Saving The Colors

Saturday was the last day of Daylight Savings Time.  It would be the last time until Spring I could start not much before noon, take a longish ride and get home before dark.  So I rode to--where else?--Connecticut. 

Connecticut is just a north of my apartment.  It's actually not very far "as the crow flies," but the geography and topography make it impossible to go like a crow.  Why would I want to be a crow anyway?  I wouldn't be able to ride my bike and, well, their diet isn't very appealing.

But I digress.  Connecticut is just far enough north that the Fall foliage is a few days ahead of ours in Astoria.  I figured, correctly, that it would be at or near peak.

In downtown Greenwich, I saw quite a few people out and about.  The day was chilly, but it was illuminated by that perfect autumnal light.  

Given how awful I felt on Thursday, I could hardly believe how wonderful I, and everything around me, felt.  I pedaled into a fairly stiff wind most of the way up.  The flip-side of that, of course, is that the wind blew me into the sunset.

From the Randalls Island Connector it's about another six kilometers to my apartment--just enough for me to enjoy the last flickerings of twilight.  And that night I'd have an extra hour of sleep after a 140 km ride.

Which Way?

 Could this be the cycling equivalent of "sitting on the fence?"

Will They Get Bikes For Christmas?

If you've tried to buy a bike, or replace parts on one you have, you may have had a difficult time.  COVID restrictions has stopped production and interrupted shipping and distribution all over the world. In the meantime, demand for bikes and parts has increased, as people were reluctant to take mass transportation (or, in some places, it was shut down altogether) and people found that cycling is one way to get to where you're going, get exercise along the way, and adhere to social distancing protocols.

All of that meant a boom in business for bike shops--as long as they had stock.  When supplies dried up, some kept their doors open by doing repairs, as people grew frustrated at not finding the bike or accessory they wanted.  But when supplies of new parts disappeared, those shops cannibalized other bikes for parts---until those ran out.

Thus did a sad irony unfold:  The very "boom" that led, for some shops, to their best profits in years or decades also led to their demise.  Not even well-established and well-respected shops were immune, as we saw when Harris Cyclery shuttered in June.

Now, this pandemic could claim another casualty:  Programs that give bikes to kids from needy families.  One such program is in Mississippi. The Community Benefit Committee of the Lowndes County Sheriff's office has been giving out bikes for the past ten years.  Some of those bikes come through donations, but the majority are purchased, wholesale, from Huffy.  The money comes from events like the Haunted House as well. 

This year's House brought in more than enough money to purchase the bicycles.  But Huffy says it doesn't have bikes to sell them.  Neither, of course, does the local Wal Mart.  

CBC founder and director Rhonda Sanders still holds out hope that there will be some bicycles available. But, just in case there aren't, she is making alternate plans to bring toys to younger kids or technology-related items for older ones.

Learning about Sanders' and the CBC's situation, I have to wonder how many similar programs are in jeopardy--not only this year.  After all, once factories that make bikes, parts and accessories are operating at full capacity, and shipping and distribution channels are flowing freely, warehouses and shops won't be fully restocked overnight.

The Next Tour?

 World War II suspended the Tour de France and most other cycling and athletic-related events.  For one thing, many riders were called to fight for their countries.For another, had the events been held, riders' safety could not be ensured.

So I was surprised to learn that a race transversing one of the world's most war-torn countries last week.  One thing that makes the race all the more interesting is that it is being promoted as a counterpart to the Tour de France.  Burkina Faso was a colony of that country, called Upper Volta, until 1984.

Eighty cyclists are riding the race, some of them Europeans.  (They say they're not worried about safety because "the military are everywhere.") Perhaps most prominent among them is Paul Daumont, who also competed in this year's Olympics in Tokyo.  The good news is that, at 22, he still has a lot of riding ahead of him.  

But he admits that it hasn't been easy for him, or other cyclists from his country.  The country's cycling federation gave him a bike when he showed potential but, he says, you need a really good bike which few of his compatriots can afford.  Also, I imagine that his team and others in Africa simply don't have the budgets or facilities of their European counterparts.  

Daumont has already raced, not only in Japan, but in other countries like Switzerland.  It's fair to wonder whether he and other talented cyclists will follow their counterparts in football (soccer) to careers in Europe, where teams from the English Premier League to Serie A feature star players from Africa and other parts of the world. The French national team won the World Cup in 1998 and 2018 largely thanks to the efforts of their African and Middle Eastern players.

Two things Daumont and other African cyclists share with their football-playing counterparts are ambition and a willingness to work very, very hard.  So, perhaps, we might see Africans win the Tour, Giro and Vuelta sooner rather than later.

  

Laid Up

This morning I felt as if I'd been struck by a train.  Everything in my body ached, and I was as exhausted as if I hadn't slept at all.  So I didn't ride this afternoon, as I planned.  Instead, I spent much of today in bed. At least Marlee is happy:  She can curl up on me to her heart's delight.

