I am a Romantic when it comes to bikes.

I know I’m a bike/cycling/riding Romantic because of the sheer amount of mental time spent thinking and talking about bikes. Feeling about bikes. My head turns when someone rides by; my ears perk up when I hear a ticking freehub. If more than 2 days go by without riding, I feel like something is missing. I’ve had moments when my heart hurt from the love of bikes, much like those awkward-yet-honest first loves of your life. I’ve spent countless hours talking about how much I love little things like the sound and feel of clicking into my pedals… or how right it feels to stand up after a stop, rock the bike side to side and get back up to speed. It’s a process that takes seconds, but one that contains… something. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but that’s precisely the point. There’s something that I connect with yet can’t describe. A je ne sais quoi.

Fortunately, when you’re at a lack of words, imagery is able to step in and pick up some of the slack. The sheer volume of eye candy available on the internet is, well… awesome. A bit difficult to sift through at times, but that’s an okay problem to have. So here are a couple videos that, in some manner or another, capture a bit of the essence of riding for me:

Do you have any favorite bike-related videos? Some essence of riding that you love unabashedly?