Happy Pride!

 Happy  Pride!

An Ode To Her Helmet

 The next time I take a trip to some exotic locale, I will pack a helmet.  Whether I bring a bike of my own, or rent locally (as I did on my most recent trips to France, Italy, Greece, Cambodia and Laos), I will wear my “shell,” even if it gives me away as a tourist.

The young man I encountered a few days ago is fine.  His mother and sister say that they’ll make sure he’s covered when he rides again.  I offered mine—I explained that I have two others and could’ve taken the subway home to avoid riding bareheaded—but they said he already has one but just wouldn’t wear it.

I can say that wearing a helmet saved me on more than one occasion.  In one instance, the emergency room doctor told me as much. In another, two decades earlier, I was fine even though (or possibly because) my helmet (rather than my head) broke in two.

I think Lou Ness would concur with my assessment of the value of helmets.

The Four Cyclists Who Saved Mercian?

 They aren’t the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  I am thankful for that.

Rather, they might be the Four Cyclists Who Saved Mercian.

They are four businessmen based in the iconic frame-builder’s home country of Derby (pronounced Dar-bee) in England.

In a statement on Mercian’s website, the self-proclaimed “passionate cyclists” announced that they “intend to honor” the “indelible legacy from all of the previous owners” of the iconic company they have just purchased.

It seems that they have shown their intent to honor the legacy in at least one way:  They are retaining the builder’s craftsmen. It seems that Mercian’s troubles were in its management and, by some accounts, customer service. One hopes the new owners can fix them and become the Four Cyclists Who Saved Mercian.