Category: You Ran Over What?

Like any biker, I'm always looking for comics about my obsession. I had a copy of this Calvin and Hobbes laminated and in my office for years.

Calvin, despite his dad's love of cycling, was much more comfortable building time machines and space ships.

[Unless your eyes are a lot better than mine, it helps to click on the comics to make them bigger]

Here's an idea of how much he trusted bicycles

You can see the whole series here.

Cartoonist Bill Waterson pulled the plug on the comic Dec. 31, 1995. Over the life of the strip, he published 18 books.

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin & Hobbes) (v. 1, 2, 3) is available.

Yehuda Moon & the Kickstand Cyclery

This is one of my must-visit sites in the morning. Rick Smith draws a wonderful strip about two owners of The Kickstand Cyclery, which they took over from the previous owner, Fred, after he was killed by a hit-n-run driver. Fred's ghost is a haunting (if you'll pardon the pun) recurring character as he hunts for his killer.

dating advice from men for womentp://www.palmbeachbiketours.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/2008-07-09.gif”>One of the most interesting facets of the strip is that Rick allows readers to post comments every day. The comments dissect the drawing in minute detail, speculating on what's going to happen next and occasionally erupting in (mostly) good-natured flame wars.

I recommend that you start with the first day and work your way to the current date in order to get a feel for the story lines. You don't have to be a biker to appreciate the strip, but it helps.

Done by a biker, but not always about biking

I'm not sure if Rosscott is the artist's first name, last name or company name, but he's a D.C. cyclist who commuted to work for about a year until he and a taxi tried to occupy the same space.

He has a minimalist style that mimics international traffic signs and symbols. Here's an example.

In addition to the drawings, he has a blog that is a collection of the strange and interesting. A lot of the postings reflect his interest in graphics and design.

Give him a few days if you don't immediately grasp what he's trying to do. It took me awhile to get hooked, but now I read him every day.

Moni, a phred from Oklahoma, said it was 52 degrees with 30 mph winds gusting to 50. She was planning on a ride and was curious if any of the rest of us were going to hit the road.

Icebikers are a whole different breed

I swiped this picture by Michael Oryl from the Icebike site, “dedicated to winter cyclists who brave ice and snow and cycle for transportation, recreation or competition.”

I had to steal the photo because I didn't have anything like it. I don't even have a point of reference for the picture.

Cyclists started chiming in

• A Montreal rider reported -19C and plans to stay home.
• A Washougal rider said he had planned to get in an hour even though it was 37 degrees with rain turning to snow in the forecast. Then he confessed that he was going to log his hour on a trainer.
• A Maryland rider did 32 miles in the mid-30s with an 8 mph wind.
• SW Oregon cyclist did 29 miles at 43 degre
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  es adding “there were two short periods when it WASN'T raining” [Emphasis mine. I would have said there were TOO short periods when it wasn't raining.]

• Several others in Colorado, S. Dakota and Virginia said they were snowed in.

I wimped out

After initially posting  that I was considering a ride this afternoon, I had to send the following confession:

I STARTED to go out riding this afternoon when the temps went above 66 degrees, but then it clouded over and looked like snow.

I put on my bike shorts, pulled on knee warmers, topped that with leg warmers and tights. I put on two pairs of socks underneath my Shimano Sandals and covered those with two layers of plastic newspaper bags. I had on my normal bike gloves covered by woolen mittens.

Unfortunately, just as I headed out to my bike, I found out that I couldn't walk with all that gear on, pitched forward on my face and twitched like a dying cockroach until my wife came out and helped me up.

It's probably a good thing.

The descent leaving the driveway – from 14 feet above sea level to 12 feet  – probably would have created wind chill that would have frozen my eyeballs.

Maybe tomorrow will be warmer. You just can't take too many chances.

Wife Lila and I rushed out to our front lawn in West Palm Beach, FL, tonight to catch Space Shuttle Endeavor blast off. The conditions were perfect to see the light trail come over the top of Helen’s house. (We still call it that, even though Helen is long dead and the house has changed hands several times.)

Then the fuel tanks dropped

Based on the time stamps on my digital pictures, it was less than a minute between the time we first spotted the streak of fire and the time the fuel tanks dropped off.

Swirling clouds of smoke

No Floridian who was looking into the sky when the Challenger made its final flight can erase the memory of those swirling clouds of smoke 73 seconds after liftoff on that cold, clear morning in 1986. I found myself holding my breath last night until  STS-126 got past the phrase, “Go at throttle up.”

The Law of Inverse Appreciation

In December 2006, one of the phreds posted a quote, from Colin Fletcher’s The Complete Walker:  “The less there is between you and the environment, the more you appreciate the environment.”

That led me to write to the list, I’ve been working on the hour-day rule of thumb.

• A cyclist can cover in an hour about as many miles as a hiker can walk in a day.
• A motorist can drive in a hour about as many miles as a cyclist can pedal in a day.
• An airliner can fly in an hour about as many miles as a car can travel in a day.
• The space shuttle can fly in an hour about as many miles as the jet can in a day.

I wouldn’t mind the day in the shuttle, but I know that below that, my pleasure is inversely related to the speed of travel above pedal power.

Car time is boring

I once did a scouting drive in my car. Even though I was driving 45 to 60 miles per hour, it seemed like it took a long time. When I rode the same route on my bike, it seemed over in a short time.

My only explanation is that the car segment was focused on the beginning and the end. On the bike, I was aware of every grasshopper that flew in my face, the smell of the manure along the way, the group of old farmers I talked with under a shade tree, etc.. All of those small things make REMEMBERING the trip take a long time, but were distraction enough along the way to break the boredom up into tiny fractions that made it feel at the time like it was going fast.

Some days it might be hand prints in a sidewalk that catch your eye; other days it might be the pastel colors of a sunset.

I hope those folks up in the Shuttle are having as much fun. Here’s a hope for a safe (and boring) return.

Jim Foreman, one of my favorite phreds, posted this message to the bicycle touring list:

The Geezers had an “official” meeting last night. By “official” it meant that it was announced. The Geezers are rather laid back.

This meeting was to celebrate my 80th birthday which happened a few days ago but at our age, who’s counting? As they say, “The first 80 years are the easiest.”

At any rate 28 Geezers met at a place called “Big Easy” which I’m sure everyone would recognize as being Cajun or Creole (never could keep those straight) for a great dinner, to flood me with embarrassing cards and sing “Happy Birthday” off key.

They couldn’t find cards for 80 years so one gave me a 50 and a 30 while someone else gave me one for 100.

Oh yes, we did conduct some business, someone suggested Door County for our spring tour and everyone (who was still awake) agreed. Our uniting force is that we like to ride bicycles as long as there’s food at the end of the ride.

The Geezers has no elections, no dues, no officers, no special jerseys, no secret handshakes and no newsletter. Membership is limited to anyone who is willing to show up and admit geezerhood.

http://www.oklahomabicyclesociety.com/Geezers/geezdef.htm

Jim Foreman