Patrick Brady

Background

About Patrick Brady

Writing about cycling is an unusual pursuit. It's a solitary endeavor with little movement about an activity that is nothing but movement. I've been chasing this light-colored cetacean for 30 years. At this point I've composed the veritable "it all": race reports, pro interviews, travel features, bike reviews, advocacy pieces and scores upon scores of essays that look into the depths of why so many people need cycling the way most of the world needs coffee or antidepressants. My work has appeared in most notable cycling publications. I've published features with Bicycling Magazine, Peloton, VeloNews, Road Bike Action, as well as numerous web sites. I launched Red Kite Prayer in 2009 and went on to found The Cycling Independent in 2020. Where RKP was written for the lifer, the knowledgeable cyclist, The Cycling Independent is meant to reach a broader audience, one less concerned with the weight of their bike. I've published three books: Bicycling Los Angeles County (a guidebook to great rides in LA), The No-Drop Zone which is a how-to for new road cyclists, and Why We Ride, which is a collection of my evergreen essays. I'm also the publisher of several podcasts, most notably The Paceline Podcast. My latest venture is called Enter the Deuce and it is the story of my son Matthew's entrance into this world and his subsequent 39-day stay in the NICU. It contains far more drama than most stories on cycling could hope to capture. Away from cycling I'm a poet and fiction writer, working to finish my second novel. As someone who has suffered depression over the course of my life, I chose to open up about it in some of my cycling work, in part, because so few people do open up. I began counseling augmented with the psychedelic Ketamine in 2019. The experience has been transformative and I've sought opportunities to write about my experience because I believe nearly every person on the planet could grow in a healthy way by doing some of this work.