Do you ride to go places? Or, do you go places to ride?
Those questions came to mind when, on my way to work, I saw the gull in the photo circling across an inlet from the World's Fair Marina. That bird had about as un-picturesque a view as any could have: Between the Home Depot and the orange-and-white "silo" are auto-body shops, a cement factory, scrap-metal yards and some warehouses, punctuated by garbage dumps. Yet that bird was flying because it needed to and because he/she probably found plenty to eat.
Of course, when we are riding to work, we have a very speicific destination in mind. And some of our other rides are like that. But much of the time, when I'm on my bike, I don't care that much about where I'm riding: I am happy simply to be in the saddle. Interestingly, today I felt that way for at least part of my commute.
I think Vera was rather enjoying it, too.
People have told me that, given my history and proclivities, I really don't spend much time in Chelsea. Actually, coming from some people I know, that statement is an accusation rather than an observation!
The funny thing is, I used to spend more time there when it was still largely a working-class Irish neighborhood and, later, when art galleries that couldn't afford to stay in Soho moved to the western fringe of the neighborhood. Those times were well before my transition.
Anyway, Chelsea is like a lot of places in that it's very different if you know people there and go into their homes. Otherwise, it's mostly a shopping area with lots of restaurants and the Piers. But, inside the apartment blocks, tenements and restored brownstones, there are all kinds of stories. A few of them can be told by the bikes parked outside:
For those of you more interested in the bikes than in my scintillating social commentary or historical perspective (You know who you are! ;-) ), the bikes are of course both Dutch-style city commuters/commuters. The one on the fence is a Raleigh, believe it or not. The bike leaning against it was made in Belgium by Mechelen (?).
In black, they make for a rather distinguished if bourgeois couple who have their charm. Isn't that what every couple wants to be, at the end of the day?
Today felt more like the seventh of May than the seventh of January, at least in terms of weather. So, there were plenty of people on their bikes, and some were wearing clothing that wasn't designed to shed rain or snow, or to fend off cold.
One of those riders, whom I met in Chelsea, strikes me as someone who would look absolutely fabulous on her bike in any season:
This sweet and engaging young woman is Andrea Diodati. She's been featured on other bike blogs, she said. I assured her that this one is not like any of the others. After all, how many bike bloggers are like me?
More to the point, how many cyclists have her sense of style? If you want to feature it, she's at electriclovelight.gmail.com. Come on, admit it: You want to write her just to type out that address!
Today the temperature reached 50F and I didn't ride.
Why?
I just lost a riding partner...
I'm going to start making good on a sort-of-promise that I made (or was it a promise I sort-of-made) in the early days of this blog: I'm going to write posts about the bikes I've owned and, perhaps, a few that I've ridden and haven't owned.
My bikes probably won't appear chronologically, or according to any other kind of scheme. However, I do plan to make a list of posts of my bikes past, and make that list available on the sidebar of this blog.
I've been looking through my old photos for some images of my old rides. Now I just need to buy a scanner, or find one that I can use somewhere. I don't have photos of some of my bikes; for those, I'll use old catalogue illustrations or borrow photos from other websites.
If any of you have a time machine, I'll go back and take photos of my old bikes. So far, I figure that I've had about sixty bikes during my lifetime.
In case you're interested, here are some links to posts I've already written about pedals past:
Royce-Union Three-Speed
Nishiki International
Schwinn Continental
Romic Sport-Tourer
Bridgestone RB-2
I don't know how long it will be before I post all of my old bikes on this blog, but I intend to do so. I hope that you'll continue coming here, not just for those posts, but for all of the scintillating wit and wisdom I plan to write in between them.
