Your view of cycling is embraced by far more people than you can imagine. No matter what the bike industry or the scads of KZread experts say there is only one pure form of cycling, and its done by eight year olds. That's how I ride, for the pure enjoyment of riding, like an eight year old. My hats off to you Russ, Zak, Spindatt, Shifter and all the others who carry the flag for all the real cyclists.

@liamkaloy

Жыл бұрын

Yes, there are definitely a LOT more people for whom bike is a tool to achieve a goal. This whole culture where bike itself is the target is probably less than 1% but because of marketing, influencers and $$$ it is projected unrealistically huge so remaining 99% normal bike users seems invisible. I really liked the comparison to speed walkers. Another sanity check is to inspect for example 100+ bikes in my company parking space, there is not a single bike with group set XT/ulterga or above, half is tourney level, 1/3 are electric. Normal people just don't care, dont make a fuss about it, they just enjoy riding their bikes.

@Koen030NL

Жыл бұрын

Can’t it be both? I like to ride my bike to explore my surroundings. When i moved to a new city I used it to get a feeling for its location, surroundings and the overal connectiveness of it. But I also like to ride it get some activity goals and go fast and drain myself. And I use it to fulfill some creative satisfaction, by stripping it, painting it and add some components that I’m interested in. By the way I almost always ride solo. Only once per months i meat up with some friends I think to do a small group ride (4 person max)

@darkroomzen

Жыл бұрын

@@Koen030NL agreed, the language above about “real cyclists” is just as gatekeeping and toxic as racebro culture

@axlent123

Жыл бұрын

I wouldn’t say that overland driving isn’t driving, but NASCAR driving is.. both are, they just serve differing purposes. Having said that, can we get a bike sticker made that says… “ride like an 8 year old”? I love it!

@msmendis

Жыл бұрын

I’ve come to enjoy the multiple aspects of riding throughout the years. From racebro culture, to wandering around joyfully like an 8 year-old. It’s the total diversity of experiences that a bike can afford that makes it so magical.

“I started riding a bike because I was too lazy to fix my truck,” That’s gold! 😂

I enjoy hearing as to why people got involved in cycling. Myself, a knee injury in the military and rehab being a stationary bike. I was bored out of my mind, so I figured that I might as well just ride a bike until I healed up. Haven't stopped for 20 years. Life slows down on a bicycle. You see more things. Some good, some bad, and I've been stress free since. Keep pushing!

‘The thing that keeps me open and observant.’ Superb quote! That’s exactly why I value cycling over other forms of transport/sport. It’s fast enough to get you somewhere, it’s slow enough to be able to see, it’s humble, approachable and open.

As a lifelong cyclist myself, your message here resonates with me. I have ridden the road a lot, but my favorite type of riding is singletrack on my MTB. As a guy who will be 60 in a couple of months, and with a 60% useful left leg after a patellar tendon rupture in 2006, the bike is still the way that I can get outside and enjoy myself without being crippled for a week afterwards. It's the thing I loved before the injury, and I consider myself to be so fortunate that it's the activity that seems to treat my knee the kindest since. I live in the Seattle area, which has experienced somewhat of a boom in MTB'ing in the last 15 years with the advent of the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliances' arrival on the scene, and I live in an embarrassment of singletrack riches. There are several great trail systems within 20 miles of my house. I also commute 26 miles roundtrip on the East Lake Sammamish trail when the weather and my schedule allows - which is the part of my cycling world that attracted me to your channel. The best days at work are the ones I ride to. The point of this back story is that I have always been the slowest rider in my group of riding buddies, and have never really sought to be "speedy", even when I was much fitter back in the 80's and 90's. I just don't care about using cycling as a way to get in shape, or stoke my competitive fires, or scare myself silly. I'm a fairly accomplished technical rider, and being able to ride a trail that would be tricky to walk, but to do it at around walking speed, is something that has always given me a case of the giggles. Cycling in this regard contributes to my mental health at least as much as my physical health - especially since I purchased a very nice eMTB in the fall of 21. According to my Trailforks data, I would typically go for between 20-30 MTB rides per year. In 2022, I went on 56! More than one ride a week average. It's allowed me to keep riding with my longtime group of riding buddies, and not feel like I'm killing their buzz because they are always having to wait for me. It has also opened up terrain and trail systems that would've absolutely sucked before the "e". Love your content - keep it up!

