If you’ve been cycling for some time, you’ll no doubt have concluded that there are some essential truths about riding bikes. As I pushed up a hill into the wind yesterday, with the sun hammering down in 90-degree heat and soaring humidity, I occupied my mind by listing the ten most common ones.
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by Tamia Nelson | May 28, 2019

If you’ve been cycling for some time, you’ll no doubt have concluded that there are some essential truths about riding bikes. As I pushed up a hill into the wind yesterday, with the sun hammering down in 90-degree heat and soaring humidity, I occupied my mind by listing the ten most common ones. These Truths are valid for rural cycling:

1. The wind is always in your face.

2. There are always dogs.

3. Vicious dogs will come at you when you’re climbing a steep grade.

4. If by some stroke of freakish good luck there are no dogs, then there will be chickens (I prefer the chickens!).

5. There’s always broken glass on the road shoulder.

6. Even on deserted routes, you’ll always meet a motor vehicle when you’re entering a sharp turn.

7. Flats afflict the rear tire 99.9% of the time.

8. When you get a flat in the front you discover that [a] you forgot to replace the spare in the saddle bag last time you had a flat, or [b] the replacement tube leaks.

9. The one day of the week that you get to take a long pleasure ride, it will rain.

10. When the weather forecast says there’s only a slight chance of rain, it will rain where you’re riding.

Despite the wind, the hard climbs, the littered road shoulders, the occasional drenching, and even the bolsie dogs, I wouldn’t give up bicycling. Would you? I didn’t think so. They’ll get my bike when they pry my cold, dead hands from the handlebars!