Quotable

Quite possibly the best cycling quote ever to be taken out of context . . .

"Cyclists are never truly happy whether they are professionals or amateurs."
- Francesco Zenere, Campagnolo Press Manager

This was part of the justification for going to an 11-speed setup for 2009, but it applies to just about any aspect of cycling. If you don't believe the above statement (especially out of context), just hang around a bike race sometime and ask loaded questions about prize payouts or results screw ups involving 34th place. For the truly jaded and disgruntled, go ahead and navigate here.

Since today is officially Bike to Work Day and the masses hit the bike paths and streets, I'm sure there will be plenty of complaining on the parts of seasoned bike path pros, drivers, occasional bicycle commuters, volunteers at the "aid" stations. Back in the day when there were bike paths involved on my way to work I used to avoid riding on Bike to Work Day at all costs. While I encourage people to get out and commute to work, it would be nice if people would do it more than once a year. This would not only improve general air quality and fitness, but also general skills when it comes to bike path riding.

I get yelled at on a regular basis for not calling out "on your left" when passing people on the bike path, but the last thing I want is for people to look left as I pass because many have the tendency to swerve the direction in which they look. The bike path can be a scary place on a regular day, Bike to Work day becomes horrifying. The same can be said when large packs of those who race (or "race") hit the path. I used to get very frustrated when team training rides would insist on heading out of town on the path. We can be just as frightening as the neo-commuter or the bikepath-a-lete.

If you don't work, you might consider volunteering on Bike to Work Day. It would probably be more rewarding than riding around to the day's "incentive" stops, poaching food from those it was intended for.