Thanks Russ! Running and biking are the same escape for me. It often reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: “Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four, five times more, perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps 20. And yet it all seems limitless.” - Paul Bowles

@stevegeek

Жыл бұрын

Very true…we should pause and appreciate even the small pleasures in life. We never know how many more times we will get the opportunity.

I’m literally picturing you and Laura with quivers full of arrows, riding no hands, shooting arrows at targets. The next new new biking style. I could see the industry making archery specific bikes for this.

The beautiful, simple versatility of the bicycle: it can simultaneously be a piece of outdoor gym equipment, functional transportation, and a tool for enhancing your engagement with your surroundings. Don't even have to choose. Just do what feels right today, right now, or whenever!

"You see, but you do not observe." -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Russ and Laura are the epitome of those who take the time to observe; it's a strength to which I aspire. Thanks PLP for showing us a different way to ride.

I like how bikes make both observing and interacting more accessible than any other method of travel. It's a much more interesting experience to bike through a new city or along an endless straight highway in nowhere'sville, rather than drive or fly, or by train.

I've been thinking a lot about the pace in which we move through life and where we draw inspiration from. There's a line from "In Praise of Paths" (Torbjørn Ekelund) that I read recently that expresses a similar idea: "The only conclusion I can draw is this: a person who walks slowly must have a much richer inner life than a person who runs as fast as their legs can carry them. My speed varied the whole way back, and I could think of no explanation other than it must have to do with my concentration and focus. The farther I walked, the freer my brain became. It entered into the flow zone, just as my body did. Every time my brain became engaged with something especially interesting, my pace slowed, and when it wasn't very engaged, my pace picked up again." Thanks for sharing your story with us and all the work you do. You're a genuine inspiration Russ!

Henry, from GMBN, said it best for me. "A bicycle has the only chain that can set you free." Cycling makes me happy, and keeps me fit at age 75, with 80% blockage of two coronary arteries.

Bicycling is the most positive mode of transport I've ever experienced. I ride to work all summer long. By the time I arrive home, all the day's stress is gone, and I've seen places that I've driven by hundreds of times in a different perspective. What once looked like an old dilapidated building from the window of my car is actually an engine rebuilding facility or some other specialty business that I never knew existed. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to go on an extended ride on certain days

Having just gone through a new bike purchase, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I use my bicycle. Your channel always seemed to speak to the kind of riding I enjoyed. However I was never comfortable with the term "party pace". It just did not seem contemplitive enough. I have come to call what I do "scenic cycling". It is about observing what you are riding through (the scenery). That can be natural, man made (I like different architecture), or even just seeing different kinds of people. Really enjoy your channel no matter how you describe your riding ethic.

love this. I think what a lot of folk get wrong about Russ (myself included at one point) is his journey. It's incredibly difficult for someone that doesn't come from an athletic background to simply up and change themselves completely. For Russ to have done that, but also fundamentally change the thing that was once so different from him along the way (cycling), is pretty incredible. Big fan!

@qcriverrat

Жыл бұрын

Like Russ, I have a similarly worthless college degree. (Okay, mine was way worse than English.) I really admire someone like him who seems to know the ins and outs of very technical aspects of building and riding bikes. Some things as simple as cooking are difficult for me to really learn well as an adult.

@liamkaloy

Жыл бұрын

People who have athletic background are minority, less than 1%. I would not say that for normal 99% people changing themselves is incredibly difficult. Having athletic background gives you an advantage in athletics but when it comes to life changes athletes don't have it easier.

4:37 perfectly said. I'm stealing the walking analogy, too. We go out for a walk because if feels good, not because we are training to be faster walkers.

Maybe we fellow English Majors have an aberrant way of apprehending the world around us, but "The thing to get to the thing" is really a brilliant viewpoint. You just blue penciled out 99% of the cycle content out there to the source. Good on ya!

Thank You Russ. So refreshing. Have raced and toured, and now fitness, and everyone evaluates you based on your speed and competiveness. I'm tired of pushing. I love to ride with no expectations of a performance perameter. everything else in our world is based on performance one way or another, and It becomes a stress, and a chore, instead of de-stress, and fun

Russ thank you for this. I hope anytime the bike industry or the KZread algorithm make you feel like a lone voice out in the wilderness you come back here, read all these comments, and remember how many of us feel the same way. Curiosity + contemplation = biking

@onthemoveot

Жыл бұрын

Here here :))

The bicycle is a vehicle by which consciousness is changed through contemplative acts. The state of consciousness achieved is called PartyPace. This is life-affirming, because it gives the experience of one’s life deeper meaning, which nourishes us.

