gofer articles

When commuting by bicycle, one often does not think about racing strategies – not unless one is an experienced bicycle commuter, possibly. For at times competitive bicycling and bicycle commuting might not seem so dissimilar, especially in a large metropolis like New York City where even the motorists race against each other!

It’s a fanciful stretch, to be sure, but not one that’s entirely impractical. Though a movie (taking place in hilly San Francisco, no less), the 1979 Kevin Bacon vehicle “Breaking Away” was not totally making things up in displaying some wild rides through urban traffic. It’s the type of trip bicycle messengers will probably encounter, using the corresponding kinds of tactics only they can attempt, however it is racing in all but name only.

Now this is not a politically correct thing to say in most cycling circles – definitely not the type where people are all decked out in spandex and shades, where you have to wear helmets even if merely walking your bike – but riding in the streets can be quite competitive, though it’s hard to see how pedal power can win against the internal combustion engine. Of course it’s no contest ordinarily, except when city streets and rush hour traffic could be utilized to give the cyclist the advantage in many situations.

Or, in two words, racing strategies.

The type that may seem quite similar to any used at official competitions but which are adapted specifically for urban commutes. Every veteran cyclist has his or her database of them, stored within the mresistors of their brains – indeed, within the very fiber optics of their nerves.

A seemingly reckless attitude to the p.c. police, who seem to forget the generally dangerous conditions surrounding many’s first childhood attempts at bicycling, but it is the reality : urban bicyclist commuters have more in common with professional racers than the image-makers would like to admit.