Sunday, October 21, 2012

Review: Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike

Everything you think you know about riding your bike is wrong. Everything. At least that's what the thesis of Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike by Grant Petersen appears to be.

The ultralight bike isn't better. You don't need special bike shorts or shoes. You have too many gears. Forget being predictable, you want safety? Ride like a wobbly newbie. Petersen even makes a case for leaving your bike helmet at home.

The theme of the book is that the biking industry encourages people to emulate a Tour De France rider, which for most people is a costly and uncomfortable mistake. You should ride for comfort and utility, not to eek out miles and save seconds. And this book can help you do it.

I found the whole perspective to be quite refreshing and I think the advice will help make the kind of riding I actually do more pleasant. If you're getting back into riding, or feel like you've gotten off course, this is the book to read. If you get a thrill from playing weekend racer, you should probably skip it -- you'll probably just find yourself yelling at the text.

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