not a cyclist

Loki wrote:

Whilst discussing life, politics and the meaning of existence a co-worker
who knows me well enough described me as an anarchist [I'm not - it was
merely a bit of good humoured banter and devil's advocacy] because, as is my
habit of perusing widely differing types of currents affairs mags from
radical left to radical right to the mushy middle, I was reading an
anarchist magazine. My reply was that I didn't consider myself anything that
ended in -ist with the possible exception of cyclist.

He laughed at the idea that I would consider myself a cyclist. You see I
don't compete. I don't 'race' either off-road or on. I don't participate in
organized events. I commute year-round and get about town by bike. In season
I go on 20 km, 50 km, even 70 km rides regularly and have clocked a couple
in the 100-200 km range. But according to him I am not a 'cyclist' because I
do this alone, untimed, and not in organized events.

By his definition; using a bike for basic transportation and for recreation
doesn't make one a cyclist. He is pretty much a jock type: recreational
hockey, golf, softball, and football & rugby in his younger days. [He
_might_ get on a bike twice in a summer and would not even consider using a
bike for a 7 km commute to work and instead drives an SUV.] In his mind a
_real_ cyclist is pretty much in the Lance Armstrong mould I guess. Or it
should at least be as part of an organized event like his 'sports'.

Dunno why I'm relating this episode. It just struck be as a curious way to
look at cycling.and those who shall or shall not be deemed 'cyclists'.

Comments?

By his definition, only current NBA/NFL/NASCAR/M?B/IRL/MLB players are
'real' basketball/football/baseball players/drivers. Have him go down
to a college bowl, into the locker room or onto the bench, and tell them
they aren't real basketball/football/baseball players. Have him go down
to a truck stop, and tell a bunch of truck drivers they are not real
drivers cause they dont race. After these statements, get a count of
the number of his bones that were broken.

Terry Morse wrote:
snip
A trip to the dictionary brings forth. Definitions 1 and 2 say that
sport is a physical activity with specific rules and customs, and
often done competitively. Definition 3 says sport is recreation.
=

Cycling fits definition 3 for sure, but 1 and 2 are a tougher fit.
Cycling in general has no specific rules as a game would.
--
terry morse Palo Alto, CA http://www.terrymorse.com/bike/
Au contrar=E9
Please refer to your country's or state's vehicular laws.
Off road trails have their ettique rules.
Several ruling bodies govern different kinds of races.

"Terry Morse" wrote in message
...
A trip to the dictionary brings forth. Definitions 1 and 2 say
that
sport is a physical activity with specific rules and customs,
and
often done competitively. Definition 3 says sport is recreation.

Cycling fits definition 3 for sure, but 1 and 2 are a tougher
fit.
Cycling in general has no specific rules as a game would.

Well, tiddleywinks or marbles would be sports then.

On the other hand my trip to MW 9th reveals a cyclist is "one who
rides a cycle."

Doug
For email, a sense of wonder.

loki wrote:

He laughed at the idea that I would consider myself a cyclist. You see I
don't compete. I don't 'race' either off-road or on. I don't participate in
organized events....

By his definition; using a bike for basic transportation and for recreation
doesn't make one a cyclist.

Yet, if he stood at the water cooler and asked people "Are you a
golfer?" everyone who golfs once a month would say "Yeah, I golf."

Personally, I think a guy who dresses in shiny multicolored clothes and
tries to ride fast on the weekend is a cyclist. But no more than the
family man who rides to the ice cream store with his kids. And not so
much as a guy who does long tours, or who uses the bike for a
significant portion of his transportation.

IOW, I guess my prejudices are the opposite of your friend's prejudices!

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

In article . rogers.com,
loki wrote:

Whilst discussing life, politics and the meaning of existence a co-worker
.....

But according to him I am not a 'cyclist' because I
do this alone, untimed, and not in organized events.

Dunno why I'm relating this episode. It just struck be as a curious way to
look at cycling.and those who shall or shall not be deemed 'cyclists'.

Comments?


Who cares (except Fab maybe)? It's what you DO that is important,
not what it is called.


--
--
"It's a sad day for american capitalism when a man
can't fly a midget on a kite over Central Park."
J. Moran

Tom Keats wrote:


Words and labels are just food for thought. And as Walt
Kelly's Pogo once said: "food for thought is no substitute
for the real thing."


cheers,
Tom

You've a good memory for quotations!
It's been my experience that hunger IS food for thought. I've always
started thinking and left the frivolity behind when I was hungry.
Regards, Bernie

Zoot Katz wrote:

Tue, 20 Jan 2004 01:39:24 -0800, ,
(Tom Keats) wrote:

Anyhow, "rider" fills the bill as good as "cyclist".
Maybe "[bi]cycler" would do the trick, too.

Ignoring for a moment its obvious gender bias, I still like
"wheelman". Its history gives it some dignity.
"Wheelperson" will never cut it.
--

There's also "velocipedist", although it does sound like someone who
works in a museum of Natural History .

EFR
Ile de France

"David L. Johnson" points out that

But, does "cyclist" imply competition? OTOH, just because it's
competitive, I wouldn't call it a sport. Take bowling, for example.

And even the competitive aspect isn't necessary to some. I am also a scuba
diver and have only recently (after about 8 years) gotten used to hearing
others refer to it as "our sport."




Bill, riding bent in Florida
(hence the screen name)
To e-mail, remove undies

In article . rogers.com,
"loki" writes:
"Tom Keats" wrote in message
...
In article . rogers.com,
"loki" writes:

Comments?

How intertwined is your lifestyle with cycling?

It is my basic form of transportation in that I don't even own an auto.
I've bicycle-commuted to work every day that I work for over a year [Since
11 Nov 2002 to be precise] And this includes through the snow and ice of
Canadian winter.

Well, there ya go. I figure if you're deliberately /living/ the
root word to which the "ist" is suffixed, you can pretty well
call yourself a [root word]ist (if you wanna.) There are plenty
of ways other than competition by which to integrate cycling
into one's life.

To get semantic about it, if there are cyclists, I guess there
must be Cyclism (OTOH, there are scientists but one rarely
hears of Sciencism). But trying to define Cyclism makes my
brain dizzy, so I prefer to think of myself merely as a rider.
Besides, isms are generally laden with too much connotative and
committal baggage for my tastes.

Maybe riding is too freeing a thing to encumber with ism.


cheers,
Tom

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In article ,
"David" writes:

I think people who actually use their bike as part of the way they live
(transportation, commuting, shopping, etc.), are cyclists in the purest form.

I'm inclined to agree with that. There is a point at which
riding becomes so integral with one's life that one doesn't
perceive its influence until something happens to render
one's bike inoperable or unavailable.

Then the withdrawal symptoms set in.


cheers,
Tom


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