Icham of Irlaunde
Icham of Irlaunde
Ant of the holy londe
Of Irlaunde
Gode sire praye ich the
For of saynte charite,
Come ant dunce wyt me
In Irlaunde.
William Butler Yeats based a longer poem on this medieval Irish lyric. If the Aer Lingus or the Irish tourist bureau wants to entice visitors, they could hardly do better than those last two lines.
Unless, of course, they invite you to ride in "the holy londe"
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| From Dublin Cycling |
Happy Saint Parick's Day!
Beware the ides of March...
We've all heard that warning. You probably know that it came from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, even if you haven't seen or read it. It was spoken by a soothsayer--a prophet or fortune-teller, depending on what you think--who foretold the emperor's assassination.
The transition from one season to another conjures up visions of other changes. The middle of March, in particular, carries the weight of hope for new beginnings, which can be as fragile as new buds in this month's winds or a late cold snap.
Today it's a bit colder than normal for this time of year. That, and gusts of 80KPH (about 50MPH) push reminders into our faces that winter isn't finished with us, not yet.
Two milennia after Caesar's murder, and four centuries after Shakespeare's play, the admonition is relevant. I'm going to sneak in a ride, however brief--and beware the ides of March.
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| From Ride and Seek |
Racks, handlebar bags, panniers, saddle bags, baskets: They come in all shapes and sizes. About the latter: some come in "small," "medium" and "large." But catalogues usually list their carrying capacities. For racks, it's expressed in weight. But, for bags and baskets, volume is usually more relevant. So, a catalogue listing is more likely to say that randonneur bag or delivery basket is more likely to say that it can hold whatever-number of cubic inches or liters.
I simply cannot conceptualize any number of cubic or square inches, feet, centimeters or meters. When people ask me about the size of my apartment, all I can tell them is how many rooms I have. Or, when I've gone apartment- (or house-) hunting, I could judge a dwelling's size--and then only in a relative way--by looking at it.
On the other hand, it's pretty easy to visualize four, or whatever number of, liters: We all see bottles and cans with that much water, milk, wine or some other liquid. Some catalogue, I forget which, expressed the carrying capacities of its bicycle luggage by the number of bagels or bottles of beer that could be packed into the handlebar, seat and pannier bags--and backpacks--it sold. I liked that even better.
What would they have said about their rain gear? What is the difference between "water resistant" and "waterproof?" Does a bag or jacket have to repel a certain number of raindrops to earn one designation or another?
What if carrying capacities were expressed in raindrops?
