I written about bicycles in the military. Turns out, they’ve been very useful in, among other things, reconnaissance missions.
That got me to wondering whether spies have used bikes in their work.
Turns out (I know, I used that phrase already!), the great minds think alike. Or, at least, I think like my people: Apparently, someone in Italy had the same idea!
It was in Tyrol, which some other Italians argue isn’t really Italy: sono tedeschi. So I’ll go with “great minds!”
Have you ever quipped, “I’ll pedal between the raindrops?”
Some of us gave that response when asked whether we’ll ride in the rain. I will, to a point: I won’t set out if it’s cold and raining or if I can’t see more than a couple of bicycle lengths ahead of me because the rain is falling so hard or it’s getting blown sideways.
This week, I haven’t been pedaling between raindrops. Since taking a ride to Point Lookout on Monday I have, however been riding between storms. In four days, we’ve had three incidents of flooding rains. The first, on Tuesday, began with a combination of rain, sleet and snow that didn’t accumulate.
So when I rode Negrosa, my vintage Mercian Olympic, to Coney Island
I wasn’t sure of whether this was the end of a storm—or the calm before a storm or between storms.
Turns out, it was the latter: We had two more inches (5cm) of rain last night.
Once, a driver’s tirade against me included the rant, “I pay road taxes!”
As calmly as I could, I responded, “Well, I do too.” I then pointed out that the only tax he pays, and I don’t, is on gasoline.
Had I been a different sort of person, this might’ve been my response:
