Vision Of A Ride At The Autumn Equinox

Today the Autumnal Equinox comes to the Northern Hemisphere.  For those of you on the other side of the line, the Spring Equinox is getting sprung on you.

While I envy those of you who are about to enjoy more daylight every day, I also look forward to riding through crisp autumn air and into vibrant sunsets.  And, as much as I love the city, I hope to leave it for a weekend or two now that there are fewer travel restrictions.

Here is a vision of something I'd like to see on a ride:

It's in Vicksburg, Michigan, but I know there are red barns, weathering and weathered, closer to the Big Apple.   

Driver Accused Of Causing Cyclist To Crash

Just about any person, place, thing or state of being can be a tool or a weapon.  Included in the latter category are advanced age and the knowledge and wisdom it brings--for some people, anyway.  Among the "things" are the pharmaceuticals and the automobile and its many safety and convenience features.

Age, pharmaceuticals, the automobile and one of its features in particular came together to endanger the life of a cyclist in Gerry, an Erie County, New York town near the Pennsylvania border.

Dale Reynolds of Meadville, Pennsylvania was driving along Route 60 when he flashed his high beams at a cyclist traveling in the opposite directions.  High beams, of course, can be useful in dire situations, when the weather is brutish and visibility is poor. But those same lights are too often used to bully and otherwise intimidate cyclists, pedestrians and other drivers.

According to New York State police, Reynolds showed "multiple signs" of drug impairment, which resulted in his arrest.  Oh, and he's 82 years old.  I'm not saying that there should be a cut-off age for driving.  But I think there should be more frequent and stringent testing of senior citizens' reaction times and other cognitive abilities if they are to be allowed to continue driving.  You have to wonder, not only about Reynolds' reflexes, or his judgment:  He ought to know, at this late date, not to drive while impaired.

The failed sobriety tests resulted in his arrest for impaired driving--and causing the cyclist at whom he flashed his high beams to crash.  Gerry EMS workers took the cyclist to a local hospital as a precaution,  while Reynolds was taken to the State Police Barracks in Jamestown, where he was processed, charged, released and scheduled to appear in Gerry Court later this month.

While there are cyclists who ride carelessly and flout laws, my four decades-plus of cycling have shown me that drivers are too often not held to account for endangering, deliberately or not, cyclists.  While I am not hoping for a long prison sentence for an 82-year-old man, I am hoping that Reynolds gets whatever help and treatment he needs and, if necessary, his driving privileges restricted or revoked.

He’s 78 And Rides A Bike—But Doesn’t Have “Stamina”

 The folks at Fox News want to have it both ways.

On one hand, Faux News contributor Rachel Campos Duffy accused President Joe Biden of being “too old” and not having the “physical or mental stamina” for his job.  The evidence?  He went for a bike ride in his home state of Delaware while “crises” raged in his country and the world.

What’s even more ludicrous is that she compared Biden’s actions to those of his predecessor, Donald Trump, claiming he “worked those long, long hours” and had “impromptu hour-long pressers with the media.”

Ok, so Joe went for a bike ride.  Donnie spent lots of time golfing—or simply hanging out on his golf courses.  Now tell me:  Which activity requires more stamina?

Also, look at all of the time T-rump spent on Twitter. How much stamina does that require ?

Oh, and Biden works out five days a week and his medical records show no major health problems. El Cheeto Grande, on the other hand, is said to have nudged his doctor into falsifying his health reports.

As for being “too old:” Biden is keeping up his bike rides and workouts at age 79.  When he took office, he was six years older than the Orange One was when he entered the White House.

I think Ms. Campos-Duffy’s real beef—and that of others in the right-wing media—is that Biden hasn’t held a “presser” since taking office. Trump’s press conferences, on the other hand, were mainly opportunities for self- promotion, or for bullying and belittling anyone who didn’t further his agenda, which begins and ends with himself.

That Biden can be the most powerful and famous person in the world not make it all about him shows me that he has some kind of stamina:  the kind one needs to have self-discipline.  Maybe the bike riding has something to do with it .