Last night, I received my COVID booster.  I felt no ill effects after the first two doses, so I don't know why I feel the way I do.  It may have to do with another vaccination, for shingles, I received at the same time.

I've ingested my average annual consumption--two tablets--of Ibuprofen.  Perhaps I'll feel better tomorrow.

 

Park Tool Grants To Community Organizations

I am very happy that United Bicycle Institute and other organizations are offering scholarships and making other efforts to train women, transgenders and non-binary people to work in the bicycle industry.  While some might argue that such programs lead to low-paying dead-end jobs as bike shop employees, I think the training is valuable in other ways.  For one, some bike shop employees go on to open their own shops or work in other facets of the bicycle industry.  For another, I think training programs can help to raise the quality and consistency of services bike shops and companies offer.

Another benefit is one that training and volunteer programs of bicycle recycleries and co-ops also offer.  Knowing how to fix a bike, whether one's own or someone else's, makes for more self-sufficient cyclists.  That, I think, makes people more likely to use their bikes for more than twiddling around the park.  If you can at least fix a flat, you're less likely to worry about being late for work or school or getting stranded in an unfamiliar neighborhood or foreign country.  

Sometimes knowing how to fix a bike isn't enough, though.  Some people and communities don't have the tools necessary, whether because there isn't a shop in the neighborhood or because they don't have the money to spare for even a pair of tire levers.  Many low-wage workers. immigrants and unhoused people (who are sometimes the same people) are riding bikes that were purchased for very little, gifted to them or rescued from a dumpster or curbside.  

From Recycle-A-Bicycle

That is where Park Tool's Community Tool Grants come in.  Every year since 2015, Park has been giving grants that include tools and repair stands to nonprofit organizations and community groups.  The application period for 2022 grants is now open. In addition to ten grants that include bike-repair items, one organization will receive an additional $1000 grant to spend on tools and equipment.

Now I have one more reason to be happy that I have a number of Park tools in my box.

If A Bike Is Too Big And Nobody Is There To Ride It

Could it be that Mark Zuckerberg changed the name of Facebook to Meta because his goal is to rule the Meta-verse?

All right, that query isn't even serious enough to qualify as a rhetorical question.  Or is it?  There's a part of me that believes every multi-billionaire's ambition is to rule the world, whether physical or virtual.  After all, every billion you make isn't as satisfying as the previous billion--or your first.  

How would I know?  All right, I admit, I'm speculating.  (I don't mean that in the way a billionaire might.) But I would hazard to guess, to paraphrase someone who never should be quoted , that one billion dollars is a fortune, a hundred billion is a statistic. 

Anyway, I have to wonder what life is like in the metaverse? (Or is "life in the metaverse" an oxymoron?)  I mean, do people's bodies change when they enter the Meta-verse?  Specifically, I am now wondering how Maxima Chan Zuckerberg and her sister August were conceived.

Here is what led my mind down those dark metaphysical alleys:

I mean, if Mark Zuckerberg rides that bike (Does anybody ride in the Meta-verse?), what is the condition--or, indeed, what about the presence--of his, uh, apparatus?

But the real question--which follows from the title of this post--is:  Does bike fit matter in the Meta-verse?

Hues Of Exposure

 On the return leg of a North Shore ride, I saw the kind of blue, if a little darker, one normally doesn't see in the waters around New York City, except in postcards--or this:

We haven't had very many days of crystal-clear skies lately.  During the past few days, intervals of non-rain have punctuated downpours accompanied, at times, by wind gusts.  I couldn't keep a cap on when I was walking to the store; it's no wonder the branches can't keep their leaves

and their nudity seems even more stark against dark clouds.

Even the tall steel towers across the bay and river seem to need something to shield them against the impending winter, the way even a big, strong, young person needs a shawl, a cloak or something to cover his or her shoulders and frame against the coming cold. 

The Procession

 Happy Halloween!

From Jim's Bike Blog

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?

During the initial investigation, video surveillance was obtained depicting two males removing the bicycles and leaving the area.

That sentence could be part of a police report almost anywhere, about any two males (or females or non-binary people) in a depressingly familiar scenario.

But then there's the next sentence:

These actors were identified as Eric Campbell and Austin Craig, who are both employed as Police Officers with the Lower Township Police Department."

The report continues with the caveat that the charges are "merely accusations" and that "defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty."  Still, it's hard not to notice that the accused thieves are constables in a town adjacent to the seaside resort of Cape May, New Jersey's southernmost area.

Now, assuming that Campbell and Craig are indeed the "bad actors," it begs the question of "Why?"  Do Lower Township cops have too much time on their hands?"  (Charming as it is, calling the place "sleepy" makes it seem like Times Square. I know, I've been there.)  Are they so poorly-paid that they can't afford bikes?  Or did they become "bad actors" for the reason some other police officers go rogue:  because they could, because they figured their badges and shields would protect them from charges?