@anthonykoleszar1779

Жыл бұрын

Good response, if you are an English major, it just paid off.

You forgot to mention your two years as Epicurean Cyclist! Been following you for quite a while, and so grateful for your voice in the industry

Good you dropped 2 packs a day. I did the same 28 years ago. Saved my life. And i enjoy you channel.

@andrewnadeau5079

Жыл бұрын

Your...

Omg, this is exactly how I feel about bicycling, you just put it into words so very well. Thankyou for this channel, it is so appreciated by those of us that look at it more than a way to increase Watts or speed. I came to cycling late at 60 years old approximately 5 years ago. At the time I had no idea the learning curve involved. You have helped with that though my head still spins when you talk about gearing and such. 😂 I’ve done some hella remote Bikepacking trips both solo and with others. You and Laura have helped give me wings for this. I do have a question, I subscribe through your pal pal account. Would it be helpful if I changed this to your patron account, or does it not matter. Keep on doing what you are doing. We appreciate it!

Russ, you may consider yourself unsponsorable, which I would argue, but you are much respected, although not enough in my opinion, by far more of us than the numbers show. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do. All hail the algorithm.

I love your content! Is the first time I find someone who talks about cycling from the passion and fun side (the partypace 😊) without getting too much into the specs or mega expensive gear 😴 thanks a lot 🌲🚲🌲 the crankset episode is awesome 👌🏼

I love it when you say that biking is an art. I agree with you. As a poet and an artist I find biking as a form of contemplation, observation, and internalization.

Russ. You put into words what I could not voice in more than a feeling. I love what you had to say here. As an art teacher and casual photographer I love capturing what I see when I ride. You nailed my why of why I ride. Thank you. ❤

I just started riding at 62 years old. Six mile round trips to the grocery store as often as I can. Your stories are quite motivating.

So AWESOME on soooo many points! The bike is a multi-purpose tool that, unlike walking, can move us through time and space in a manner that opens up new or different views, and to a destination quickly if necessary. There's a soul-lifting joy to bike riding I haven't found in any other physical movement. The word "freedom" sums it up for me. I also love walking because I can see smaller details, stop easily to experience a moment, etc. I also race walk, power walk, and time trial in senior games for fun, camaraderie and the occasional medal if I'm the only one in my age group LOL. Your channel is so important, not just because of your passion for cycling (and geeking out on the tech!) but showing everyone there's life to cycling beyond the Lycra and road/gravel/mountain/whatever racing. Keep sharing! We love it :)

"Active Observation" is a big part of cycling for me. I love just randomly riding different streets and exploring my surroundings. My car driving roommate ALWAYS comes home on 90th street while Wandrer shows that I've cycled on nearly every single street within several miles of my home. The amount of things I get to experience looking at, at lower speeds and varied routes, is vastly different than what somebody in a car experiences. Riding down 3rd ave is different than riding down 4th ave which is different than riding down 5th ave and somebody in a car is only going to ride down the optimum ave to reach their destination, but when you're on a bike in a "grid layout" town it doesn't particularly matter which road you ride as long as you avoid the arterial roads those car drivers are using day after day after day. I find so many neat things like interesting buildings, parks and historical sites I wouldn't have known about otherwise, or free stuff on the side of the road. One of the guys in my neighborhood has a house that really sticks out with rockets in the front lawn: he put the first civilian rocket into space. Another person nearby has one of 7 cars the manufacturer ever built sitting in their driveway. Another dude has hundreds of bikes in his garage which includes 5 of the exact bikes I need to repair the ebike of mine some Uber driver destroyed.

I've also been noticing the way I enjoy bikes, and the type of bikes I enjoy has changed multiple times already in the past 6 years, from MTB to classic city bike to singlespeed road, to now cargo bikes and quality commuters.

I think of cycling as contemplative action. I think back to when I ran XC in high school, and I'd often get asked by my classmates why I enjoyed running. Seems like a simple enough question, but at that age I had no answer other than "well it helps me get out of my head for a while". I've long dealt with ADHD since I was in middle school, and I struggled for years to focus in on one task long enough to complete it. But running, and now biking have been a remedy of sorts for that. It's the action and reaction that's constantly taking place, the cardio stressing my lungs, and the singular task that I keep accomplishing as I move forward. Biking really is like therapy for the busy mind.

