Between all of the student conferences, papers and exams, and all of the people who have decided that they absolutely must have a meeting about their pet projects, I have to remind myself that this is the "holiday season."
Indeed it is. Chanukkah celebrations have begun, and, of course, the Winter Equinox, Christmas, Boxing Day and Kwanzaa will soon be upon us. I want so much to do a ride for fun...
My current situation got me to thinking about a "cycling holiday." On the other side of the pond, that means taking a vacation on two wheels. But I was thinking of the phrase in the American way: a holiday (what the Brits and other Euros would call a "fete") that includes cycling.
Now here's a cycling holiday you won't see in America or Europe:
Actually, this photo was taken during Yom Kippur. Can you imagine anything like this along the West Side Highway or along I-95?
If you've cycled in New York, or any number of other cities, you've probably seen a "ghost bike." It's painted white, and is usually an old, donated or discarded, bike. This somber reminder of a cyclist who's been struck or killed by a motor vehicle is locked to a sign post or other structure by the site of the accident, and is accompanied by a small sign.
When I went to meet Lakythia for a ride yesterday, I saw one I'd seen many times before. Not to make light of it, but I couldn't help but to think, "Where else but in Williamsburg?"
The neighborhood is, after all, the de facto home of the "hipster fixie." As far as I know, this is the only bike of that genre to become a "ghost." It commemorates "Bronx Jon":
To Jon, or your family or friends: I mean no disrespect. I'm glad that you've been so memorialized. I think, though, that your memorial may well be one of a kind.
For Christmas, a lot of kids dream of finding a bike under the tree. Actually, most kids who got bikes for Christmas--myself included--didn't find their wheels "under" pine branches strung with lights. More likely, their Schwinns or Columbias or Raleighs were beside the tree, or in another location altogether. You have to live in a fairly big place in order to have a big enough space for a tree under which a bike can stand.
Anyway...wherever Santa actually leaves the bike, we still have an image of Christmas that includes a bike under the tree. But I wonder: Has anyone imagined a holiday season in which the bike becomes the Christmas tree?
This is part of a massive display from the Assiniboine Valley Railway in Winnipeg.
Bikes! Trains! Sleds! Trees! Sounds like a Christmas diorama come to life.
