The Dirt Field

I was at a Rapha Cycle Club a few months back listening to a question-and-answer session with a cycling photographer when somebody in the audience asked, "Why do all of the photos try to make cycling look so epic? That's not realistic. A lot of rides are actually sort of boring and ordinary." Of course I laughed, because the guy put into words perfectly what we all already know: most of cycling isn't epic or breathtaking. You don't roll out every weekend to summit a peak in the Pyrenees or cross every finish line gutted, crusted in mud and ice. Cycling for 99% of us is fun and challenging, but looks nothing like what Rapha and the like are selling. Right now as I type this, I'm literally pedaling on a trainer in a freezing garage next to my mother’s car. This is neither sexy nor epic. This is the ...continue reading.