“I remember being the type who would say ‘Get out of the road you bike rider’, but now every time I do something, it’s like ‘I’ll ride my bike over there.’ It’s definitely something I know I’m going to do for the rest of my life.”
— Brandon Roy to Oregonian reporter Jason Quick
OregonLive.com has published a video and several stories about the biking exploits of the Portland Trail Blazers’ NBA superstar Brandon Roy.
Roy, who earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2007 and is considered one of the NBA’s best players, has been incorporating a bicycle ride into his weekly workouts during the offseason.
He told the Oregonian’s Jason Quick that, “At first, I was like, wow, this isn’t fun,” but as he got used to the thigh-burning, he now thinks, “It’s probably my funnest time of the day… that’s the time I get to get away from everything.”
Roy also told Quick that, “It’s addictive… I remember being the type who would say ‘Get out of the road you bike rider’, but now every time I do something, it’s like ‘I’ll ride my bike over there.’ It’s definitely something I know I’m going to do for the rest of my life.”
I wonder if Mr. Roy would like to join us for a reprise of the Bike to Blazers event we did a few years back?
Check out the video below to see Roy talk about riding and working out on his bike in Washington…
More stories from The Oregonian about Roy and his bike:
— Brandon Roy rolls with custom hand-me-down bike…
— Ride & seek: Brandon Roy’s physically demanding bike rides give him a chance to envision his evolving role as the Blazers’ team leader
— The stories this bike could tell
When I saw the video, I was struck by three things:
1) His bike is too bike for him
2) He rides with excellent balance for someone who hasn\’t ridden much
3) He put on music headphones while riding- ugh! That\’s an example I don\’t want to see repeated elsewhere
Too Bike?
I read that story today. Perhaps the most important part of that story is this quote from Brandon Roy:
\”It\’s addictive,\’\’ he said. \”I remember being the type who would say \’Get out of the road you bike rider\’, but now every time I do something, it\’s like \’I\’ll ride my bike over there.\’ It\’s definitely something I know I\’m going to do for the rest of my life.\’\’
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2008/07/part_v_the_stories_this_bike_c.html
Yeah, the headphones made me cringe–at least he had a helmet though! Pretty inspirational all in all I say.
Looks to me like the bike might be the close to the right size, but his saddle is adjusted WAY too low. With his mashing pedaling style, he is asking for knee problems. With as much $$$$ as he gets paid, he probably should get professionally fitted! Heck, I bet the Blazers would even pay for it to keep him off of the injured bench……
Funnest time of my day too, Brandon.
How long do you think it will be before an athlete as rich and competitive as Roy is riding a $5k carbon fiber bike and sporting a Columbia kit?
I can\’t wait to see the reaction of most Blazers fans when Roy starts riding on the road and then speaks out for bike rights…
Mike: too big. See: http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/07/brandon_roy_rolls_with_handmed.html
Thanks Me2. i added that story and that quote to the story.
Okay, so I bike with headphones on, but they\’re little dinky sport ones that sit outside of my ear canal and DO NOT cover my entire ear. I, also, listen to books on tape not loud music. Watching him put on those huge honking headphones even made me cringe.
I think this is great for a mainstream figure to be hopping on bike and talking about how much he loves it. He does need to get that saddle up a bit though.
I love all the lance armstrongs and andy stitzers coming together to tell everybody how to ride and what to ride. classic.
What\’s next, he needs a bell, lights, and reflectors on his arms, throw in some stretchy pants?
The article says that he\’s riding a hand-me-down bike which was previously ridden by a guy who was 6\” taller than him. Seems like the Blazers should be able to find a frame for a 6\’6\” guy, right?
BR should try Co-Motion; company principal Dwan Shepard is very tall and they have an excellent track record for building outsize frames.
