Hot Take: Learn to Ride, Not REC

I’ve been riding on and off for about a decade. Don’t have a bike right now, but I will again soon. I learned to ride in Chicago—where you either learn fast or die trying. I definitely had my “invincible, look-at-me” phase, but after a few close calls caused by my own recklessness and ego, I got lucky and grew out of it.

Now I live in another traffic-choked city full of distracted, angry drivers—half of them on their phones, the other half mad at the world. I still keep an eye out for bikes (once a rider, always a rider), and these days I see tons of riders with cameras strapped everywhere, usually on street bikes, often in groups. I’ve also seen way too many wrecks and close calls—again, mostly street bikes. Once watched a girl dump her 300 at a light right in the middle of an intersection. She was okay, but man, it was rough to watch.

My rant: learn to ride before you try to show off—online or in person. There’s a flood of “content creators” posting dumb, risky behavior just for clicks, bragging about near misses or blaming drivers for situations they caused. The chase for views is making the whole community look bad—and it’s dangerous as hell.

TL;DR: Learn to ride before you hit record.