Freedom

The real truth lies here.

Modern society is pretty much fucked. The world is made up of vacuous, self-centered morons brainwashed by the internet and mainstream media, who in turn are no more than puppets of .ooo1% of the population who own 99% of the wealth and pull the strings of every major government, bank, business and institution. 1984 is a reality, we just don’t realise and acknowledge it, because if it was made that obvious then we might just say “wait a minute, they’re fucking us!” We are made to believe we have freedom, whereas, in reality, all we actually have is the illusion of freedom.

Cycling may be the only real freedom we have, and even that is surreptitiously controlled for us, and is controlling us. We are told we need the latest carbon frame that looks like dog shit and rides not much better, while a 30 year old steel bike does exactly the same job, which is: to move us across the earth and put a smile on our face, yet we are convinced that we won’t be happy unless our new standard bottom brackets constantly creak and need fortnightly servicing. Mountain bikers are now being cajoled into believing that an extra 6mm of width on a rear hub will change our lives. It’s enough to make me go back to a hardtail. With a longer fork, slacker angles, wider bars, shorter stays, bigger wheels, fatter tyres, less gears, naturally.

Of course, advancements in technology do make a difference to our rides, especially for mountain biking. Road, I’m not as convinced. My Bosomworth, while heavier, with less gears and slower shifting than my Jaegher, is still a great bike to ride and would no doubt make me stronger if it was my only ride. Suspension and dropper posts for the MTB are pretty much essential and improve the experience, but if I lost the rear shock I’m sure I’d still be able to ride most of the terrain I do now, maybe with a bit more discomfort and a little less control, but wouldn’t that put the emphasis back on me to sharpen my skills and pick my lines a little more carefully? Thinking? No, we can’t have that.

Same can be said with the choices we think we make in our everyday lives: we aren’t making them, they are made for us. We don’t need all that shit they are selling us. We have the freedom to think for ourselves and make our own minds up, yet still just go along with the status quo, what the tv tells us to buy, what the corporations tell us to consume, what the 000.1% want us to do. Be good little happy consumers and shut the fuck up. Or go ride your bike, any bike, and use the time to think about what’s real and what we’re told is real. Don’t be afraid, set yourself free. It’s the only truth we can really believe.

Now head over to The Gear page and buy some shit.

Brett

Don't blame me

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View Comments

Ccos says:

Nov 19 2015 at 4:12 pm

@wiscot

@Ccos

@senharv

And by far y’all is one of the best contractions there are. It’s the only pleural with it’s own pleural.

Observe, there is “y’all” and “all y’all” as in “all y’all need need to shut up.”

How about y’all spell pleural “plural.” Or is the extra “e” a southern thing y’all do? (Forbidden you know what here).

Ha! Nope, that spelling is "of the pleura" rather than "more than one." In times like this, I like to defer to the late great Butterfly McQueen: "I don't know nothing about (spelling)."

Though, some irony in being scolded by a Brit for putting extra vowel's into words.
wiscot says:

Nov 19 2015 at 4:16 pm

@Ccos

@wiscot

@Ccos

@senharv

And by far y’all is one of the best contractions there are. It’s the only pleural with it’s own pleural.

Observe, there is “y’all” and “all y’all” as in “all y’all need need to shut up.”

How about y’all spell pleural “plural.” Or is the extra “e” a southern thing y’all do? (Forbidden you know what here).

Ha! Nope, that spelling is “of the pleura” rather than “more than one.” In times like this, I like to defer to the late great Butterfly McQueen: “I don’t know nothing about (spelling).”

Though, some irony in being scolded by a Brit for putting extra vowel’s into words.

Touche, good sir, touche! Mind you, I'm American now so I have to spell certain words like color and labor the US way. Mind you, I still park my car and keep my bikes in a garage (pronounced garridge) not a gah-rahj!
Ccos says:

Nov 19 2015 at 4:25 pm

@wiscot

Forgot to add: Like you guys came up with the language or something.
Apex Nadir says:

Nov 19 2015 at 7:58 pm

@The Pressure

@Teocalli

@Ccos

please come to New England: people here have ATROCIOUS dining etiquette here and need someone

Many years ago when I first started doing business in the USA we were out at dinner with our hosts and I realised a couple of folk there were watching me eat. So thinking I had breached some local etiquette I stopped and said – sorry have I done something wrong. The response was “No it’s just fascinating watching someone use a knife and a fork without changing hands”……….

Really…maybe they thought you were from Canada because you weren’t eating with your hands!!

I'm Canadian. I moved to the USA for a job in my early 20s and was surprised to see people cut food and then swap the knife and fork around to eat it. I'd never seen that done before.

@ccos - the word you wanted was "cachet". It's not my habit to patrol the grammar streets, but as long as Canada is a partial theme here the French-derived word "cache" is pronounced like the English word "cash".
edster99 says:

Nov 25 2015 at 2:36 am

pleural - of the lining of the lungs, as in pleurisy (horrible lung disease, inflammation of the pleurae). Something none of us want to get !
Charzipan says:

Nov 30 2015 at 11:40 am

Modern society is pretty much fucked. The world is made up of vacuous, self-centered morons brainwashed by the internet and mainstream media, who in turn are no more than puppets of .ooo1% of the population who own 99% of the wealth and pull the strings of every major government, bank, business and institution. 1984 is a reality, we just don’t realise and acknowledge it, because if it was made that obvious then we might just say “wait a minute, they’re fucking us!” We are made to believe we have freedom, whereas, in reality, all we actually have is the illusion of freedom.

Never have truer words been written. Absolutely fucking nailed it.
Minnesota Expat says:

Jan 3 2016 at 5:36 pm

@Ron

+++1. And for your follow-on posts too. I know this is an old thread, but I take a couple month hiatus and look what I miss! There's nothing wrong with being a cynical mid-30 'something', you'll find the transition to a mid-50 'something' curmudgeon (me) to be seamless.
Minnesota Expat says:

Jan 3 2016 at 6:03 pm

@minion

Bookmark this. Could be useful here in San Antonio, the land of pick-up trucks, poor infrastructure, and resistance to spending any money on an actual multi-model transportation plan (it's social engineering!).
chuck g says:

Jun 1 2018 at 9:10 am

agree bicycle is only true freedom. thanks