Riding for Fun

We received this article, originally appearing on www.bicycling.com, from a fellow MOBer. (Thanks Ken!) Thought we would post it here.

Bicycling's Editor-In-Chief looks past the disappointment of the Floyd Landis affair to check in with the real home of cycling: THE EVERYDAY RIDER

By Steve Madden

Tulloch called Friday night to ask about a ride on Saturday. It would have to be in the morning, he said, because Isabel had activities in the afternoon, and he would have to drive her. And he and Kim had a date planned that night. So, yeah, 9:30 a.m., at my house.

He showed up five minutes early, like he always does, do-rag in place. Said he didn't want an espresso, just wanted to ride, and that he had time for a couple of hours at the most, but he had done 50 miles yesterday so he was a little creaky.

We rode the flats to loosen up. It was my first time on a bike in a week, and it was good to feel the knots leaving my body. We saw the guys from Bikeland II heading home after their ride, and a team from Liberty Cycles hammering along.

Tulloch and I hadn't seen each other in a couple of weeks, so we caught up as we rolled through the Swamp, a route so familiar we didn't have to offer each other hand signals. I said the scar on his wrist was healing nicely; he said the wrist still hurt a little after surgery, but what really hurt was the almost two months of warm-weather cycling he'd missed because of his wipeout.

He told me about a minor car accident he'd been in, and how he blamed it on a lack of sleep caused by staying up late to watch the Tour de France on OLN. He said he was thinking about buying a new bike. I told him I liked the new SRAM road group I was testing. I beat him up the hill on Skyline Drive; he said he didn't know we were racing. The climb up Hardscrabble was as hard as it always is, and he waited for me. Tulloch asked if I was still jet-lagged. I said I was.

He said he couldn't make Sunday's group ride because he and Kim were taking Isabel and a friend to the beach, but that he would be around all week if I wanted to ride; that it was supposed to be crazy-hot but he'd probably go out anyway, after he did some chores around the house. He asked if we were still going to do that ride in Princeton and if we could drive down together, gas being so expensive. Then we said, "Thanks for the ride," and headed our own ways.

Like most of you, I spent much of my summer apologizing for cycling, answering questions posed by family, friends and colleagues about protocols and B samples and Operation Puerto and the efficacy of Jack Daniels as race preparation. One guy told me cycling was about to become as irrelevant as the once-mighty sport of boxing now is.

It was tough to argue with him. When you don't know who or what to believe, it's hard to mount a cogent defense even of something you love.

Except for this: The soul of cycling doesn't reside in the pro peloton. Rather, it is in the 8 million Americans who ride at least twice a week. They don't get paid, but their rewards are many. You know. You're one of them. So are the people on your weekend ride, and the newbies training on the local rec trail for a charity ride. And guys like Tulloch. We all keep it alive, for all the right reasons.

Saturday, September 15

Hello MOBers! We hope you are all doing well and enjoying this refreshing cool spell we have going this week. The crew at Mock Orange is certainly psyched for the pending autumn season.

This Saturday, September 15, we are doing a long road ride from the shop at 8 am. The route will take us through Germanton via Baux Mtn. Road, to Friendship Rd., on over to Flat Shoals Rd, to the top of Sauratown Mtn., and back to the shop via King, NC. This is a great local ride and this Saturday morning the weather should be awesome. We will stop at a store after the climb on the way back to town. This is a four hour plus ride from the shop, so be prepared for some quality time in the saddle this Saturday!

Looking a little further ahead, Saturday, October 7 is the annual “Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day.” This is a great function that takes place on the first Saturday in October to honor our young friend and ambassador of the sport of mountain biking, Jack Doub. Jack passed away suddenly in October of 2002. This IMBA sanctioned event is a great opportunity to grab a kid and hit the trail! There are many great areas in our city to ride mountain bikes, so remember October 7 is the official “Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day.” The official location of this year’s event is not yet determined, but we will keep you posted.

Also on the horizon: Mocktoberfest. Stay tuned for more details…

Thanks so much!