This is your best video. I appreciate your honesty and respect your journey.

Very interesting video for me as I have just started my first bike based job. I'm a retired police officer but I have always loved bikes - with and without engines. I used to cycle on patrol when i got the chance but that became less common as time went by. I retired o er seven years ago and took up cycling on the road (And trails where available) again to get fitter. Due to a knee injury I was advised against mountain biking, especially the more aggressive stuff I used to love. I now teach cycle skills to kids (and hopefully adults soon) in the hope that they will feel confident riding on the road enough that we can reduce the number of cars on the road in the future. I'm new to this but find it very rewarding and fulfilling so this video is very relevant to me - sorry to ramble but this struck a chord with me.

Well said, the observation point of view brings a memory of how you saw the world when photographing with a camera with actual film in it, where the cost of each photo really made you select very carefully the pictures you took, to then work on each of those images on a dark room. Nowadays this is a lost experience, but i think you get close to it by painting. Maybe this is one of the reasons I cycle. Thank you for sharing.

“It’s not about the bike” -Lance Armstrong. Indeed, from all my miles commuted by bicycle in the high desert, most of my budget has been allocated to the other miscellaneous ’life support’ items which kept me riding through night, rain, wind, heat, snow, ice, etc. This sort of validate’s the biz model of Joe @ 718 cycle as he describes his bike shop as a mini REI! I love your channel! Keep it coming, I’m watching!

Cycling is amazing… doesn’t matter how much you’ve spent, what bike you’ve got, whether you race or just ride for a laugh you’re (usually) treated well by other riders… I find that I’ve explored my local area more on my bike, learnt more about my surroundings and have seen things that walking or driving wouldn’t allowed me to… there’s something so cool about picking up a used bike online and then making it your own by upgrades or just giving it a clean… they take up a small amount of space to park, with the right bag set up you can carry groceries, park for free, outside the shop, burn fat and have fun on the way home… tell me how you can do that in a car 😂

I have followed you on KZread for years. I have ebbs and flows with my cycling passion but what always reignites it is a timely video from you. Just like bicycles are proof that there is a kinder, gentler, more fun way to get around, your channel is evidence that there is a kinder, gentler internet out there. You always voice your opinions in a respectful way and you model what it looks like to be contented and your beliefs come through genuinely. Keep it up!

Would love to try bike archery

I am a roadie/commuter who usually feels like he needs to win the commute :-) however, I really enjoy your alternative view to cycling. Thanks for what you do.

Love your channel. It is a place where I can catch my breath from all the hype and push for speed, time stats, personal bests, etc. that I feel bombarded with in cycling. I ride the same trail often and delight in observing something new every time I am out. Thanks for keeping us grounded.

Oh that's the best bike riding advertising for non riders to the date. I've got the same curiosity now after 30yrs of biking as I had as 8 yrs old kid, who just got his first bike from his grandpa. I will never forget that first trip, when I saw border of my city with namesign of it crossed out.

Thanks Russ. A good description of what it's like to mature. That's the real adventure. For those of you who think mature=boring, I wish you luck.

The meditative aspect of rolling through the landscape and being part of it is the contemplative aspect I look forward to everyday. I find it a coincidence the bicycles roll on wheels and that every rotation of a Buddhist prayer wheel is another prayer. It is a happy coincidence as well that cycling has a conditioning aspect but, if it didn’t, I would still do it.

Thank you! It’s great to have the contemplative valued above the competitive. I most love travelling through the countryside of my native Wales, feeling the contours of the land in my legs. Moving slowly enough to notice the beautiful detail. Keep on keeping on. I love your channel!

@gethinap

Жыл бұрын

You and me both 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

You just explained why I hike, bike, and bird. Love your channel.

Thanks Russ. Having got back into cycling three years back I was keen to go further and faster. Ever faster! Three years later, although I go out with a cycling club fairly regularly and generally manage to keep up, my favourite is to ride without too much purpose and keep up MY pace which, funnily enough, could be called ‘Party Pace’.🥳 Much more enjoyable! 👍🍺

I relate! About two years ago, some weeks after my car died, I realized I could use my bicycle to move myself and that was one of my most fortunate event in my life

Seriously, this is my favorite vid you have ever done. Any chance I get i suggest your channel. Keep on keeping it real Russ!

