The Bicycle and the Bush by Jim Fitzpatrick: A Review

In an earlier time, I doubt I would have run across a copy of Jim Fitzpatrick's wonderful book The Bicycle and the Bush: Man and Machine in Rural Australia. I doubt that a publisher would print a large number of copies of a book in so special a niche so I count myself thankful for today's digital age where the World Wide Web, Twitter and Amazon have made searching into clicking and this book into bytes. Those technologies have conspired to deliver Fitzpatrick's careful study to my eager eyes and this book is a treat.

Fitzpatrick spent years researching this book, which looks at the bicycle's use in Australia from about 1890 through 1920.  While the book focuses mainly on rural Australia, Fitzpatrick puts the bicycle in its global context and I found myself learning much about bicycling in England and America as well. This is fundamentally a book about technology and how it shapes, alters and integrates into people's lives. Sheep shearers, gold miners, fence runners, clergy and others are all profiled, as are some of the famous racers of the day. Conflicts that we still see to this day, things like bike vs. horse use on the trails and debates of what constitutes proper riding position and attire are traced to their early roots.

I found myself highlighting nearly a hundred passages in this virtual book, subjecting my Twitter followers to a stream of "hey did you know?" updates from my Kindle at odd hours while I stayed up devouring this fascinating document. And the pictures that Fitzpatrick found in old magazines and journals are terrific. I've included some cameraphone shots taken from my Kindle screen below to give you a sense of the book. And my notes and highlights can be read here.

Fitzpatrick's book isn't perfect. At one point he breaks out of the time period of the bulk of the book to discuss a modern day human powered strawberry picker. I actually found this bit of the book fascinating, but it did seem out of place.

Grant Petersen, whose book I reviewed last week, would love chatting with Jim Fitzpatrick. Near the close of his book Fitzpatrick laments that many modern bikes have lost the versatility (thing like wide tyres and comfortable upright riding positions) that made the bicycle such a valuable tool in harsh conditions. I think Fitzpatrick would be encouraged by the current existence of companies like Rivendell and things like the rediscovery of the usefulness of frame bags by the current generation of bikepackers.

In The Bicycle and the Bush: Man and Machine in Rural Australia Jim Fitzpatrick has done more than write a great book. He's basically built a time machine to transport the reader back to an earlier age. And that is something nearly as wonderful as the bicycle itself.

Just Ride by Grant Petersen: A Review

Grant Petersen is one of the great souls in the world of bicycles. He's been called a retro-grouch but I've never actually found him to be grouchy. The retro label fits better but in an industry obsessed with faster, better, lighter and newer, a considered consideration of the notion that some old values might still have value is a welcome perspective. For years, at Bridgestone and more recently at Rivendell, Grant Petersen has provided that consideration and put products out into the world that he finds to be "simple, practical and proven."

I've mentioned Grant's book, Just Ride, a couple of times earlier on this blog and last night the Kindle version of the book went live on Amazon. These days I prefer getting my books in electronic form, so I'd been waiting for the digital release. One feature of the Kindle is the ability for a reader to highlight and Tweet out links to passages in a book and last night and this morning my Twitter followers found their streams filled with snippets from Grant's book as I quickly and delightedly clicked my way through the virtual pages of Just Ride, highlighting as I went.

I've seen this book in the real world and it's a slim volume but it is packed full of interesting thoughts about bicycles and riding. While I certainly don't agree with everything Grant has to say (I think he conveniently ignores the folks who have fun racing, for example), his perspective is well worth reading. I found myself highlighting many passages.

Folks familiar with Grant's work won't be surprised by the kind words he uses to describe steel as a material for bicycles but may be surprised to find he has this to say about titanium:

"Price aside, it is the ideal material for winter commuting on salted roads. Titanium frames were most popular in the pre-carbon years of about 1990 to around 2003. It’s still a terrific frame material, but it’s more labor-intensive than factory-built carbon frames. Titanium may be the only frame material in common use that doesn’t have either a real or perceived drawback. I’m not saying it’s the best material, and it isn’t my favorite, just that no matter how big a fan you are of steel, aluminum, carbon, or bamboo, you’ve got to like the all-around wonderfulness of titanium."

