The Ogre
There’s a virtually endless choice of bicycles these days, and most of them cater to a certain type of user. Users who want to ride fast and light. And on the other extreme, it’s for people who want to ride the most dangerous of terrains. I am simplifying of course, but I didn’t find much for someone who just wants to ride.
Few weeks ago, while researching bicycles, I remembered the time I would visit a friend and spend evenings at his terrace when I used to live in Bangalore, India. This was the time when I just started taking cycling somewhat seriously; we would dream about going on long cycling trips. During those discussions we would talk about this legendary bicycle manufacturer called Surly, and one of their flagship models, The Long Haul Trucker. The name oozed calm, calculated, slow burning endurance. The Long Haul Trucker had very little bling, it was made of steel, heavy, dependable and easy to maintain. The bicycle almost reflect the personality of the person who would ride such a bicycle. It’s for the person who is their own arbiter of what’s worth doing & where it is worth going.
Surly hasn’t manufactured The Long Haul Trucker for some time now. They have updated it to a bicycle with modern components and machinery. Even though the original values of the Long Haul Trucker lives on in the newer bicycle model, I couldn’t make myself get it. I am not the calculated, calm person that I imagine the bicycle would be for, someone with a mind calmer than a clear Antarctic winter night.
I have a mind that is worried, restless and tiring, gnawing at it’s own appendages when there’s nothing else to gnaw at; I imagine the only thing that holds it together is the fixtures of a salaried person. I have a savage mind.
So I got the Ogre.
It’s handle wide enough to zip around football sized rocks but it’s body heavy enough to go downhill without rattling. Its big fat 29-inch wheels are there to chew wet mud like bones in the jaws of a hyena, but also to dart through open roads when it’s dark and giants are roaming. The Ogre is not meant for the cool headed fearless explorers. It’s designed for the restless individual itching for a mad dash over the planet.
Hamburg, Germany