the average American walks in a week. For 93 percent of all trips outside the home, for whatever distance or whatever purpose, Americans now get in a car. On average the total walking of an American these days — that’s walking of all types: from car to office, from office to car, around the supermarket and shopping malls — adds up to 1.4 miles a week, barely 350 yards a day. That’s ridiculous.
When my family and I moved to the States, one of the things we wanted was to live in a traditional small town — the ort of place where Jimmy Stewart would be the mayor, the Hardy Boys would deliver your groceries, and Deanna Durbin would forever be singing at an open window. Perfect little towns are not easy to find, of course, but Hanover, where we settled, comes close. It is a small, typical New England college town, pleasant, sedate and compact, full of old trees and sunny steeples. It has a broad green, an old-fashioned Main Street, a handsome campus with a settled and venerable air, and leafy residential streets. Nearly everyone in town is within a level, easy stroll of the post office, library, and stores.
But here’s the thing: hardly anyone, as far as I can tell, walks anywhere for anything. I know a man who drives 600 yards to work. I know a woman who gets in her car to go a quarter mile to the gymnasium to walk on a treadmill, then complains passionately about the difficulty of finding a parking space. When I asked her once why she didn’t walk to the gym and do five minutes less on the treadmill, she looked at me as if I were being willfully provocative. “Because I have a program for the treadmill,” she explained. “It records my distance and speed, and I can adjust it for degree of difficult.” It hadn’t occurred to me how thoughtlessly deficient nature is in this regard.
Bill Bryson — A Walk in the Woods
conspiracy theory of the week
This section of the newsletter will change from time to time. We’ll have dishes, beers and beverages, and any other thing that catches my eye. This week, I’ll highlight a funny (or, depending on your disposition, thought provoking) conspiracy theory. Or, again, depending on your disposition, just theory.
Hope this gives you all something to talk about on your next ride.
Happy weekend and happy hammering (the cranks)!
P.S. Thanks to those of you who shoot me links of stories you’ve found interesting. The feature of the week today came from a fellow cycopath who simply forwarded it to me. And the conspiracy theory of the week came from my wife who likes sending me TikTok videos she finds and also thinks I might chuckle at, or scratch my head at. All that to say, don’t hesitate to share stuff you think could fit here. Who knows, maybe I’ll throw it up on the newsletter.
The Friday news & notables roundup is good because it covers a lot of the perimeters and influencing powers of the pedaling world. On your last comment on exercise vs. car: there was a family that lived right across the the street from a McDonald’s. Every day they would all pile into the car and drive across the street to feed and Pepsi the family. One day the restaurant manager asked them why they didn’t just walk over. The father answered, “What?!?! That’s way too far to walk!” Technology and automation has augmented our laziness and our health is now in jeopardy.