Nearly two weeks ago, "Velouria" of Lovely Bicycle! wrote about parking her Gazelle commuter bike outdoors.
Well, I've been keeping Marianela (a 1979 Schwinn LeTour III turned into a "fixie" with a fixed/free "flip-flop" rear hub) outside for about a month, after keeping it indoors during one of the snowiest winters this area has ever had. While Marianela is probably not as heavy as "Velouria"'s Dutch bike, and therefore not as difficult to maneuver in and out of my apartment, it's still more convenient to have the bike waiting outside for me, especially if I'm taking it on a short errand.
I've kept bikes outdoors before. But, today, I was reminded of one of the consequences of doing so:
Now, I've had all sorts of things left in my front basket or on my rear rack: beverage bottles, fast-food bags and containers, condom wrappers and things even less mentionable. But nothing so far has been quite as interesting as this Lincoln hubcap.
One man who chanced by as I unlocked the bike stopped and looked. We both had a good laugh. I mean, what else could we do?
I left the cap on a nearby fire hydrant. When I returned tonight, it was gone.
On the day of Oprah's last show, it seems somehow fitting to write about "women's," "ladies'", "girls'" or "female" bikes.
Yesterday morning, on my way to work, I had the feeling I was going to see something interesting. And I did, only four blocks from my apartment:
Do I sense some jealousy from Marianela? Just look at the way she's standing there and looking at this cute young thing. Well, all right, she's not so young. Even if the style and rust didn't tell me so, I know this bike has to be about 40 years old, possibly even older. Then again, they say "forty is the new twenty."
But I know the bike has to be forty, or even older, because of its style. When was the last time you saw top and frame tubes that looked like these?
The top tube is really a pair of twin parallel tubes, as one finds on a mixte frame. But it has that long, sinuous curve found on the old Schwinn "Hollywood" and other "girls'" bikes from the 1960's and earlier.
Another give-away to the bike's age is the color: a kind of metallic blue-green that was popular during the early and mid-1960's, at least on kids' bikes.
It was also a color Rollfast used on many of its bikes throughout its history. In a previous post, I wrote about this brand, which was made right next to the site of the former World Trade Center.
Today I had a day off because none of my classes had exams. And it was like an early summer day, at least weather-wise. So, in spite of waking up late and doing laundry, among other things, I was able to spend a couple of hours with Helene:
I think she wanted to show off her new accessories more than anything. Now she has a Carradice Barley. What girl doesn't like a new bag?
Plus, she has pink Cinelli cork tape. I had to replace the tape I'd originally installed after I mounted the shift levers on the Velo Orange handlebar pods.
Even when she's showing off, she's still a proper lady. And she's an even better one when I ride with her!
I was a good girl yesterday. Really!
So how good a girl was I? Well, I actually obeyed this sign:
All right. You might argue that I wasn't really such a good girl; I was motivated only by thinking about what I'd have to give up in order to pay a 250 dollar fine. Or you might say I thought about the other things I could do with those 250 dollars.
Truth is, yes, I did think about those things. I really was a good girl.
OK...I'll admit it: I'd just passed by two cops in a patrol car when I snapped the photo of that sign. They were lurking right by the toll booth, and it looked like they were actually watching us.
And they weren't just any old cops. They were Nassau County constables. I'm not so sure they're better or worse overall than members of the NYPD. (As a matter of fact, some NCPD officers got their training from, and worked for, the NYPD before moving on to Nassau.)
I can't say that they become stricter or change in any other way when they cross the county line. I have heard, though,that many of them don't like cyclists or people from the other side of the county line. So, I don't want to think about what might happen if I have to show them my ID.
I should also mention that the bridge indeed lies entirely in Nassau County. I used to think that it connected the Far Rockaway area of Queens to the town of Atlantic Beach on the other side of an inlet. However, someone pointed out that the city/county line actually lies at the bridge entrance.
In any event, I entered, and left, Nassau County as a model citizen. And I didn't have to pay 250 dollars!
