Lynette Chiang
Folks, I am doing some research for a different kind of bike article. I
meet a lot of bike people in my job at Bike Friday. It seems there is a
'bike-guy' syndrome (or 'phenomenon' for those who might take exception
to 'syndrome'), where from a young age (or even an old age) a man,
typically, uses the bike to escape having to relate, especially to the
opposite sex. This has often been written about in the realm of
athletics. Perhaps it is no different, and quite a few male cyclists,
the ones who have been divorced twice or have been alone for several
years) or their estranged partners, tell me that this is a definite
syndrome. "I did not know any better." they say. "If only I could have
been different, if my father didn't do/say blah blah to me etc etc ".
Any thoughts you have on this are welcome. Indicate what I can quote
from you and what I cannot. And who else you think I could interview
about it. Mainly, I am interested in your view. I received interesting
replies from people like Phil Liggett and Maynard Hershon, so it's
definitely one to ponder! Maynard of course, wrote the seminal
satirical article 'The Rules' back in 1997 about how to meet women on
centuries. 'Do not mention bike brand parts' etc. Wry and true. It's
OK, also, if you think I am talking a load of post modernist feminist
psychobabble - you can tell me so. And of course, there are women who
are 'bike gals' but this syndrome it is definitely skewed towards men,
particularly in the roadie sense rather than MTB. Send replies about
this to lynchiang at yahoo dot com as I am sure many well balanced and
happily married or partnered readers will hate to have their brake shoe
discussions interrupted by talk about such angst-ridden matters ... :o)
Thanks in advance.
Lynette
Lynette Chiang, Bike Friday World Traveler
http://www.galfromdownunder.com
PERU trip: http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/galfromdownunder-peru2004
THE HANDSOMEST MAN IN CUBA USA Edition
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