| A
Proper Cyclist
To
dwell upon the velocities and vectors in the smoky light of day might
introduce a wobble into the equation. The muscles retain their own memory
of how these things are done. There always seems to be just enough room
no matter how unlikely the scenario or crowded the interstice.
Back
to School
It is impossible for me to ride full tilt at a human being, even Jeremy
Clarkson, and even as a well-meant test of my familiarity with safe
braking procedure. It isn’t a habit I can unlearn in an afternoon.
Our Braveheart remains unscathed by his experience with the lot of us,
though one wonders what fancy footwork he’s had to learn over
the years.
Full
Speed Ahead
Taurus: Your idea
to leave the rat race and start a courier company is not a bad one,
but if the main reason you’re attracted to that way of life is
all the trackstands then you might want to rethink your business model.
There are many other occupations where inertia can be practiced for
months or years amongst admiring long-term co-workers rather than seconds
or minutes at a stoplight for the benefit of a fleeting crowd of strangers.
Give
Cyclists Room
It's a small island, and we've all got to find the best and safest way
of sharing it. Involuntarily segregating environmentally conscious pedallers
is not going to solve the problems that integrated private transport
presents. The best way forward is to acknowledge the desire and need
for alternative forms of locomotion tailored to suit the individual
rather than feed the mass delusion that the roads should be totally
given over to a Darwinian struggle ending in survival of the gas-guzzling
dinosaurs which currently make the earth and many of its politicians
tremble.
My
Critical Mass
I had decided to
ride my new Brompton...Readers aware of my earlier technical difficulties
will be pleased to learn that I had spent the morning folding and unfolding
this delightful little sprite in the front garden and so was no longer
a “virgin”. This innocent endeavour attracted the attention
of the local constable, concerned that I might be engaged in an unnatural
act. There had been reports in the local paper of just such an incident
involving a known Bickerton fondler, so I was reassured rather than
outraged by the policeman's concern for public morals.
Time
Machine
The primordial soup, this salty broth which served as amniotic fluid
for our less sophisticated forebears, has ever held a strong attraction
to inhabitants of this island nation. Cyclists in particular are susceptable
to its bracing charms.
Why
I'm an iPod Cyclist
I don’t regard ‘iPod cycling’
as an escape into the self, but a pleasurable soundtrack overdubbing
the urban experience. What’s more, I turn the volume up LOUD.
Few of my compatriots would admit to deliberately disabling one of their
more important senses; fewer still to cranking the decibels. This strikes
me as the Bill Clinton defense: they don't inhale.
Wild
Side
"Bakelite: what an underrated
material," says Martin, a former research chemist, halfway through
a riff which began with the suitability of mahogany in bicycle manufacture.
|
