At the time, I thought my stab at decorating was an effort to distinguish my featureless office from my colleagues' featureless offices. One coworker quipped that my space was "laundry themed."
More than just an attempt to personalize my space, I wanted to keep the memories attached to those jerseys close. I wanted to be able to look up from editing a review of a new road bike, and allow my gaze to fall on my Brooklyn Velo Force kit from 2005. I'd remember the thick, sticky salt breeze rolling off Jamaica Bay and how it felt on a Tuesday evening after the training race at Floyd Bennett Field. Then I could imagine what it would feel like to take that bike on the cannonball run home through the stream of traffic on Flatbush Avenue, with that air cutting through the fabric.
At some point, I moved to an office in a different part of the building and re-hung my jerseys. Then I moved again and decided not to bother with the jerseys. Work had changed and I didn't have as much time for daydreams.
My current office, at my home in Colorado, lets me keep memories close in a slightly more conventional way: A bookcase sits next to my desk and holds photos from family vacations and good times with friends, and there are framed posters on the walls. I've got some bikes around, too, sitting behind me on my many video calls. They help me dip out of work like those jerseys used to.
Also in my office, in the closet, are two halves of a once-sleek carbon frame that triggers a different kind of memory: an overcast day in July 2019 when I rode that bike to the Boulder Valley Velodrome, did some intervals on the track, headed home in a light drizzle, and was nearly murdered.
I ONLY VAGUELY REMEMBER THE EARLY DAYS IN THE ICU AS I WAS EMERGING from a weeklong coma. At some point, between surgeries, hallucinations, and nightmares, my loved ones explained the basics of what had happened: I'd survived a hit-and-run. It had been really bad.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2024-utgaven av Bicycling US.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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ONE MAN'S OBSESSIVE CRUSADE TO Take Down Zwift Cheats
Indoor cycling and virtual racing are booming, and so are the ranks of digital dopers abusing the platforms.
WHAT I LEARNED WHEN LOST IT ON A MOUNTAIN BIKE
A lifelong roadie tries singletrack for the first time. It did not go as planned.
THE UNLIKELY HERO WHO RECOVERED OVER 200 STOLEN BIKES IN ONE AMERICAN CITY
It was a sunny day in the summer of 2022. There were some things I had to move into the house, so I left the garage door open. I was gone less than 15 minutes.
YOU CAN BE MORE THAN JUST A CYCLIST
I'VE ALWAYS HAD A LOVE FOR SPORTS, starting with the usual team ones such as football and baseball. But that faded in favor of more individual pursuits. Watching my dad roll down the driveway to go for a ride, I wanted to do the same. The bike was my first taste of freedom, a freedom to do it my way.
THE RIGHT SADDLE CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
UP UNTIL RECENTLY, I WAS, AT BEST, A TWICEa-month cyclist.
HOW TO SAY GOODBYE TO THE RIDER YOU USED TO BE
CYCLISTS OF ALL LEVELS GO THROUGH various phases or eras over the years they spend in the saddle. For the vast majority of riders (myself included), these things happen privately, without fanfare.
BIKES MAKE THE WORLD A MORE INCLUSIVE PLACE
LIFE'S A BEAUTIFUL PUZZLE THAT COMES in all sorts of shapes, colors, and sizes.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD CYCLING SCENE, ANYWAY?
I'VE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF INVOLVING myself in a few populous and dramatically different cycling communities.
CHOOSE GEAR THAT INSPIRES YOU TO HAVE FUN E
EVEN THOUGH I TEST LOADS OF CYCLING gear for a living, sometimes I get locked in on particular items and find it difficult to enjoy competing products, even if those products have obvious advantages.
WHY YOU DESERVE A CUSTOM BIKE
Custom. The word evokes passionate opinions about what constitutes a custom-made bike and who gets to ride one. There's this idea that they're wildly expensive pieces of functional art meant only for the fittest, fastest riders.
