spokesNspin

Last week I wrote a post about my modest bike collection.  As is the case with most things in life, one thing leads to another.

This would make Imelda Marcos green with envy.

I know this picture isn’t a lot to look at it.   It was hard to get.  I actually took it while riding my bike.  The story is what is important.  When you hear the story you may be grateful that the picture is no better than it is.

I assume this lovely young couple had come to D.C. to see the sites.  I can hear them now. 

“Oh honey look.  How neat! Lets hire the pedi-cab to cycle us around to see the sites.  Doesn’t it sound like fun?”

They couldn’t foresee what was about to happen.  They paid their money and climbed on board.  The cabbie crawls onto his bike and then the terrible truth is there staring them right in the face.   Instead of seeing the monuments of the Capitol of the greatest nation on earth, they have entered the ”Twilight Zone”.  

This guy is not wearing proper clothing to pedal a bike around D.C.

They will now spend the next couple of hours being shown around D.C. with this guys T-shirt riding up his back and his shorts sliding down his butt.  Yep, for two hours this guy will be mooning them just two feet away.

When I saw the guy pedal past me I almost fell off my bike laughing.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule this week on the D.C. gun law.  As I understand it, a person is not allowed to even keep a gun in their own home. I could be wrong on the law.  If my understanding is correct, it seems rather extreme to me.

On the other end you have Utah.  The nuts there are going whole hog over open carry.  It seems they like to make a statment by pretending they live in the Wild West and carry their guns strapped to their hips and out for everyone to see.

I think they are trying to compensate for inadequacies in other areas.

People who believe they need to be packing heat 24/7 are probably exactly the people who shouldn’t be carrying.

Another good cartoon from Pat Bagley, my favorite political cartoonist, regarding this issue.

I recently emptied my bike stable for a group picture.

It’s crazy I know.  I have heard of people who have more bikes than I do but I don’t know anyone personally.  I know you all want to be introduced so here goes.  From left to right they are:

 ”Carrie” Cannodale T2000 touring bike.  She has almost 20,000 miles.  Carrie and I have been together about 7 years.  We have had some wonderful tours and adventures.   She even carried me on the 200 mile LOTOJA.  Her drive train has been replaced once.

Specialized Roubaix.  This is my most recent purchase.  I had been lusting after this bike for about 4 years.  On a regular basis I would go into the shop and stroke her.   She has a carbon fiber frame and Shimano 105 and Ultegra components.

“Tina” Trek 720 is next.  Tina is about 24 years old but our relationship just started last fall.  She came with down tube friction shifters, Sun Tour derailleur and gearing that was just a little too big for my daily commute.  I took a bike class and installed bar end shifters and new gearing on the back that includes a mega gear.  It’s a little better but still not quite as small as I would like.

I know she’s old and little over weight.  But she has such classic lines.  She is always there to smooth out the bumpy roads in life.  When all is said and done, she is my favorite bike to ride.  Yes, she is one sweet ride!

Not only that, but she is also civic minded.

Is that cool or what?

Schwinn Moab is next.  This is a mountain bike with street tires that was my commuter for about 7 years.  Right now there are no pedals or seat on the bike.  It needs a new drive train. I bought the parts last fall but haven’t installed them yet.  It was too cold in the garage to do the work during the winter.  Now that it is warm I would rather be out riding.

Last but not least is a Gary Fisher Aquila mountain bike.  I haven’t ridden this bike in probably two years.  I will probably get rid of either this one or the Schwinn.  But check out these bad boys:

That’s right, those are studded snow tires.  I installed those to give me more riding time in the winter.  I decided shortly after that maybe I was a little too obsessed.  Snow and ice days might be a good time to give it a break or should I say not risk giving it a break. 

But there is a certain pleasure in being the first to ride along the trail in the quiet with 4 inches of fresh snow.  It is so peaceful.

So what do my five bicycles and six children have in common? 

I never started out planning to have so many of either one. It just happened but I love them all.

One day last week, I was bicycling to work and a driver rolled down the window in her car to talk with me.  She was wearing a uniform and I wondered if it was a policeman about to accuse me of something. 

She wanted to know how to get to a certain street.  Ever wanting to be a helpful person, I gave her the best directions I could.  A few weeks ago another woman, this time in Old Town, asked for directions.  She was really lost.

On a regular basis people are asking me for directions.  I think the reason is that cyclists are so available and easy to accost.  

There is a certain risk when drivers ask cyclists for directions.  Just as with automobile drivers, you don’t always remember the street names etc. of places where you drive.  You just know how to get there.  It is sometimes hard to give a person who is lost directions.

Pennsylvania was the worst place I have ever lived for asking directions.  I must point out here that I am not against asking for directions.

Me: How do I get to such and such a place.

Pennsylvanian: That’s easy.  Just take this road down to where the old Johnson Hardware ”used” to be.

Do you see the irony here?  If I had been around twenty years ago when Johnson Hardware was a going concern I wouldn’t be lost.   But this seemed to be “lost” on the helpful folks of PA.   Giving directions in that manner seemed to be a common trait.

I kind of got off track here.

I am worried that when I give a car driver directions I am inadvertantly getting them more lost then they were when they stopped and asked me.

Here is how the conversation might go.

Lost Driver: How do I get to 10th street from here?

Me: Just turn right at that next stop sign. Go until the road T’s then turn left.  Drive one block and you should be there.

I was correct about turning right at the next stop sign.  But after the first block you cross a street, bunny hop a curb, cruise down the alley between Commerce Bank and Walgreens, cross another street, go down the old narrow rail road tunnel that is now a jogging/bike path, you come out and twist through a motor vehicle barrier onto the street and turn left. 

Very simple.

If you stopped me and ask for directions last week, misguiding you was not intentional.