I started with a fixed gear Fuji back in college when track bikes were all the rage, purely for fitness (I did laps around the neighborhood) and commuting. Then I bought a road bike like I had originally intended to do (because I literally could afford the $1000) in 2021 and went full speed into cycling. Already have 5000+ miles, hundreds of thousands of feet elevation gained, three fast bikes (road/gravel/XC MTB) and it has completely changed my life as well. ADD: I’m a photographer as well, ex-pro. It’s a constant struggle between my want to be aero and light as possible while carrying my full frame mirror less 😂

What you are saying in this video was exactly my feeling back in 2008 when I first time went to a bikepacking trip: you are moving fast enough to cover significant distance, but at the same time slow enough to catch fine details of the nature around. You are also not isolating yourself from the nature as it happens when traveling by car. Interestingly (and here I am continuing what I started doing in one of your streams - suggesting a book to read), I found very similar thoughts and overall vibe in a book by "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig - highly recommend.

This was the best video till date as I can relate to why and how u started cycling. I’ve been following ur videos for years and it has changed me in so many ways. Keep it up!!….

One of the best videos you've put out and it provides a lot of insight into what makes you tick when it comes to bikes and art too. I've commented on your artwork before, encouraging you to include more of it, or I guess as much as you feel comfortable with. Sure, people may come here mainly for bikes, but some of us come for that and for other reasons too. I loved when you talked about art being a very personal thing and how every artist observes life and puts their own spin on it. We do that with everything, not just art. And that's what makes life interesting. How boring would it be if we all agreed all of the time? Lastly, I don't know the back story of why you had a globe on the back of your bike, but I guess that just shows it is possible, with the right equipment, to carry the world on your bike. 😁

this resonates a lot with me. I do love all kinds of biking, racing, long tours, etc, but my favorite is really just goofing around, riding to the store or riding some new area. I think we could be friends.

@chrismorgan5081

Жыл бұрын

Couldn't say it better myself.

Great video, and I share your view. I'm a lifelong cyclist and started when I was really young and got into BMX where I rode around with friends, made jumps and parks etc and just hung out. Later in life around university time I rode MTB really just to get away from it all and out into nature for a while. Then I rode in the city for years before getting into crit, road, and track racing which I did for a while. Now I have a gravel bike and love to bikepack and also have a cargo bike for the city. Bikes have always been intertwined in my life and are just part of how I live.

This makes sense. You CAN party hard, or just chill out at a party. It's about feeling it, not forcing it.

I had no money tu buy a used cheap car to drive route 66. That was my reason to travel the US coast to coast on a bike, about 40 years ago. What a multi-sensorial experience cycling turned out to be: smells, sounds, temperature changes, starry nights (i travelled without tent; just sleeping bag ditectly on the ground). Every encounter an event. ... Being alive and vibrant in a living and vibrant environment. Since then, a bike is my main means of commuting and everyday transport ...

As a fellow photographer and artist, your video struck a raw chord with me. Totally agree with your views. Back into cycling in retirement.

Well said. I'm 72 and a lifelong cyclist. I can remember moments from most ages on a bike that still resonate. In my early 20s and on my first 10 speed in NE WI I reveled at how cows notice you on a bike and will actually watch you ride by. Never in a car. Make your own moments on a bike.

When I tell people that I enjoy cycling, they usually assume that I will be some lycra-clad speed demon. When I start to explain what type of cycling I enjoy, I almost find myself apologising…. “I’m *just* a leisure cyclist”. But it’s more than that -I enjoy photography, and basically I’m just enjoying the world and being a little nosy at the same time. Party Pace cycling for me, is a perfect form of mindfulness.

Recently I was on on a certain social media app scrolling through it I quickly recognized your voice you were demonstrating and showing off pocket knives. I have no evidence it was you but it's your identical voice!?so I believe 👍 I'm biking nerd also what I enjoy about cycling is getting lost cycling without GPS or smartphone🚴‍♂️

For me, this nails what the outdoors is about. Some years back I ditched logging miles and times and cycled and ran trails to how my body felt. I stopped to look at views or trees as the seasons changed. I listened to myself breathing, my feet hitting the track, and the winds in the trees. I enjoy things so much more and don’t feel the need to upload my data as any form of proof of effort!

Great perspective, thanks for articulating your thoughts that so many of us keep looking to you for. I was also pleasantly surprised with all the interesting comments. I can’t explain why, but throwing my leg over a bike or turning a hex bolt never makes my day worse, and typically makes it much better.

Necessity is the mother of invention. It's the best way to figure things out. Biking is amazing. It changed my life too.

