Some of you may recall that I ranted last summer about the habits of younger cyclists in Fort Collins, the northern outpost of the Cycling Riviera. Now Colorado State University concedes, based on a graduate student's research, that there is substance to my hopelessly antediluvian outlook. Only 9 percent of student commuters are wearing helmets? That's even lower than I expected.
Guess what? "As for the reason why students only wear their helmets for certain purposes, [pyschology doctoral student Itsumi] Kakefuda suspects a number of factors. She believes students hold a sense of invincibility as well as the perception that injury is less likely close to home."
Imagine my surprise at these findings. On the other hand, I suppose I should tone down the sarcasm, since someone has collected data to support my observations — and demonstrated that I was right all along.
Showing posts with label Cycling Riviera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cycling Riviera. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Hygiene
I didn't realize until today that Hygiene sits at a critical junction of the Cycling Riviera. I just thought I'd picked about the perfect destination for a 100K victory ride. Located about 33 miles south of Fort Collins, it's the town that announces that if you keep pedalling you'll soon arrive in Boulder, Colorado's two-wheel Monte Carlo. Even though there are plenty of Litespeeds and high-end Treks up here in Fort Collins, the closer Boulder looms the more Looks and Times and Pinarellos show up. I expect going to a bike shop in Boulder is like scoping the parking lot at the Casino.
I caught a couple of Pinarellos a few miles outside of Hygiene who had been dogging it on the hills. So what if they were on their small rings. That group passed me at a stop light and hammered out the last couple of miles to arrive at a bait store and cycle shop about 30 seconds ahead of me. As I enjoyed my frozen strawberry bar, I noticed hot-shit bikes at every other business, including the grocery store across the street, the coffee shop on another corner and a bike shop across the street from where I stopped. They were beautiful bikes, all heading south and west toward Boulder. My suspicion though is that many of the people on these bikes are posers. The frustrating thing is not being able to recognize the real deal when I see it -- and I'd bet I have.
The ride back to Fort Collins was fast, somewhere around 20 mph. My mission complete, I was glad to get back to my end of the Cote d'Azur. It's also good to know that if I need energy gel and night crawlers in Hygiene, even if can't sort out my fellow shoppers, I know where to go.
I caught a couple of Pinarellos a few miles outside of Hygiene who had been dogging it on the hills. So what if they were on their small rings. That group passed me at a stop light and hammered out the last couple of miles to arrive at a bait store and cycle shop about 30 seconds ahead of me. As I enjoyed my frozen strawberry bar, I noticed hot-shit bikes at every other business, including the grocery store across the street, the coffee shop on another corner and a bike shop across the street from where I stopped. They were beautiful bikes, all heading south and west toward Boulder. My suspicion though is that many of the people on these bikes are posers. The frustrating thing is not being able to recognize the real deal when I see it -- and I'd bet I have.
The ride back to Fort Collins was fast, somewhere around 20 mph. My mission complete, I was glad to get back to my end of the Cote d'Azur. It's also good to know that if I need energy gel and night crawlers in Hygiene, even if can't sort out my fellow shoppers, I know where to go.
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