This is How We Roll Bicyclists travel different miles in different styles by
MARK WEDEL
Say "cyclist" and it immediately conjures up an image.
Maybe it's of an athletic type, somewhat scrawny but with enormous calves, unashamed of their skin-tight jerseys and bibs as they ride an aerodynamic carbon bike that looks like a knife cutting through air and is so light that carrying an energy bar seems to double its weight. Or maybe it's someone in a dorky helmet riding an old mountain bike that's not quite the right size, wearing a brand new bike shirt stretching over their gut and cargo shorts, or khakis stained black on the right cuff from the bike's greasy old chain. (Full disclosure: This describes the author of this piece when he started riding regularly 10 years ago. Not much has changed, except he has a better bike.) Tim Krone, owner of Pedal Bicycle, has seen all sorts of biking styles, all sorts of bikers. "Even people riding that expensive road bike — you see all kinds of body types, you see all kinds of income brackets. You see it all," he says. "Anybody can do it. You don't have to wear special types of clothes ... . Hell, you don't have to wear a helmet if you don't want to (though safety calls for one). I tend to, but, you know, nobody's going to make you, I don't think. And you don't have to wear funny-looking shoes." Look around, and just as you see different colors and styles of bikes, there are also different types of riders. But all have one thing in common: Biking puts them in touch with that 10-year-old inside who revels in the freedom of pedaling out into the fresh air.
Paul Guthrie, commuter To explain his bike commuting, Paul Guthrie talks about how he avoids putting CO2 into the atmosphere with a car and about the money he saves on gas, and of course there's the exercise. But one gets the feeling there are other reasons why he rides his bike to and from his job. Guthrie is the lab manager at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. He has a 20-mile round trip from his home in south Portage to downtown Kalamazoo. 26 | ENCORE JULY 2021
