The New Station Wagon?

Whenever someone mentions "suburban family", my mind still conjures an image of a mother driving a station wagon full of kids.

At least, that was the sort of suburban family I saw--and my Brooklyn family became--when we moved to New Jersey right about the time I was hitting puberty (my first).  

These days, it seems that suburban families don't have as many kids.  (Actually, that's the case for families in most places in the US.)  Paradoxically, as family size has shrunk, motor vehicles have gotten larger:  Families that used to shuttle between school, the mall, kids' practices and home in station wagons are now getting around in SUVs.

Well, maybe not all of them.  

You can see more families like them on the Madsen Bike blog.  

I'm told those kids eat healthy snacks:

Note:  This is not an endorsement of Madsen bikes, as I know almost nothing about them.  I like the idea behind them, though!

Musical Cycles

I have admonished other cyclists for riding with earbuds.

They can be divided into two categories:  those who didn't or couldn't hear me, and those who didn't listen.

Riders in the former category just went on their merry way.  But the latter sometimes caused havoc--or yelled things that I won't repeat here.

Although I don't think cyclists should ride with earphones, I understand the desire to hear music while pedaling.  The best minds in this world are working on a solution.  So far, the best they've come up with is this:

If You Really Want To Ride In Belgium...

This day is called Veterans' Day in the US.  As I have said in other posts, as much as I want to end war and not to glorify it, I think veterans should be honored.  To my mind, that means they should never want for anything.  It's a disgrace that some are sleeping under highway overpasses.

This day was formerly known as Armistice Day.  As I understand, it still is in much of Europe.  Ninety-nine years ago today, the agreement was signed to "end" the "war to end all wars".

Then, as now, recruiters used cleverly deceptive and deceptively clever appeals such as this:

to get young men to sign up for this:

Ted Henderson, a Canadian soldier in the First Division Cycle Corps, would remember his steed thusly:

Ode to a Pedal Pusher

We often recall the old C.C.M.
The first old steed we rode
Withits coaster brake and streamlined frame
And one rear rack for our load.

(Images from Canadian Cycling)