Yesterday, Seattle was dark for 15 hours 34 minutes and 37 seconds. Let us not count how much it was light– it is of no use to us. I rode to work in the black, and in the black I rode home.
The darkness is good to me. It shields my filthy chain from those who would judge it. It casts anonymity over the creaking of my bottom bracket. It erases your matching kit to shear black, pretty socks and all. It calls you to simply pedal. And, on the best of days, it gives me the jump on a fellow commuter just asking to be dropped like a pedal wrench in a two-year-old’s hands.
Today will only be one second less dark. Come feel the power of the darkside.
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
This article is a metaphor for life and for The Rules.
The author mentions a specific amount of time, but "yesterday" refers to the author's entire life up to this point. It could be 15 years, it could be 55 years.
Wherever you go, there you are. The author is surrounded by blackness not because of the environment, but because of himself.
"Black" symbolizes The Rules that the author has broken. He feels guilt. It is inescapable.
Sometimes, breaking The Rules benefits us. Insulated MTB boots warm our smallest toes. Winter tights keep our bits and pieces from permanently shrinking in the frozen wind. Fitting a softride post to our mountain bike tells other mountain bikers that they should avoid us, thus keeping us true to road cycling.
We are afraid to meet other Velominati because we fear that they will judge us.
The author is more concerned with the uses of nipple lube than other kinds of lube.
We leave the house with appropriate white socks, but the darkness turns them to black. Even when we try to Obey the Rules, we later find that we have not.
The author finds redemption. Colors, measurements, and bubble levels are outward signs that any hipster could adhere to. The true Rules are inside you.
One may grasp the noodles of death yet still exhibit the V. Even those who wear both the polka dot jersey and polka dot bib shorts are allowed to stand on the podium.
Why? Because they pedal.
The "fellow commuter" is also the author. He has transcended not only The Rules, but also himself.
The author has been transformed and no longer uses the darkness to hide or deny. He has found strength inside himself. He can obey the rules or make his own.
@G'rilla
Whoa man, you just... like, totally blew my mind.
Hoping this may bring some light to your darkness... Cav just voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2011... he said in his speech that it was not just a win for him, but a win for his teammates and a win for cycling itself. Am beginning to really, REALLY like this guy (see my post yesterday on his comments in the Times on the rainbow jersey)... and, hell, I liked him loads already. Go Cav!
@roadslave
would you adam n eve it - can't believe a bloody cyclist won!!
I don't think even he could believe it!
Go Cav!
Absolute legend!
Awesome result but hope he's not judged on his victory speech. The boy was completely speechless.
@Dr C where've you been hiding, thought you'd lost it on your cobbled commute and gone into the canal?!
@Dr C I'm with you... I didn't believe he could beat the golfers, but I think my twitter campaign may have swung it for him... I got as many of my seventeen followers as possible to vote for him, which is what must have made the difference.
Cycling as a mainstream sport in the UK?... Golly... them trolls come blinking into the sunlight...
@Chris
I really like that he always seems to go out of his way to credit his team-mates - I know that he's been guilty of youthful hubris in the past but I think he's turning into a great ambassador for British cycling. Also, I'm claiming this as a scouse victory. I know he's not actually from Liverpool but he sounds a little bit scouse and, well, the ferry goes from here so that's all the evidence I need...
@roadslave
I've also got seventeen followers but I'm not sure how to get porn spambots to vote.
@heinous
I'm relatively new to the whole road cycling thing but I've only ever really heard him talk about his team mates and his love of the sport. If he had an ego a while ago, he's done a good job of reining it in.