I live in an urban medium-sized American city (Milwaukee). Despite "bike lanes" (aka passing lanes on the right for young men with Chargers) it is a terrifying city to cycle in. I myself have been hit from behind--in the bike lane-- run over, dragged under a vehicle, and then run over again. I've had my shoulder and hip rebuilt, and have many friends who have had even worse. And yet... I still love to ride in the city. I see so much more of the world around me, I see connections and contradictions from block to block, so many more than I would from a car, and frankly far fewer than I ever do on foot. The idea that keeps coming up for me is from a French philosopher of the mid-20th century named Guy Debord. His concept was of the "Drift": an aesthetic/intellectual experience in which one experiences a place by walking it counter to the usual flows.Guy Debord defines the dérive as “a mode of experimental behaviour linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances.” I'm sure I'm not doing him justice. But for me I get that experience best on a bicycle. And my favorite time to ride the drift is between 2:00 and 6:00am in the morning--after most of the world has gone home and before they are getting up for work--when only the most desperate or lost street people are still out, when even the infrastructure and healthcare people are still not getting up. You get a sense of your self--flying through your world-- your life, the neighborhood you're in, your city, your world, your planet that is sometimes peace, sometimes anger, sometimes indignity, sometimes a new understanding. But in the midst of it straight up AWE. i have no other way to explain it. it's too big for words. I have never experienced that in a car, and only rarely on foot. I wish the whole world could experience it, and I think cycling could make that happen (even if not in the middle of the night).Your channel makes me believe there are many more (non-spandex) cyclists who understand and crave a different vibe of cycling.And all the bikes you love could work equally well in a pothole-ridden crumbling urban infrastructure as in a questionable gravel mountain pass. If you ever come to Milwaukee, I'll take you on a bliss-ride! Much love and keep up the great work! Jack

Keep up the good work!! You remind us all that cycling, and riding bikes is meant to be fun, getting outside in nature and enjoying the scenery. Too many channels are all about aero, lightweight tech, racing and busting a gut/suffering.......and if you're not, then you're not a proper cyclist.

Nowadays when I'm heading out on a ride and get asked where I'm going I usually say "I don't know", because I don't know, and after the ride when asked where I went I usually say "all over the place", because I went all over the place, and I usually can't recount exactly where. It's the best!

This isn’t the first of your videos I’ve seen but it really clarifies everything! Really nice and beautifully pitched.

We have the same Perspective. I Enjoy every ride and observing nature with a slow pace especially when that's my first time on that place.

I would totally try Bike Archery. Recently I found some bumpy trails near a disused gravel pit by the ocean. I ride my silly crank-forward bike over the humps, occasionally bottoming out at the top. I feel like I'm 12 again. I'll be 49 in a few months. A bike is a great way to move through the universe.

This is such a great vid, Russ. We can really get hung up on gear and saving fractions of watts, but we need to really slow down and consider what makes us enjoy cycling. I've tried so many disciplines of cycling over the years, but on the day-to-day I find the most enjoyable part simply riding with my family to the trail, going to the playground, checking some books out at the library, and grabbing an ice cream on the way home. Yea I'm not going to break any mileage records or get a KOM, but I find that partypace is far more enjoyable than a virtual crown on an app i hate.

Thanks Russ for your outlook on party pace keeps me humble in my own small accomplishments.

Good insight sir. For those of us cyclists who never drive, we are continually observing a landscape within our own neighborhood far differently than the mass motorists.

The best biking is done on roads and paths where there is no need for a mirror. To be able to go places that I can't go by car. Not having to be on guard at all times.

Bikes a just the right speed and right size for the city. Like your paintings.

It is interesting that “utility” is unsponsor-able. My favourite thing for years was watching the guy in his 80’s cycling 10km each day on his 1950s single speed to the public library. I could almost set my watch to his timing as he passed by our front door at the time. The bike just worked, it carried him were he wanted to go without fail, and had done that for years. This is the problem with bikes when you don’t race them. They just work, day in, day out. I love bikes for that reason.

Yes it makes perfect sense! The bike is more for me than the thing itself as well. I have always viewed my bike as a tool to help me do things. Thanks for sharing, Russ. Refreshing!

This video, perhaps, resonates more with me than any other of yours I’ve previously watched.

