Some things really can make you feel old.
I know, it isn't all about me. At least, what I'm about to relate isn't. But I write this blog, ostensibly about bicycling, and end up talking about myself. Then again, what blogger doesn't talk about him/her/themself?
So here goes: Forty years ago, John Lennon was murdered by someone who claimed --like other actual and would-be murderers and assassins--to have been inspired by Holden Caulfield (who was, not a killer, but a teenage rebel who feels disgust for almost everything in the adult world) of Catcher in the Rye.
Four decades ago? Four decades ago! At the time, I had lived barely half that amount of time. On the other hand, John had lived as long (having turned 40 two months earlier) when he was shot.
In an earlier post, I relayed one of his fondest memories: of getting a bike as a kid. He rode it everywhere and didn't leave it outside at night, as other people in his neighborhood did. His wheels accompanied him to bed, he said.
Of course, what is better-known is someone who accompanied him to bed:
Yes, a bicycle accompanied him and Yoko during their first "Bed-In For Peace" in Amsterdam. I don't know whether they had a bike during their second Bed-In, in Montreal, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did.
Here they are in 1972, stopping for what has long been a quintessential New York experience, but one that is disappearing. Those iconic Sabrett's hot dog carts are being replaced by Halal food trucks and carts that serve kebabs and chicken or lamb with rice, as well trucks and carts offering other tacos, pizza and other "street foods."
(As best as I can tell, John is riding a Bottechia ten-speed and Yoko is on a Dunelt or Rudge three-speed. At least, I'm sure it's a three-speed but not a Raleigh.)
John, apparently, never gave up his love for cycling, even when he and the Beatles were touring and turning out an album or two every year.
Tell me: Does that look like '60's England, or what?
It certainly looks like John, expressing his kind of joy.