He's much more cautious of carbon, however:

"Carbon is... the least defect-tolerant fork material. Defect tolerance is a material’s ability to maintain its toughness—and safety—when there’s a defect. Defects may be contamination between layers of carbon fiber, or a gap, or the weave of carbon not being optimized for the directional stresses). Or the defect may be a wound caused by an accident. In any case, because carbon fails so suddenly, a defect in a carbon fork can be disastrous."

Grant espouses a certain aesthetic that not everyone shares. For example, he writes:

"Most panniers come in pairs but can be used singly, and you often see students or commuters riding around with only one. Whatever works is fine, but it’s an irritating sight, kind of like somebody walking around, perfectly content and all, in a long-sleeved shirt with one of the sleeves rolled up all the way."


I can understand his irritation, I feel the same way whenever I see shellacked handlebar tape. I think that's one of the goofiest things ever.

A book that only contains words you agree with is not nearly as useful as one that makes you think and that you learn things from, and Grant has written such a book. He questions things, like helmets and blinkie lights, and comes down firmly in favor of things like sturdy tires. I won't argue with him on that one, his sentiments echo mine:

"It’s easy to buy tires with an extra layer of rubber, nylon, kevlar, or something else between the casing and tread to stop thorns. Every extra bit of protection adds weight that will always scare off racers and others under the spell, but for all-purpose Unracing rides, I like extra flat protection. Why not? I’ve fixed at least five hundred flats in my life, I’m really good at it, and I still hate it. Beef up my tires, thank you."

Grant questions lots of authority in this book, including his own. He's designed many bike frames but he knows there are things he doesn't know:

"Drop is the one area of bike geometry I feel fuzzy about. I have suspicions about it, but no convictions. I’m suspicious of anybody who is as declarative about it as I used to be."

I could go on for longer than the book about this section or that with which I agree or differ but I am not Grant and you are not me so my message here is simple: Read Grant's book. It's good and it's useful. I liked it and I think you will as well.

Here's a final bit from the book that I liked:

"Be saintlike on the bike path. You are the predator, so ride slowly and defer to everyone. Signal your approach with a bell or a “hi.” Pass with at least two feet of clearance and ride at or below the speed limit (usually 15 miles per hour), at least when people are in sight. Keep both hands on the handlebars, because one- or no-handed riding makes nervous riders even more nervous. Stay to the right, pass on the left. If you’re a guy, don’t chitchat with solo women you meet—give them their space. Always use lights at night, because bike paths aren’t lit up, and reflectors won’t work..."

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA

Lots of nice bikes came to see Grant Petersen in Seattle

On Friday, May 12th 2012 Grant Petersen visited Seattle to talk about his book Just Ride and to just ride with a few folks. An overflow crowd more than filled Free Range Cycles and Seattle did its best to dispel the "it rains all the time" myth. I can't tell you what Grant had to say because I figured it'd be best to let the less claustrophobic and more hard core fans pack into the shop for the talk, but we all had a nice ride afterwards and I took a few pictures of some really nice bikes.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah, WA USA

Biking the Denali Park Road

My scientist son Peter lives and works in Fairbanks, Alaska. This past weekend, he took his Hummer out for a spin with some of his friends. Here's Peter's quick note:

Some friends and I biked the Denali Park road this weekend. They let bikes on while they are still working on plowing it for the tourist buses. It's a much nicer ride when you don't have to deal with bus traffic. It was a good year for wild life. I saw a golden eagle, sheep, caribou and grizzly bears. Very cool! My friend sent me some pictures off her camera, including some good shots of one of the bears we saw (In a steep canyon below the road, close enough for good photos but still safe). The other bears we saw were moving along a ridge line very far away. Thankfully, we did not run into the one that had been hanging out on top of one of the mountain passes near the road. 

