Why Him?

Why was the tubing on this frame named for a guy who got lost?

 

Happy Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day!

I live near the “real” Little Italy in the Bronx. I often go there for food and, occasionally, other kinds of fun. There are festivities there. So why am I not participating in them? Well, I’ve never understood why a guy who got lost, didnt “discover” any place (people were already living there) and helped to start the transatlantic slave trade became a source of Italian pride when we have Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante and Leonardo (What does that tell you when we only need to use their first names?), Vivaldi and, for crying out loud, fashion designers? 

And why was one of the best-known brands of bicycle tubing, from which so many fine frames (I’ve owned seven and ridden a bunch more) have been constructed, named after that wayward sailor?

Does ending a post with three consecutive rhetorical questions mean I’m getting cranky in midlife?

5000

 

So why am I posting an image of a 1988 Panasonic DX~5000?

Well, it was a nice bike from one of the most under-appreciated bicycle manufacturers. I think Panasonic never became as popular (at least in the US) as other Japanese brands like Fuji and Nishiki—which continue to offer some great bikes—because most Americans thought of Panasonic only as an electronics company. But their bikes had excellent workmanship and were well thought-out.

But the real reason I chose that model is its number. Yesterday’s post was #5000 in the history of this blog. 

So why didn’t I write a celebratory post yesterday? Well, I felt really good after yesterday’s ride and was still glowing within from the light over the ocean. Call me self-indulgent or narcissistic or whatever else you want. I wanted to share it before I got too full or tired. (I think that was one of the mistakes I made during my Japan trip last year: I waited until night to write and, after full days of biking and exploring in a mountainous country during the hottest part of the season  I was cooked.)

Anyway, here’s to 5000. I think it’s a good reason to skip the Sunday funnies, at least for this week.

A Ride As The Sun Breaks

The days are growing shorter. So I should begin a multi-hour ride early in the morning, right? Did I? No. I took my time with breakfast and let Marlee cuddle me: I think he wanted it because I was wearing a sweatshirt I hadn’t worn in a while. 

I had another motive for starting my ride to Point Lookout later than I “should” have. Today was one of those bright, nippy, breezy days that practically defines October. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for wind and rain, courtesy of a hurricane that’s soaking the South. So I figured—correctly, as it turned out—that as I pedaled along the ocean, I would see light and cloud formations even more vivid than those of hot, shadowless summer days.

It was as if the sun were taking a break in the waves ahead of the approaching storm.