Light At The End Of My Ride

 I’m still getting used to the sun setting before supper time in Florida. (I’m not sure I ever could get used to eating the last meal of the day an hour or two after most kids’ schooldays end!) So I have to remind myself not to linger over my bagel and coffee if I want to do a 120 or 140 kilometer ride and get home before sundown.

Mind you, I have lights and reflective garments.  I am not against night riding:  It has been thrilling, surreal and revealing for me. I simply prefer to end a ride of more than a couple of hours in daylight.

Yesterday’s ride to Point Lookout and back—on LaVande, my Mercian King of Mercia—got me home just before high wispy clouds began to flicker with orange rays.  The light at the Point was even more of a harbinger of winter than the early sunset that would follow my ride.

Somehow I Don’t Think Kool Herc Envisioned This

 For the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, the world needs….another Epic Rap Battle. 

Just imagine how much more interesting the Presidential primaries would be if Nikki Haley and Ron De Santis rattled off rhymes…oh, never mind. I mean, even if either of them were capable of rapping (or if De Santis were even capable of being anything other than a psycho-sexual-spiritual black hole), I’m not sure I’d want to hear it.

But these guys might’ve been fun, whatever one might’ve lacked In versification virtuosity and the other might lose in translation.

Somehow I don’t think Kool Herc envisioned anything like it.

Will They Try To Ground Star Trek?

 I have owned a few Treks and ridden a few more.  I liked their rides, for different reasons, and was happy to have well-crafted frames made in the USA. 

As much as I liked my Trek bikes, I didn’t like the company quite as much.  While working in the bike shops that sold Treks, the company seemed, at times, to have the attitude that you should be very, very grateful to have one of their bikes.  Warranty claims took forever to settle and the sales rep whose territory included Highland Park Cyclery when I worked there remains one of the most obnoxious people I’ve met. 

So I wasn’t surprised when Trek tried to stop Washington State resident Christina Isaacs from using a trademark—Ranger Trek—for backpacks, T-shirts, jackets and other items that would be sold mainly in National Park stores.

She tried to register the trademark in 2016. Trek appealed to the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board, claiming that consumers could conflate their brand with hers.  The rationale for the Trek’s attempt to keep Isaacs from using her brand name is that the bike manufacturer has used its name to market backpacks, other bags and even lunchboxes. Also, Trek claimed, its bicycles are closely associated with parks.

When Trek lost their appealat the Board, and it wouldn’t reconsider, they brought Isaacs to court. Last Wednesday, the Federal Circuit  Court upheld the Board’s ruling.  

That Trek would keep Isaacs tied up in litigation shouldn’t come as a shock.  On a list of “Trademark Bullies” maintained by Trademark.com, Trek ranks number 4, just behind Kellogg’s, Apple and Monster Energy.