Ride Lugged

touring and racing today seem like drastically disparate ways to ride a bike. this was not always that case, in more ways than one. 99 percent of those racing today know little to nothing about tourings influence on racing, bike design, and technology.
racers were stuck with singlespeed bikes with heavy cottered cranks, steel rims, bars, stems and posts, while tourists were riding, pre ww2, hollow alumininium cranks, indexed shifters and rear mechs, aluminum sealed bearing hubs, and bikes weighing sub 17lbs. there was an annual, now mainly forgotten french touring event called the technical trials that took place after the tour de france, and followed its course. the trials were a builders competition, the object to see who could build the lightest, most durable bike for the trial. women tourists, and men, routinely set speed records and hill climb records that the racers couldnt touch. it is only within the past 15 years that tourist have been dismissed by the popular media, and have been tainted with generalities such as touring being slow, heavy, and for old fucks. its only that way if you make it that way.