2019-11-01_Bicycling

26 BICYCLING.COM • ISSUE 1 | 2020

PHIL GAIMON | FROM: LOS ANGELES | CREDENTIALS: 10 YEARS PROFESSIONAL, 3 YEARS EATING COOKIES ON YOUTUBE | GO-TO BIKE: FACTOR VAM | FAVORITE PIECE OF GEAR: ICE LEGS RECOVERY

SLEEVES | HARDEST RIDE EVER: LETRAS KOM ATTEMPT IN COLOMBIA | BEST RIDE EVER: MAUNA KEA KOM IN HAWAII | SOUL ROUTE: MALIBU CANYONS | CYCLING PHILOSOPHY: EVERYONE RIDING

A BIKE AND BEING SAFE AND HAVING FUN IS DOING IT RIGHT

I SPENT MOST OF MY TWENTIES

sweating on a bicycle, with the sin-

gular focus of being fast. I attended

the University of Florida, joined the

cycling club, never went to a football game,

and I can count the number of beers I drank

on one hand. I joined a small pro team after

college, spent weeks at a time on the road

staying at host houses or sleeping in my car,

and it all made sense because it was my job.

I was climbing the sacred ladder of sport

for competition and glory, and eventually

I made it to the WorldTour. That justified

all the parties I skipped and pizza I didn’t

eat (pizza was an off-season food).

I stopped racing at the end of 2016, and

now I make a YouTube show where I train

and suffer for Strava KOMs and adventure.

So, I still kind of have to be fast for my job,

but I’ve finally figured out that while goals

are important, achieving them might turn

out to be less rewarding than you expected.

Your actual life—the way you spend your

days—is the process of working toward

those goals, so you have to make sure the

process doesn’t suck.

I’ve reconsidered my old trade-offs and

there’s a lot that I won’t do anymore in

favor of health, sanity, and safety. I thought

it might be useful to share which habits I

consider effective and worth sticking to,

now that I’m an aspiring weekend warrior,

BEING FAST IS

POINTLESS.

I WOULD KNOW.

COOKIE

RANKINGS

1 / FUDGE BROWNIE CHIP / CAFE

SOLTERRA – JEK YLL ISLAND CLUB

HOTEL – GLYNN COUNTY, GEORGIA

2 / RICE KRISPIE TREAT CHOCO-

LATE CHIP / M STREET KITCHEN –

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA

3 / CHOCOLATE CHIP /

LEVAIN BAKERY – NEW YORK,

NEW YORK

4 / DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP /

MEETING STREET CAFE –

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

5 / PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE

CHIP / WOODSTAR CAFE –

HADLEY, MASSACHUSETTS

❯❯

Photograph byBRIAN VERNOR