Ken Kifer on Cycle Touring

        "A mountain is a completely different obstacle to the racing cyclist and to the touring cyclist. The racing cyclist, the strongest of the strong, in the peak of condition, is riding an ultra-lightweight machine, with speed as his primary objective. The touring cyclist, more of a Nature-lover than a jock, somewhat overweight and very tired, is riding a heavy bike with a heavy load, with pleasure as the primary object. The racing cyclist stands on his machine and speeds up the hill, running at his anaerobic threshold, averaging as fast a speed as the tourist does on flat ground. The tourist sits on the way up, riding at a pace he can maintain all day long, well below his threshold."


     “On all of my trips, the greatest number of nights are spend neither at campgrounds nor at motels but at sites of my own choosing. What is wrong with a public campground? There are several problems with car campgrounds for cyclists. First, bicycle campers must often travel long distances and up steep hills to reach campground locations. For a motorist, to travel an extra five miles one way to the campground is no big deal, but to a cyclist the ten-mile round trip to the campground is likely to be 20% of the day’s travel. Second, campgrounds often offer little privacy and quiet. Unlike a motorist, the cyclist lacks all the extras to ensure privacy, is physically tired, and just wants a quiet night’s rest. A cyclist does not travel with a mob of screaming kids, a pack of dogs, a noisy radio, a color TV, a supply of charcoal or firewood, great slabs of meat, a cooler full of beer, a standing tent with auxiliary sleeping tent and connecting canopy, a full set of cookware, a gas stove, one or more gasoline or electric floodlamps, a bug zapper, fogs of chemical spray, a motorhome, a boat, a spare car, or an extra trailer. Nor is a bicycle camper thrilled with acre after acre of parking lots with mandatory gravel “pads” for the tent, open and smelly trash cans, a scarcity of scrawny trees, cigarette butts and beer tops littering the ground, and the obviously mandatory mowed grass. Frankly, sleeping in the backyard at home is a lot more of an adventure, and a lot quieter. Third, bicycle campers do not share the cultural attitudes of the others. It’s sort of like being the only Buddhist at a Baptist church.”

            - Ken Kifer

      "When I come to power, which I sense won’t be long now, I shall ban GPS on bikes. I don’t doubt they’re useful, but they take out the serendipity. A GPS tells you where to go; a map shows where else you could go. Read a map and you spot old castles, waterfalls or just better roads where cows graze and lambs gambol."

           - Anon