Vision is more than visible! ❤

The walking analogy is just beautiful. The thing to get to the thing, when will that sticker be available 😁

I've always said, "Party Pace is fast enough to not fall over, but slow enough to not spill your beer"

FIRST OFF! LOVE YOUR CHANNEL!!!! Why I Bicycle - I ride bicycles because I like to.. because its fun and because it is both simple and challenging. Riding bicycles has many challenges yet is also carefree. To pedal is to escape, to pedal is to find freedom and to discover. Pedaling a bike can also be a rebel-cause for protest against fuel companies, if such inspiration is needed. In fact, I tell people it’s the only real way to protest fuel prices, “just shut up and pedal!” Complaining about gas prices is just grounds for frustration and stress with no real way to actively “do something.” Protesting on the corner or with rhetoric and banners is short lived. Start pumping the pedaling instead of pumping the dead dinosaurs into the fuel tank - this is the only way to really protest. Driving your vehicle to a protest rally - preposterous! To pedal is to re-discover simplicity and new insight and perspectives of your surroundings. I did not nor do not pedal to protest, it’s just the excuse I thought up while pedaling a 38-mile round trip commute to work while finding great time to THINK and to get into shape! It’s a moment of escape and adventure, however quick, short or long the trip, just mustering up the courage to step out onto the pedals as a means of transportation to work will bring a sense of accomplishment! That is 99% of the issues that prevent most people from commuting by bicycle, courage to step outside the “normal” and doing it. While I know some people can not, for many that actually think about commuting by bicycle, getting past “thinking” and “doing,” that truly is the 99% issue part... That would be a great survey: How many people commute by bike / how many people think about commuting by bike / and each year, how many actually make the leap to actually commute to work by bike. Heck, survey just the people who read-subscribe to bicycle magazines! That would be an interesting survey. I’m sure that survey has been done. Research project! Once you activate the “bicycle commute” to the office gives you great insight and time to think about the real issues at work, home and life. Pedaling back home at the end of the day relieves the stress of the non-real issues at work. Sometimes pedaling this distance just clears the mind as you just find this wonder-rhythm while cranking out pedal strokes. I find that some of my best thinking is done on the bike... to the point I sometimes stop to take notes. Before I was not stopping and forgetting half of the ideas to the extreme of stopping every 15-minutes and taking notes. I had to slow down / stop all that! At my age, it’s time to invest in ME! The single largest investment one can make life for themselves is to invest in personal health! I’ve worked all my life. I’ve played some too and while most think that my life is play, I have tried my best to make my work fun. But mental stress is by far the worst enemy to personal physical health. Pedaling directly helps melt stress away! Pedal enough and melt some pounds away as well. Pedal for wealth - pedal for health and these are the true personal accomplishments to be proud of. One of my goals when I turn 65+ years old is to pedal somewhere in the neighborhood of 250+ miles a week! I know plenty of people do! I never thought about what to do after you retire, and now I have a true goal for those years. But you can not wait till then and start pedaling, you could, but I do not want to. I did manage to squeak in some 250-300 miles weeks consecutively for about three months straight, but it's a constant juggle to balance life, work, family and TIME! I thank my wife for giving me that time! But the pursuit, dream and goal all fire the life-long passion. I started pedaling a 20” bicycle at a very young age. With that type of bike, no kid just pedals it around. You start jumping Tonka trucks and garbage cans and on and on usually with product failure in the process, at least in those days before the modern BMX bikes, failure was a guarantee! Growing up around the farm in Alabama, luckily my uncle was a welder and would keep me rolling. The bike was the transportation to the 12-mile commute to town, only to look for more jumps, so reliability was of utmost importance or you would have to wait until mom got off work to come get you. We made sure that never happened! One day while grocery shopping, my younger brother brought home a BMX magazine, like in 1980 and my world was CHANGED! My little world was opened to a whole new world! Before web sites, email, blogs and forums, the monthly magazine was THE ONLY SOURCE to fuel my new-found passion. By tenth grade I would open my own BMX shop. We built custom bikes for customers that felt our passion for the best products and our desire to help our customers beyond just selling them a bike. We had a team and raced all over the state as well as the East coast. We even raced at the 1982 World's Fair. I had met all my BMX hero’s, but here at this race, I would see first hand a new trend within BMX, called Freestyle as an exhibition was performed in front of the World's Fair spectators and BMX racers. This was cool and expanded the horizon of my perceptions of what could be done with the bicycle. While running my shop I had two experiences with road bikes. One experience was a DAILY EXPERIENCE as I rode a road bike from my house to the bus stop for my commute to school. And yes it did have Campagnolo components! My other experience was my sales rep had a road bike and wanted to use my work stand to do a little tune up. It was a Colnago. I remember it very clearly! My rep asked if I would like to ride it. I first refused as I respected his bike too much but he insisted I ride it. So I did! I pedaled it so hard and so fast because once in the saddle of this steed, the bike simply asked me to! It was awesome, but it just did not stick to me to ride a road as I was deeply into BMX at the time. But that experience and the bike stuck with me. It was candy red and those cool lugs with the clover-like cutouts. I remember it because it made a strong impression. It would just take 35+ years for that impression to materialize into me getting into and onto a road bike after 21-years of mountain biking. But every time I was on the road bike, I would see new little dirt paths and wondered where those went. Finally in 2016 I got myself a CX bike and mounted up some 650B wheels and fluffy WTB 47C Horizon tires! Now I could explore all the terrains. A couple of years later I started riding what I call a “traval-all” bike. It’s a Kona Sutra complete with fenders with somewhat knobbish tires. IF EVER YOU ARE IN COLORADO SPRINGS - HIT ME UP!

