The Chains Of Freedom

 At one time in my life, I knew just enough German to get myself in trouble in Cologne. Still, it’s more than I know now. So, I have to accept it on the authority of someone I know—a German soaker—that Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels didn’t actually write “Workers of the world unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains.”  Rather, the last line is more properly translated as, “Proletarians of the world, unite!”  The second part, “you have nothing to lose but your chains,” was added in a translation Engels approved.

Another aphorism commonly and mistakenly attributed to the authors of the Communist Manifesto is, “The truth shall set you free.” While they may have agreed with it, they—or, at least Marx—would not have approved of its source:  the Bible, specifically, John 8:31-32.

It is therefore interesting to speculate about what they would have made of this:

Somehow I think they would recognize that the bicycle has liberated poor and working people—or, at least, given them mobility and even pleasure.

I know I have always felt freer while spinning my chains!

On Their Backs

When I first became a dedicated cyclist—during the 1970s—Schwinn still manufactured a style of frame they called “camelback.” With a curved top tube and, sometimes, twin parallel buttresses, it was found on the company’s balloon-tired bikes as well as some of its kids’ bikes (like the “Krate” series) and some smaller-framed adult models.  Here is a particularly nice example from the 1930s.

I have never owned one of those bikes—or ridden a camel. So I can’t tell you whether those bikes rode like camels—or whether I would want such a ride characteristic.

Apparently, some people do:

Double Jeopardy

"Coming out" is never easy.

 

Drawing by Joseph Nowak

May The Best Creature Win

During my bicycle tour from France into Spain and back, I pedaled up some of the steepest climbs I’ve encountered.  As I pumped and grunted my way up a pass that crossed the border, some mountain goats seemed to line up for the spectacle.  I couldn’t help but to think they were chuckling, or even laughing, to themselves: “That human thinks he’s* all that.  We climb these mountains every day—and we don’t have low gears!”

I couldn’t have blamed them.  After all, compared to many other species, we’re not very strong, fast, agile, flexible or durable.  

If they learned how to ride bikes, would goats—or horses, cows or other creatures—beat us in a race? Or ride for longer?

Happy Easter/Passover/Ramadan!

 Today is Easter Sunday.  It's also the fourth full day of Passover and the eighteenth of Ramadan.

So, to be fair--and because I'm non-religious and love cats--I am posting this springtime image:

Image by Kilkennycat.

All praise be to Marlee. And thanks to  Max, Charlie, Candice, Charlie (Yes, there were two Charlie-cats in my life!) and Caterina for the memories.   

Where Did It Go?

Can I continue to call this "Midlife Cycling?" 

I'm really slowing down.  I started a moonlight ride along the water at 1:30 am.  It would normally take an hour, but I wasn't home until 3:30 am.

From The Bidon

It took me an hour longer than normal.  What's happening to me?

Oh, right:  I "lost" an hour.  We moved the clocks ahead for Daylight Savings Time.

Now I'm going to ride that route, again, and look for that hour.  Maybe it's lying on the side of the road.

I Can't Account For This Comparison

 "(Fill-in-the-blank) is like riding a bicycle."

The reason given is some variation of: 

 "Once you learn, you never forget", or

 "It's all about keeping your balance."

The second reason might apply to this profession:

I have to admit, it never occurred to me to compare accounting to riding a bicycle because, honestly, I know nothing about accounting.  Oh, I considered it as my life's work for about ten minutes because people suggested it would be a "nice, stable career."  Well, I took a class--called Introduction to Pre-Accounting, or some such thing--as a senior in high school  because I had fulfilled my core requirements and had to fill a time slot in my class schedule with something. 

That class quickly disabused me of any desire to look at rows and columns all day (Remember, this was before computers and spreadsheets!) and, beyond having used the services of accountants, I've had no other contact with the profession. So I'll believe what's on that mug, even if I don't quite understand the comparison.

(If any of you are accountants, I mean no disrespect. 

An Egg-Strodinary Rider

Eggs have become really expensive lately.

How expensive?

The bike may not have  cost as much! 

The Holiday Question

 I wish all of you health and happiness on this day, Christmas.

Now, I am going to reveal something that might cause you to wonder whether the title of this blog is "truth in advertising."  I neither give nor receive nearly as many holiday gifts as I got or gave in years past.  The main reason for that, I think, is that the people closest to me and I have what we need and, for the most part, what we want.  And if we don't have something we want, it's easier to simply acquire it (if we can afford it, of course) than to ask or hint for it.  

So, I can understand why some of you might think I'm old rather than in "midlife."  Still, I assert that as long as I don't know when my life will end, I am in the middle of it.

Anyway, one thing that might qualify me as old is that no one who has ever received a holiday gift from me has ever had to ask this question:

Nor have I.  I don't feel I've missed anything.

A Rock Ring? It Sounds Heavy!

As I've mentioned, I worked on and off in bike shops from the mid-1970s until the mid-1990s.  In one of those shops, I came across a bottom bracket lock ring  tool from Hozan.  Like other tools the Japanese company manufactured at the time, it looked sturdy and functional, if not as refined as its Campagnolo or even Park Tool counterparts.  

But it wasn't the finish or design that I remember.  Rather, it was the package.

It's easy to dismiss "Rock" as a simple typo.  But there are still Americans who mock the Japanese for their difficulty in pronouncing the "L" sound which, as I understand, doesn't exist in Japanese.  So I wondered whether the importer or whoever packaged the wrench was upset that some "Rittre Reague" kids from the Land of the Rising Son beat his son's baseball team in a tournament. 

All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Ride

Most schools and workplaces have dress codes.  So do some societies and countries.  Then there are the unwritten rules about what you should or shouldn't wear.  Bike clubs and sometimes even informal groups of riders have them.  Rarely, if ever, is someone barred from a ride that isn't a sanctioned race for not wearing the "proper" attire.  But sometimes the body language and facial expressions of other riders tell you all you need to know:

 

Bunnies On Bikes And Cycling Chicks

Happy Easter!

I know that today is also in the middle of Ramadan and is the third day of Passover.  But I'm going with Easter, not because I was raised Catholic.  Rather, Easter is just a good excuse to post cute and silly images of cycling chicks (who aren't me) and bunnies on bikes.

Enjoy!

This might've been Picasso's Easter card:

And this, because cyclists are "good eggs":

 

What's That About Smaller Wheels?

Jan Heine insists that larger-diameter wheels with narrower tires don't roll faster than smaller-diameter with wider tires.

These guys aren't listening--or don't care about speed.

I must say, though, that I'm glad I don't have to build wheels like those:  I hear spokes are in short supply, even in conventional sizes! 

Somehow I imagine those guys weren't thinking about supply chain issues! 

If It Fits

Size matters.

So does positioning. 

Support Your Local Manatee!

Yesterday was Manatee Appreciation Day.

Today is April Fool's Day.

But yesterday really was a commemoration of trichetus manatus.  I encountered one during one of my bike rides in Florida, when I stopped for a swim in a place where I probably shouldn't have been swimming.  The "sea cow" swam close to me:  I've since learned that they are very curious, and pose absolutely no threat to humans or most other living creatures.

On the other hand, humans are a threat to them, if inadvertently. Waterfront development has endangered some of the manatee's habitats and, because their ears are attuned to high sound frequencies, the lower ones emitted by motorboats confuse the creatures, who are then struck by the vessel or its propeller.

So...there is no April Fool's joke here:  Yesterday really was Manatee Appreciaiton Day! 

From Redbubble