Thanks to Peter's friend Vanessa Stevens for her kind permission to share some of her pictures here.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA

Inkling

Last November Christine and I adopted a black kitten we named Inkling. Inkling is a very mellow, friendly little guy and he's made himself right at home with us. When Christine's bike is parked, Inkling figures the basket is a good place to settle in for a rest.

Grant Petersen in Seattle on May 11th

Grant Petersen, the bicycle riding founder of Rivendell Bicycle Works will be in Seattle this Friday to talk about his book, Just Ride: A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike. Details of his Seattle appearance can be found at Brian Hanson's blog One Cycle Seattle. Basically, the schedule looks like this:

Grant will do a brief talk about his book from 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM at Free Range Cycles followed by a half-hour Question and Answer Session. A bike ride along the ship canal & out to Golden Gardens will follow starting at 6:00 PM. The proposed route can be seen by following a link on Brian's Blog.

Brian asked me to help spread the word about Grant's talk and the ride, something that I'm happy to do. Brian tells me that he "hopes they have a good turnout." I know how big Free Range Cycles is (it's a great shop, but it's tiny!) and I know how popular Grant is in bike-crazed Seattle, so I don't think the problem will be that too few people show up for this event. It's a good thing the forecast is for good weather because I don't think everybody is going to fit inside Free Range Cycles. But don't let that keep you from going. Grant's an interesting, thoughtful guy and Friday night looks like it'll be a good time.

Keep 'em rolling,

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA

How To Be Slow

The great Sheldon Brown once asked, "If you are in a hurry, why are you on a bicycle?" While bicycles can be incredibly efficient machines and often in urban settings they may in fact be the fastest, most logical vehicle to convey a person between two points, we do ourselves and our devices a disservice if we measure our lives and land only by the speed of our travels.

While racing bicycles is certainly a legitimate and fun activity, many more people ride than race. Yet much of the literature of cycling and vast sections of our bicycle shops are devoted to haste. This situation, of course, is not confined to bicycles. From many corners of our society, we are urged onward, encouraged to hasten somewhere, anywhere but where we are right now, because, over the next horizon surely, the grass must be greener. Never mind the color of the grass right here, beneath your feet, who has time for such things?

Perhaps you do.

Last month I wandered, mostly around my little town. I wandered somewhere every day. Not far most days and seldom was I speedy. Somehow it added up to something that seemed to me to be worth doing. I don't know what my heart rate was, but I know my heart was in the effort. That was enough.

Christine recently found a book she shared with me, one I'd like to share with you. It will do nothing to make you fast, but it is a lovely look at being slow. It was written by a woman who can barely move and it is about snails. And it's very, very, good. It's called The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating.

The author, Elisabeth Tova Bailey, writes:

"I wrote to one of my doctors: I could never have guessed what would get me through this past year—a woodland snail and its offspring; I honestly don’t think I would have made it otherwise. Watching another creature go about its life . . . somehow gave me, the watcher, purpose too. If life mattered to the snail and the snail mattered to me, it meant something in my life mattered, so I kept on . . . Snails may seem like tiny, even insignificant things compared to the wars going on around the world or a million other human problems, but they may well outlive our own species."

Ms. Bailey finds commonalities in snail and human existence without forcing either one to be the other:

"My snail went about its life, moment to moment, much as I did, making decisions—or being indecisive—about food and shelter and sleep. If a snail can learn and remember, then it thinks, at least on some level; I was convinced of this. And until someone (preferably a snail) can prove otherwise, I will hold on to this belief. The life of a snail is as full of tasty food, comfortable beds of sorts, and a mix of pleasant and not-so-pleasant adventures as that of anyone I know."


I found this bit of Ms. Bailey's writing to be both funny and wise:

"With only thirty-two adult teeth, which had to last the rest of my life, I found myself experiencing tooth envy toward my gastropod companion. It seemed far more sensible to belong to a species that had evolved natural tooth replacement than to belong to one that had developed the dental profession."

While there can be great joy found in going fast, some pleasures are only found when one slows enough to find them. The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating is a great small, pleasure, one that I'm glad I didn't race past.

Kent "Mountain Turtle" Peterson
Issaquah WA USA