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Bike Snob Blows His Cover

THURSDAY, 15 APRIL 2010


With the upcoming publication of his new book, cycling blogger and Bicycling columnist Bike Snob NYC has revealed himself to be Eben Weiss, 36, a former literary agent who lives in Brooklyn and races for Gotham Bikes. Here's what he has to say about giving up his anonymity.

So who are you in "real life" and what do you do for a living?
I'm basically the person I've always claimed to be in my blog--a wiseass and lousy racer who rides a bike around New York City--only now there's a name attached. The big reveal is that I don't actually have a helper monkey named Vito. Thanks to my book and other projects I'm now a full-time writer.

What made you decide to give up your anonymity?
I want to be able to travel in support of my book. Doing interviews in a balaclava tends to scare people away and get you in trouble at airports.

Are you afraid that going public will ruin your mystique?
I'm not sure how much "mystique" a guy who admits to owning a Scattante and falling down during a road ride pee break can have.

What is your book about?
The most important thing to me when writing it was to convey something that takes many of us a long time to learn--that cycling is tremendously fun, tremendously practical, and tremendously healthy, and that you should feel free to discard pretty much every rule, fashion, and product the rest of the cycling world holds sacred. I hate the idea that there are people who don't approach cycling because they think they need certain equipment, or because the whole thing seems so inscrutable and they're worried they're not "cool" enough, or because some Cat 4 told them they can't ride without a power meter.

What's the hardest ride you ever did?
I was nearly undone by the 120-mile Rapha Gentleman's Race in New Paltz, New York, in which my team was defeated by a number of others, including Bicycling. It wasn't even that the ride was hard--it was getting beaten by the Fit Chick that really hurt.

Bike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling Culture comes out in May ($17; chroniclebooks.com).

Source: www.bicycling.com

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