Of my three cycling children the keenest is probably the middle one, a boy of 15.
He rides quite a lot and quite hard, but doesn't compete and it is by no means the thing that defines him. He is just mustard-keen.
Anyhoo...
This week he told me he might start riding with friends. It seems that three of his school pals are getting (or have just got) road bikes and are up for the idea of going on rides. All live withing 12 miles of us, so this may be possible.
All have recently stopped doing competitive team sport and want a way to stay in shape. Cycling on road bikes has sort of sucked them in.
I was quite surprised (and quite pleased) that there is this sort of swing towards road cycling among the young and cool.
They've been asking Boy The Elder about clipless pedals and stuff.... He thinks there might be some group rides in the offing. I'm inclined to quote Ethan (John Wayne) from 'The Searchers' on that proposition, but the thought warms my heart anyway.
I recall the collapse of the road bike into risible backwaterdom following the glorious evolution of the MTB in the early 90s. I fell for the charms of off-road riding too, so I do not write with bitterness. I thought then that the road bike was dead for anyone younger than 18.
Now here we have three GCSE-aged boys wanting to get into some road riding and seeming to want to have a bit of a crack at it.
Is that not news to warm the hardest heart?
Boy The Elder has even asked if he can borrow my bib tights so he can ride in the cold. He's always found anything longer than standard shorts a bit of a comedy look in the past, so I dare say he is serious....
He rides quite a lot and quite hard, but doesn't compete and it is by no means the thing that defines him. He is just mustard-keen.
Anyhoo...
This week he told me he might start riding with friends. It seems that three of his school pals are getting (or have just got) road bikes and are up for the idea of going on rides. All live withing 12 miles of us, so this may be possible.
All have recently stopped doing competitive team sport and want a way to stay in shape. Cycling on road bikes has sort of sucked them in.
I was quite surprised (and quite pleased) that there is this sort of swing towards road cycling among the young and cool.
They've been asking Boy The Elder about clipless pedals and stuff.... He thinks there might be some group rides in the offing. I'm inclined to quote Ethan (John Wayne) from 'The Searchers' on that proposition, but the thought warms my heart anyway.
I recall the collapse of the road bike into risible backwaterdom following the glorious evolution of the MTB in the early 90s. I fell for the charms of off-road riding too, so I do not write with bitterness. I thought then that the road bike was dead for anyone younger than 18.
Now here we have three GCSE-aged boys wanting to get into some road riding and seeming to want to have a bit of a crack at it.
Is that not news to warm the hardest heart?
Boy The Elder has even asked if he can borrow my bib tights so he can ride in the cold. He's always found anything longer than standard shorts a bit of a comedy look in the past, so I dare say he is serious....
