It's almost April, which means spring is nearly here. Well, technically, it's already here but as usual, weather doesn't seem to align too well with calendar, so we will have to wait probably another week or two for real spring to arrive.
Nevertheless, it's getting warmer and that means one thing for sure - many, many more roadies out on the bike path. With the beginning of April they crawl out of their indoor hideouts, put stationary trainers back in the closet and roll out on their bicycles to welcome spring. This is to me the best indication of season's change. Far more regular than looking at bird migration patterns or melting snow.
Observing these guys and reading some cycling news recently, I thought about the very clear trend in modern road cycling - the focus on speed. Unlike mountain biking that found many niches and offers many different ride styles, road cycling is still driven mostly by UCI rules and catered towards racers.
Hence, modern road bikes emphasize speed over comfort, aerodynamics over functionality and build an image of Lycra-wrapped man enjoying his morning "race" to a nearby cafe. Do you think I'm exaggerating? That it's not that bad? That there are plenty of "other" road bikes that aren't designed for racing? Sure, but those are still minority. A few years ago you would think that gravel bikes would change that. They were not bound by any UCI regulations, yet they still ended up being just another type of race bikes.
If you still don't know what I'm talking about, try to hop onto a modern road bike in regular clothes. It will surely feel weird. You would *want* to wear a helmet, put those Lycra tights on and "race" to your destination (even if that's only your office commute). Plus, "if it's not on Strava it didn't happen", right?
Faster! Like it's a race.
Certainly, part of this focus on speed is that cycling is seen mainly as a sport, much less as a transportation option, and speed is one of the deciding factors how sport can be measured. But I keep finding this "speed matters" approach even in places that aren't focused on competitive sport as much. I've been looking at Jan Heine's blog recently and he published a series of "cycling myths", many of which are speed-related:
I'm not trying to say that Jan hand-picked these because speed matters to him that much, but it seems that all of us collectively find this topic interesting and as such, these speed myths pop out like mushrooms after rain.
So spring is almost here and you may be looking for a new bike, or perhaps looking at your old bike thinking it needs new aero wheels. Just remember - there is more fun in riding a bike than just going faster.
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