Saturday, December 29, 2007

pudddin' defined

A couple years back Bill and I were riding along talking about our bikes. Bill's was making a funny noise, I can't remember what is was. We talked for a few minutes about what the source of the noise might be and then decided the bike would have to go back to his buddy's shop for squeak diagnosis. The sad reality was there was no hope that either one of us would be able to fix the squeak. That is when we realized that we are both puddin's. puddin' is both a noun and an adjective.

puddin' is the antithesis of PRO (an excellent term defined on Belgium Knee Warmers). I spell it in all lower-case letters to emphasize its insignificance. It is a term close to geek. A complete and total enthusiast who is maginally competent. Someone who pays the big bucks to particiapte in the sport for the love of the sport. Someone who doesn't have a complete set of matching cycling kit for every day of the week. When I look at my group of riding buddies I see a group of puddin's.

puddin's celebrate Paris Roubaix by getting together, eating Tacos, drinking beer and cursing OLN. puddin is a triple chain ring with a 11-34 casset on a road bike. puddin' is wrapping your bars in two different colors. puddin's get their miles in when they can between earning a living and raising thier kids. puddin's might race and they might even race to win but to never race is truly puddin'. puddin' is waiting til March to come out on a ride and not care whether you get dropped. A true puddin' aspires to PRO-ness but accepts the reality of his or her puddin-ness.

3 comments:

Heather Brooks Freer said...

spencer...just curious about the difference between puddin' and cutter...hope you are well,
tom

Sorelegs said...

A cutter ingnores the funny noise on the bike and hopes it will go away. A puddin worries about it and takes it to the shop. A puddin wears jerseys to look like his favorite PRO, a cutter wears a cotton t shirt even though he has a jersey becasue he doesn't care. A puddin strives for PRO and a cutter avoids PRO at all costs including comfort of his/ her taint.

Tourmaline OTC said...

May I make a suggestion? Change your profile: Strikethrough "Fighting" Cancer and in bold caps, type BEATING Cancer. Nuff sed.