The Performative Cyclist

If you open your Instagram now. Or no, maybe don’t. Leave it.
Finish these two minutes of reading first, then you’re free to scroll.

My Instagram is currently about 80% cycling (and 20% Haaland). No surprise. I love cycling and Instagram knows it. The algorithm has done exactly what it was supposed to do. Except that my feed has become increasingly filled with what I would describe as performative cyclists. The GRWM video rate is peaking. I’ve seen more bib shorts being snapped onto suspiciously non-cycling butts, more jerseys being zipped only three-quarters high than I dare to admit.

Then when they actually set off for their ride. Or at least for the five seconds that make it into the reel. My eyes hurt. Cyclists can usually tell within about a second whether someone actually rides bikes. There’s something about how they sit on the bike, how they pedal, how they corner. I can’t really explain it, but almost every cyclist immediately recognizes it.
80% percent fails the test.

And yet… apparently this is what ends up on my feed. Now before people get nosy: yes, I know. The algorithm is showing me more of what I already interact with. And yes, I’m not immune to it either: I still watch the reels. But I’m also convinced this genre has exploded, and Instagram simply doesn’t distinguish between someone who actually rides bikes and the performative cyclist.

The bike slowly seems to disappear. Not literally. But it has become more of a prop. A prop in the background of the GRWM. A prop next to the coffee. A prop behind the recovery shake, shaken so close to the camera that I can almost smell the fake vanilla.

Somewhere along the way, the ride stopped producing the content. The content started producing the ride. Maybe there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But I do think something changes when posting becomes part of the reason to ride instead of riding becoming the reason to post.

Which is probably also why I enjoy writing on Grassdune so much. Not because I dislike Instagram. Quite the opposite. Instagram is brilliant at what it was built to do. Grassdune just tries to reward something different. Long-form instead of short-form. Context instead of aesthetics. Thoughts instead of trends.

Not for the clicks, but for myself and the handful of people who enjoy reading along. Just like I ride my bike for myself and the handful of people I happen to share the ride with. Cyclists are surprisingly introspective.

I sometimes wonder what Instagram would look like if the algorithm rewarded genuine curiosity instead of beauty. If it preferred written stories over reels, and thoughts over trends.
It would probably look a little bit like Grassdune.

Not because Instagram is bad. But sometimes I just want somebody to explain to me, in 500 words, what they got out of the ride.
Not how they looked getting ready for it.