Thanks for the perspective. I might be moving into a cycling life, don't know yet. I have reached an age where running/jogging for cardio is doing more harm than good. I made one change this week- I rode a stationary cycle at the gym AFTER lifting weights instead of jogging before weights and I feel completely different- no achy joints and tight tendons. I have NEVER thought of cycling as exercise but I do now.

Well said. The most eloquent bike-tuber there is!

Bicycles are just kinda childish fun! I cycled everywhere from childhood to finishing university. Then didn't ride a bike (or drive a car) till my late thirties and was given a single speed built from dodgy parts by my departing minimalist German flattie. Never looked back, I'm happy whenever I'm riding ; )

Hi Russ, I think this is my favorite video you've shot. Thanks for sharing your perspective and for putting considerable thought and production expertise into it.

Welcome to bicycling, it is what you make it, like a part of life that it is. I would tell you how well you are doing and way ahead of most, but a party pace person doesn’t need such accolades. ✌️👍😎

Amen. Blessings to you and Laura for what you do.

Thanks for sharing your story. I really appreciate your channel. I'm a senior roadie who embraces what you say but on a road bike and quiet paved roads for the most part.

I got into cycling via my father, neither of us have driven cars. Ive done some fast rides but never competed, most of the time ive been riding on 26" fairly fat tires, a bad/good influence from my fathers ride. Ive done my fair share of 'adventure' riding, always with a camera and set of lenses in my front bag and a guitar attached to the back. In Norway and Sweden I was traveling with my fishing set up which I then took back to the UK with me. The process of riding Ive always found medatitive. Ive solved a number of problems in my subject (physics) whilst riding. Saying that I've also had my fair share of 250km+ days and 90km sub 3 hours whilst riding with a load. The physical challenge has often been part of the fun, just not the competing with others part.

Thanks for all you do. I've been thinking about become a Patreon member for awhile now... this video put me over the edge. Happy to be officially supporting you and the channel.

the best thing is... you enjoy cycling on your own terms... that's always the best way.

Love this! This is in my mind what cycling, running and climbing are about! Enjoy the journey!

Party pace is the best pace for me 🤣 Also... Bike archery you say? That sounds fun.

Great video. You combined 2 of my favourite things…cycling and fishing! 😊 Chapeau

I just watched this again after seeing it for the first time earlier in the week. It rang many chords with me too about having that connection with the environment around you especially as the Spring comes here in the UK. I enjoy your honesty and clear vision about what cycling and bikes mean to you!!

Absolutely love this Russ. My journey on a bike has similarities to yours, its cool hearing your perspective it brightened my day.

I appreciate your progression as a creator. Thank you for sharing your life with us.

Thanks Russ. This video is one of the best cycling videos I have watched on youtube this week. I enjoy your take on cycling, art and incorporating more into riding. I have disagreed with some of what you have put out and smiled and shared moments in your journey that you had come to conclusions or realizations that I and some of my old cycling friends had as well over the years. Enjoy the journey. Its as important as the result. Kinda like art.

Hi Russ. I love this video series your creating very much. Dad and my uncle where top Welsh competitive cyclists - Yet it took me until I was in my late 50's to start taking it more seriously. Ive always owned a bicycle and it remains my sole source of transport and Party Pace suits me just fine. I wish you well and every success with the channel - Happy pedalling Russ 🙏