This week has been the kind of week that can make just about anybody echo Macbeth when he says, "Tomorrow and tommorrow and tommorrow."
It's been raining non-stop, it seems. And when I turn on the weather forecast, they could be saying "tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow it will rain again and again and again."
Is this what we have to look forward to?
This was the high point of my one bike ride this week--into and out of Manhattan, a grand total of about eight miles, to and from my class at the technical institute. Well, I guess any ride in which I can take a photo like that isn't all bad.
Back when I first started cycling and hiking, the accepted wisdom was to buy the smallest backpack or bike bag you could get away with using. Then you would trick yourself into carrying less. I can say that it worked for me: I carried less with me on my first European trip, which lasted for almost three months, than I did on my first 25-mile bike ride.
I was thinking about all of that when I saw this bike parked on West 18th Street in Manhattan:
That basket really is too big for the coffee cup. This would be more appropriate:
I'd love to meet the design team that came up with that!
I'd also like to meet whatever design team came up with this bike:
Its wide cantilever brakes and color made me think, for a moment, of the bike "Somervillan" recently converted. But, of course, this is a completely different bike: It's from Elektra. It does have some interesting touches, like the hammered fenders and this crankset:
I'm guessing that it has the same chainring bolt circle diameter as the old TA touring crankset. And the fluting on the arms is an attempt to evoke some of the classic Campagnolo, Stronglight and TA cranks.
It may well be a great bike. But for simplicity and sheer utility, it doesn't hold a candle to something I saw three blocks from my apartment:
It rained throughout today, except for brief interludes. In fact, at times we had near-torrents, and it's going to be worse tomorrow.
But the rain isn't the only reason I didn't ride to or from work today. (What's the point of riding in a monsoon if you don't have to?) It's almost the end of the semester, and I have lots of reading to do. I do some of it on the bus and train, and I curse myself for the extensions I gave students on their papers!
On days like today, I think about going home and curling up with Charlie and Max. I also think about riding Arielle again on a sunny day:
