The Art of Taking It Slow

In the past forty years, cycling has increasingly been branded as a form of exercise, one that emphasizes speed, optimization, and competition. On any given morning, in Central, Prospect, and Golden Gate Parks, gangs of white-collar workers—wearing curve-hugging performance apparel and tethered to the cloud by G.P.S.—whiz in circles, cheating the wind. Indoor fitness companies, such as SoulCycle and Peloton, have reinforced the image of cycling as a high-octane cardio workout. Most new, high-end bikes are compact, lightweight, and hyper-responsive, with carbon-fibre frames, drop handlebars, and disk brakes, some of which are hydraulic. One of the bikes recommended by Bicycling magazine last year has a matte-black colorway with “a stealthy aesthetic”: the cables and wires are tucked inside the frame. The bike is advertised as “race bred, built for speed.”