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“We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.”  – Charles Kingsley

What is Cino?

This is a question that has been asked of us for years.  We asked each other this question.  We’ve asked ourselves in the mirror.  We think we know what is Cino, but then again, we recognize that its a moving target.

Cino is not the perfect tool for the job, for a variety of reasons. It looks better than the perfect tool for the job; it’s harder to use, its more classic, its older, its more unique–somehow, you just rather have it than the perfect tool for the job.  The perfect tool for the job is, well–its just not very cino that’s all.

 

Cino has a lot to do with bikes, but is not only about bikes.  Riding a bicycle is simply a very cino thing to do, and its hard to get away from biking once you start talking about cino. Cino is a great thing to think about on a long road ride.

 

What might help make sense are some lists.  Nothing is ever really cino, or ever really not cino–so the best we can do is offer a list of things that are pretty cino or not very cino.

Pretty Cino:

Brooks saddles

Wool

Airstream campers

Cast iron

Pulling out

Starting a fire with friction

Prosciutto

Hemp twine

Wood

Straight razors

Push mowers

4oz cappuccino

Street cafes

Dirt roads

No bars on phone

Not Very Cino:

Carbon forks

Lyrca, spandex

Swiss Army knives

Slap Chop

Mtn Dew

CO2

BP

Plastics

GPS

Acronyms

Big Gulp

Instant Coffee

#086

Simply riding from point A to B is not very Cino. Riding from point A through C on the way to B via a dirt road on a vintage bike converted to fixed gear in the rain wearing wool.. that’s pretty Cino.

Some Famous Quotes (not) about Cino:

We choose to ride the Cino on bikes older than a decade, and do the other things. Not because they are easy, but because they are hard." – JFK

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one that was more cino.
It made a big difference.
”  – Robert Frost

Fashions fade, but Cino is eternal.” – Yves Saint-Laurent

 

“The meaning of Cino can’t be known by customary thought patterns, but by experience.”- Albert Einstein

Cino is knowing who you are, what to say, and not giving a damn.” -Gore Vidal

Cino is a simple way of saying complicated things.” –Jean Cocteau

By ‘Cino’ I mean, grace under pressure.” -Earnest Hemingway

Cino has been defined to be the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul.” -William Hazlitt

I do not at all understand the mystery of Cino – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.” – Anne Lamott

Cino is like music, it must be composed by ear, feeling and instinct, not by rule.” – Paracelsus

 

The world is a playground, and cino is pushing my swing.”- Natalie Kocsis

Any life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment – the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, what cino is.” – Jorge Luis Borges

Live Cino, instead of professing it.”  – Elbert Hubbard

Cino is the coin of life. Only you can determine how it will be spent.”  – Carl Sandburg

Cino is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time and sometimes you weep.”  – Carl Sandburg

Cino is an opportunity, benefit from it. Cino is beauty, admire it. Cino is bliss, taste it. Cino is a dream, realize it. Cino is a challenge, meet it. Cino is a duty, complete it. Cino is a game, play it. Cino is a promise, fulfill it. Cino is sorrow, overcome it. Cino is a song, sing it. Cino is a struggle, accept it. Cino is a tragedy, confront it. Cino is an adventure, dare it. Cino is luck, make it. Cino is too precious, do not destroy it. Cino is life, fight for it.” – Mother Teresa

 

One thing is clear, once you are Cino, you own it.  The movement is young, but the concept is definitely timeless.  If you climb on board, you can help define it.  Cino isn’t a place, its a direction–not a precise arrow you see on a map, it's like when you pull over in a strange town and ask an old man where something is, and he kind of points in the vague direction for you to go.  Its like that.  Cino is “o’re there”… somewhere.

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