Two-Wheeled Leaders

Please don't take this post as a statement of my politics, or even on which lever I'll pull in November.

Now tell me, would you vote for this man?

He doesn't look half-bad on a bike, eh?

He is none other than current Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Here he's riding in France, where he was a Mormon missionary for two years.

Can you tell this guy lost?:

He might be a good rider. But he doesn't even have enough of a sense of style to be a Fred!

Whatever you think of his presidency, you have to admit that there's something very appealing about Jimmy Carter on a bike:

From what I understand, he's still an active cyclist at age 88.  I think he actually looks younger in this photo than he did on the day he left office 31 years ago!

Somehow it's hard to imagine this President as young, or even on a bicycle, but here's Nixon with his wife and daughter, about two decades before they moved into the White House:

I was surprised at how in-character this shot of George H.W. and Barbara Bush seemed:

Finally, here's a glimpse of Bill and Hill:

You can see more photos of Presidents and candidates on bicycles on this Daily Caller page.

Another Song At Sunset

This may not seem terribly bike-related, save for the fact that I saw it while riding by the pond in Prospect Park yesterday:

Somehow the loneliness of the long-distance runner doesn't seem so terrible.  In fact, it's quite beautiful, even in an image taken with a cell phone and my photographic skills!

Elswick: Sheldon's Bike

If you've read any of Sheldon Brown's writings, you might recall his joy at getting an Elswick Tour Anglais when he was a teenager.  At that time, derailleur-equipped bikes were all but unknown in the US; any bike with dropped bars was likely to be a modified three-speed bike.

As a cycling enthusiast--and fan of Sheldon--I felt his joy.  It made me want to see a Tour Anglais, or a Lincoln Imp, another Elswick he would later own and ride.

Until today, I had never seen any Elswick bike--at least that I recall.  But, as I was riding near Pratt Institute, I saw one parked by one of those lovely Victorian houses that abound in that neighborhood.

It looked like other English three-speeds of the same period, which neither surprised nor disappointed me.  Instead, it seemed absolutely fitting:  To a teenaged Sheldon in the 1950's, such a bike, however common it may have been, would have seemed otherworldly.  It's not likely that he would have known there were a whole world of bicycles like the Elswick.

That is not to say that the one I saw today wasn't lovely:  With its dark brown paint and white fender panel, it's actually rather elegant.  And you have to love that headbadge. 

Still, you have to wonder what this sticker was doing on the seat: