BBQ Bike
Low and slow is the way to go
First, know that the BBQ Bike is a bicycle — not a motorcycle, not an e-bike, not a food truck. It’s actually not even a bicycle, but a different approach to bicycling than what you might get from bike industry advertising or even well-meaning bike-nerd friends. There are many aspects that contribute to the BBQ Bike style of riding, but it’s most distinctive quality is speed: “low and slow is the way to go.” The first thing we’re going to do is throw out the notion that you want to go as fast as possible.1 There’s many different kinds of bicycles and style of riding, but, with a small handful of exceptions (Dutch commuters, beach cruisers), the goal is typically to go as fast as possible, or at least as you could reasonably be expected to.
The BBQ bike is different. The goal is to get you on your bicycle and riding without expending any more effort (or concentration) than you would if you were on a casual walk. The magic of the bicycle is that it can take the energy expenditures of a causal walk and transport your many many miles further. With a BBQ bike you spend more time on your bike, and have more fun doing it. It’s a somewhat subtle kind of fun,2 the kind of fun that comes to a meditative, mature person who is willing to engage in quiet reflection. But it’s a lasting fun: something you can do for your whole life. And it pays rewards in health as a bonus. In many ways, it’s a kind of perfect fun, something that makes you feel like you aren’t wasting your life. We probably all need a little more of that.