Yesterday I pedaled the 140 km to and from my apartment and Greenwich, Connecticut. Although it's the longest ride I've done in three weeks, it actually seemed almost easy, even when I was climbing the ridge at the state line.
One reason for that, of course, is that I was riding one of my own bikes: Dee Lilah, my new Mercian Vincitore Special. Plus, although the day was warm, it wasn't nearly as hot--or humid--as what I experienced in Cambodia and Laos.
Even more to the point, the sun was much less intense. I didn't think of it until I got to Greenwich and sat in the Common, by the Veterans' memorial. Normally, I wear sunglasses any time I'm outdoors: something my opthamologist recommends. But, as I was sitting on that bench in the Common, I took off my shades. The green of the leaves, and the pinks, purples, yellows, oranges and other hues of the flowers seemed soft, almost cool.
Not only did I have to remind myself to wear my shades, I also had to remember to put on some sunscreen. Even when it was overcast, I could feel the sun's heat and radiation on my skin. So I didn't forget to massage myself with protective lotion, or to wear my broad-brimmed hat and sunglasses. Even so, at the end of the day, I would feel the kind of tiredness I experience after spending time in the sun--say, at the beach or after a bike ride. Then again, I spent much of my time outdoors, looking at temple sites and landscapes.
I now realize that yesterday and the day before, I was experiencing, more or less, what I experienced when I've gone to France or northern Europe in the summer: longer hours of softer light. I believe, though, the difference is even greater between here and Southeast Asia than between here and Europe.
In any event, I enjoyed the ride, as I almost always do. And it is nice to be my age and not feel tired after a 140 km ride!
Time spent with cats is never wasted.
Truer words were never uttered. (All right, very few truer words were ever uttered.) Who said them?
The same person who said,
Everywhere I go, I find that a poet has been there before me.
Hey, I can get with that, too. Or:
Dreams are most profound when they are the most crazy.
Such a pronouncement is ironic, coming from a man who hated radios and telephones--he would use the latter, but only when absolutely necessary--because of the noise they made. He even hated music! He also hated motorcycles, which came out in the middle of his life, for the same reason.
He also hated bicycles, which no one--not even his closest family members and associates--could explain. He never explained it himself. However, I think it may have had something to do with his being a control freak, a label attached to him by everybody who knew him. Or it may have been about his relationship with his son, who was an avid cyclist.
Ahh, father-son conflicts. Did I hear "Oedipal"? All right...now, perhaps, you have a clue to whom I'm referring.
Yes, I am talking about none other than Sigmund Freud-- who, if he were alive, would be 160 years old today.
What would he make of the fact that so many cyclists, particularly males, are riding longer cranks these days? What would he have to say about wheels, and what our choices about spoke patterns--or discs--say about us?
About his hatreds: Here's one that, perhaps, overshadows the others:
Yes, America is gigantic, but a gigantic mistake.
What would he make of the current Presidential race?
If you've been following this blog for some time, you know it's not like me to "disappear" for a week. But I have good excuses, er, reasons for not having posted during the past seven days.
You see, I have embarked on some research and other projects. They're not related to my "day" job but they are related to some of my deeper passions and inclinations, as well as to developments in my life during the past few years. It's a bit early to discuss them at any depth; the fact that they've taken up so much of my mental (and, at times, physical) energy makes it difficult, if not impossible, to talk about them in any event. However, I trust that I will have some interesting things to describe and discuss.
(Also,the recent heat wave broke for a stretch of some pleasant weather, so I've spent the little free time I've had on my bike!)
At least one of the experiences is bike-related and a direct result of previous volunteer work; another is related to things I've discussed on my other blog.
I think I'm living in interesting (for me, anyway) times, and hope to make them interesting for you, dear readers. Might the course of my life be changing yet again?
By now, I'm sure you've heard that Michele Bachmann is not running for re-election.
I'm going to miss her. After all, how many other people can make Sarah Palin seem--if only momentarily--sane and, at times, relatively coherent?
I mean, it's not just anybody about whom we can say that her assertion that gays can be "cured" is one of the less wacky things she says. After all, she consulted the most impeccable authority on the subject: her husband, who runs an "ex-gay clinic".
Now, why am I mentioning that crazy couple on this blog?
Well, one reason is, of course, that this blog may be the only one in the world written by a onetime boy racer who became a lady rider. But, in reading about so-called "conversion therapies" intended to make gay people straight, I learned that this sort of thing has been going on for even longer than I'd realized. As you may know, people have tried to "cure" lesbians and gay men with electroshock treatments, lobotomies, cold baths, physical torture and even attempts to nudge benighted boys and girls to form loving non-sexual relationships with peers of the same gender.
And, for centuries, doctors, athletes and others have claimed that they could "cure" homosexuality through lots of intensive outdoor activity and vigorous exercise. And, as you know, bicycling falls into both categories.
So, as you've probably guessed, a physician who was once a respected authority in his field saw bicycling as a way of exorcising same-sex desires.
Graeme M. Hammond was a New York City-based neurologist and competitive fencer. (He appeared, at age 54, in individual fencing events of the 1912 Olympics.) Given that he was an athlete of one sort or another for nearly his entire life, it's not surprising that he would think that exercise is "good for what ails ya'." Nor is it unusual to find that he believed homosexuality to be a neurological disorder, as nearly every physician and scientist who thought about the matter--including Dr. Harry Benjamin--believed the same thing.
However, what's really interesting about Dr. Hammond's work is the reason why he proposed cycling as a "cure" for homosexuality: He believed it to be a result of "nervous exhaustion." Cycling, he said, would help to "restore health and heterosexuality" and to cure other nervous conditions.
He also advocated bicycling and other exercise for women because--to his credit--he believed we are the "fighting sex." The good doctor/fencer thought we would make better soldiers than men 'if only they could "acquire the physical strength and mental discipline" which, he believed, had been denied us through a culture that "mollycoddled" us and promoted "overindulgent lifestyles in regard to diet and exercise."
I like to think he was right about women. Now, about cycling: I'm all for just about anything that will get more people to ride bikes. But now I know one place where I draw the line. Plus, if you're reading this blog, you have some idea of just how effective cycling is at changing a person's sexual desires--or gender identity!