I should add–Co Mo\’s tandem business means they have a huge inventory of oversize steel and aluminum tubes. Note: I am NOT an employee of Co Motion or any dealer of theirs.
what\’s more fun…running line sprints or biking sprints up, say, SW Montgomery?
That would make my day…getting passed on Montgomery hill by Roy, Oden and the new generation of Blazers!
Agree on the headphones. The team has a lot of money invested in this guy, and I\’m a little surprised they allow him to ride (there\’s usually a long list of activities that players are banned from doing because of injury risk), but they certainly might want to encourage him to ride safely.
Off topic, but I\’ll say the Rose Garden has excellent bike parking! Lots of staples, and in an area that really discourages theft. Kudos to the Blazers for that. Now if only they would fund extra Max trains on game days, and raise the parking rates…
Hah. Imagine Rasheed Wallace or Bonzi Wells coming out and saying something like this.
I love these new Blazers. Oden, Roy and the rest are genuinely nice young guys who are giving the Blazers a good name again. Remember those advertisements they did with the blazers doing \”northwesty\” things like fishing in lost lake, etc? If they did a commercial of Brandon Roy biking to work, that\’d be incredible.
\’Sheed would have ridden Critical Mass and maybe U-locked a police car.
I was flipping channels the other day and saw an interview with the Blazers starting five from last year. I paused for a few minutes and was surprised and impressed. They seemed low key, well spoken, thoughtful, and dare I say it: humble (well, for pro jocks). Big difference from a few years ago.
Course when it comes to athletes and politicians the jury is always out for me; True Believerdom is frightening, and the Blazers are aggressively marketing the No-longer-Jailblazers angle. For all we know they are the same jackasses with different handlers.
I agree though, getting either Co-Motion or a Portland frame builder to build some bikes for these guys would be incredibly cool.
Forseti #6
So whats wrong with a $5k carbon bike and a Columbia Kit???
get off the headphone boohooing, enjoy a positive story for once. not everyone rides exactly how YOU want them to.
Ditto on the Co-Motion recommendation. This just might be one of those situations were if they were to comp Brandon Roy\’s they\’d garner a bunch of NBA business.
…and it\’s not just NBA. September\’s \”Bicycling\” mag. profiles Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Dhani Jones and his commute by fixie.
Imagine if all the pro sportsters started biking!
Bravo to Brandon, and welcome to the wonderful world of biking!
My rules for riding with headphones:
External speakers only,
not to be used in city traffic,
solo rides only,
ride as far right as practical,
always assume that there is a car behind you, be predictable.
Scott
Awesome story! I hope some of the great bikemakers in Portland do try to cultivate relationships with the Blazers and do build them killer bikes. Imagine a huge flat-black single gear for Greg Oden?
Wet blanket department: Off-season is fine, but with the punishment Roy\’s going to get next year, I don\’t want to see him cutting through traffic on MLK in April. Put the guy in the back of a nice safe limo, preferably seated on a velvet pillow. I bet Nate would agree.
But yeah, Blazers – Bikes… two great treats that taste great together.
Some of you commenters are so weird.
This is how it goes:
\”Oh, I\’m mister know-it-all about bikes. Brandon Roy needs to this and this and this and not this.\”
At least the guy is on a bike. Hopefully he\’ll stay on one instead of getting derouted by meanies like you.
Back off for a while!
\’Sheed would have ridden Critical Mass and maybe U-locked a police car.
This is classic… I\’ll bet Darius Miles, Bonzi, Sheed and company started this event to get more people to help them be thugs.
If only every cyclist were as cool as B-Roy. I just hope he stays on the trails and away from traffic.
nice. but brandon, don\’t you know all the coll kids like kanye ride track bikes?
What the hell is a coll and what is a kayne. Could you please translate your comment into English.
I\’ll translate : all the cool kids like Kanye ride track bikes.(Kanye West owns Brooklyn Machine Works, they make track frames)
Oh thanks didn\’t realize who this guy was… he appears to be pretty famous based on what I googled.