Well, it's not dead here in England.
Every Wednesday we have a large turnout, no matter what the weather (a record 77 riders in late February). Bikes are nearly all steel, mostly lugged, all with guards and saddlebags or rack top bags. Most with lights too. A few still ride with capes in the rain. A few riders use aluminium frames, but most of those own steel too. Mileages are varied, between 40 and 100 miles , across 5 rides every week all year round, to cater for all ages and fitnesses. Our oldest regular is 81 years old, and he prefers the longer rides! We have a good number of lady riders too, usually about 15-20.
Long may it continue.
Mike Waite
Amersham
Buckinghamshire
England, UK
----- Original Message ----- From: "Nick March" <nicbordeaux@yahoo.fr> To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 11:01 AM Subject: [CR]Cyclotourisme is dead, failed racers live on.
> Cyclotouring was (past tense) guys on lightweights or light as mechanical
> skills would allow, the art of travelling morning to dusk on low gearing,
> just spinning away all day long, taking the back roads, seeing places.
> Cyclotourers weren't muscle bound sprinters, the guys were light and
> lithe, and hard as nails. And they had fun. They were the subject of great
> mockery by a lot of has been or never will be small time racers. They are
> a dead race. Extinct. Any cyclo meets I see nowadays over here in France,
> it's all geeks on carbon racing toys. You try get them to cycle more than
> 100 km on small roads, they're dead beat. You give em' a map and a
> sandwich, a kick off in the right direction, next thing you know is
> they're in hospital through bike failure, or exhaustion. Or they're lost,
> which is fine by me. Mainly the guys travel in big groups along a course
> with signposts, it's just like a race, and mostly they are failed racers
> trying to make a win in the small fry.
>
> The men I knew ate on the bike. They didn't have Herses or Singers, they
> weren't rich enough (please don't get me wrong, a Herse or a Singer is a
> real cyclo machine). The only cyclotourers I see nowadays are dutch madmen
> on modern steel with a 50 kg load of saucepans and camping gear. The way I
> hear it they catch the train in Holland from somewhere to somewhere in
> France, then they ride all over the countryside.
>
> Then you have the collectors and nostalgics, guys who have oldtimer
> machines, they go out for 100 km paddles and take plenty of photographs of
> themselves which they then post on their websites. I guess they are the
> only pitiful remanants of the art.
>
> Then you have the cyclorandonneur events: gimme a break, see above about
> carbon freaks and failed racers doing peloton stuff.
>
> So it boils down to this: there is no longer such a thing as a
> cyclotourist.
>
> Nick March
> Agen, 47, Lot et Garonne, France