To The Point: Recovery

Today I took my first ride of more than 35 km since the accident two weeks ago.

I could hardly have had a better day:  Scarcely a cloud interrupted the blue sky just as barely a whitecap broke the nearly calm sea.  Best of all, on a long straight stretch, I was pedaling into a 15-20 KPH wind that blew me almost home.

You might’ve guessed that I pedaled out to Point Lookout—on Arielle, my Mercian Audax.  Even with her sprightliness, I expected to slog through part of this ride as it would be, by far, the longest I’d taken since the accident.

But I should have known better, given that I was riding in such favorable conditions on a familiar ride and the bike on which I feel I have the most elan. Much to my surprise—and delight—I pedaled the 105 or so km in half an hour less than I took any other time I’ve done the ride this year.

Best of all, at the end of the ride, I wasn’t in any pain, even where I’d been bruised or on the spot under my rib cage where I felt a stab of pain, then days of throbbing, after the accident.

The forecast for tomorrow calls for somewhat warmer and more humid weather than we had today.  I think I’m ready for another invigorating ride.

Gender Role On A Tandem?

Seeing a tandem on the road isn't quite as rare as a UFO sighting.  But it's uncommon enough that I tend to remember it for a while.

Therefore, I feel confident in saying this:  Every time I've seen a man and a woman riding a tandem, the man was the "captain" (in front) while the woman rode as the "stoker" behind him.

I confess that when I was a man and rode a tandem with a woman, I also took the front seat.  However, there was a very good reason for that:  She was blind.

Most men, though, don't have such a rationale.  They might argue that they have another:  Most of them are taller than their wives, girlfriends, daughters or other females who ride with them.  Now that I think of it, I wonder what Tammy and I would have done if we'd ridden a tandem:  She stood three inches (7.5 cm) taller than me but, as athletic as she was, I was still the stronger rider.

Which of us would have been the "captain" of this tandem?:

1996 Coventry Quadracycle For Two

Checkered--Or Good Vibrations?

Those of us who have been riding a long time notice, not only a cyclist's riding style and what kind of bike he or she is riding, but also his or her bicycle aesthetic.

Some prefer the clean, classic lines of, say, a silver Cinelli or a bike from one of the classic French constructeurs or British or Italian custom builders.  I'm in that camp, almost all the way.  I like to spice up the classic, classy look just a bit, with some touches of color.  You probably could tell that from looking at the photos of my bikes. 

I'm not a fan of V-shaped rims in clashing neon colors, or of bikes or parts with graphics that look like they were lifted from a Japanese anime version of Star Wars.  I liked the all-black look during my punk rock phase--now, not so much.  I also once liked the black-red-and-white combination; now that it's nearly ubiqitous, I'm sick of it.  Also, it marks a bike as one of this decade just as neon pink-and-aqua fades scream '80's and purple-and-teal don't let you forget the '90's. 

Still, every once in a while I see a bike that's so over-the-top that I admire it, even if I never would ride such a bike myself:

From Uncovet

If this bike were ridden on the Ho Chi Minh trail--or a few streets I've ridden in the Bronx and southeastern Queens--could it induce seizures?  Or would it start a revival of Op Art?