independence

Fourth of July ride, Chapel Hill Trails. Ben and I drove down Tobacco Road to meet up with Dave and Linus for some mountain biking. Ben and I tried to do some warm up riding, but kept getting lost on the trails, looping back on ourselves. Like the Blair Witch Project, but without the video camera and the screaming. Also no witches. Luckily we soon met up with a crew of Chapel Hill luminaries who led us on a great group ride. It was hot, in the mid-90s, and while BCC style is all about team kits (okay, Dave was still rockin' the sleeveless t-shirt and baggy shorts) Chapel Hill style is all about tattoos, body piercings, and shirtless style. Mountain biking with a Camelbak and no shirt sounds kinda, well, chaffey for my tastes, but whatever keeps you kool, right? (I didn't take a camera, so I'll spare you pictures.)

Truth be told, this is what I love about mountain biking. There is still so much room for individuality and personal style. While roadies push for conformity (take this style guide, for example), in mountain biking anything goes, as long as it goes. Out of the dozen or so riders we had out yesterday, we had:
geared vs singlespeed
steel vs carbon fiber
29ers vs 26ers
shirts vs skins
bibshorts vs baggies
tubes vs tubeless
long-travel suspension vs fully rigid
clipless vs platform pedals
bottles vs camelbaks
energy gel vs beef jerky
hung-over vs not hung-over.
Which styles won? None. Everyone's set-up enabled them to ride like they wanted. Does form follow function? Does function follow form? Who knows. Just get out and ride.