Looking back on Inspired to Ride

February 13, 2016

It is now nearly the time of the Red Fire Cupid, aka Valentine’s Day.  So act quickly, if you haven’t planned for it!  Here is what I saw on my way home that made me feel the love that is required of all in order to survive the cold mid Febrrrruary.

 

Although it is impossible to tell from this vantage point, I was observing a loving duck and drake, keeping it hot after so many years together, even in the creek on a chilly February eve!

As I stated earlier, I have felt some chest tightness recently, which I have since attributed to habitual shallow breathing.  How and why did I start breathing too shallowly?  I’m not really sure, but I think it might have to do somewhat with my attempts to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning as I relax in my cozy basement.  Here is what I was feeling like (but not looking like) at night.  

Fuseli's The Nightmare 

Then I started focusing on my breathing and there was a moment where I felt like the alp/night hag was leaving me.  I felt relief and loss.  Bye bye alp/hag. 

Well, if you are like me, you attended the Inspired to Ride showing down at Aksarben Cinema last Thursday.  Before the show there were a few bike-related tables advertising various events or shops.  Here are a few things I was informed of – Wear Yellow Ride on May 14, Tour for Hope Ride on May 22, as well as the Kelly Smith Memorial Ride on May 22.  Eventually I grabbed my tall beer, took a deep breath, and headed into the theater with my dad and my friend Bob. 

This film was made by Mike Dion who also made Ride the Divide and Reveal the Path.  Inspired to Ride was an enjoyable documentary of the inaugural Trans Am Bike Race.  This was a self-supported bicycle race across Mexico’s leopard-skin pillbox hat we call the U of SA.  It focused a lot on the front of the pack, but it did spare some screen time for some other bicyclists who were not even in the race that the filmmakers encountered upon their movie-making journey.  There was also some comedy relief – locals who helped Juliana get her drivetrain back in shape and some fellas at a Wyoming bar and grill who eventually espied a mid-pack guy (I think it was Brian Steele) arrive and bought him dinner.  After they bought him dinner they took a photo of Mr. Steele giving them the finger.  Here is a first hand account of the event. by one Marcus Thompson.  Their trials and travails were also pretty funny.  Like when Mike got all bit up by mosquitos or the time Paolo and Giorgio missed the ferry (not included in Paolo's youtube video below).  

Although I am not particularly fond of the competition that is a part of these types of events, I was glad to experience much less manufactured drama than on a typical episode of America’s Next Top Model.  There was also less expounding upon the spiritual nature of suffering while riding a bicycle for a long time than in some other bicycle-themed movies, like that guy in Ride the Divide.  A couple of unanswered questions I had were, "What's the deal with the final finisher who took like 129 days to finish?  What's the story there?"  I bet I could relate to this person.

Although I enjoyed the movie, it may have had a bad influence on me.  Whilst bicycling home the next day, I took a brakeless turn at the bottom of a hill.  I often do so, but this time I managed to catch a pothole or two toward the beginning of my arc,

which convinced me to straighten up a bit, such that I didn’t curve sharply enough to stay away from the curb, which I grazed, along with a sewer grate, and so I took a mild fall onto my shoulder,

leaving a small tear in my long-suffering Illuminite jacket.  My pinkie was also kind of sore for the next 24 hours.  Boo-hoo.
  

While, I hope I learned my lesson.  I can ride even slower!  And I will, dammit!  I will try to limit my coming into contact with any of this fast-paced-bicycling propaganda that is an unfortunate but persistent part of bicycle culture.  Get off of me, you speedy bicycling alp/hag!  Now I can breathe a bit more easily.  Let’s ride!  Don’t wait up for me.

February 17, 2016

As you were sleeping, I was busy drinking single malt Scotch and reminiscing, looking back, if you will.  This can be a blessing and/or a curse.  Much like looking back using a bicycling mirror that  
attaches to your helmet and/or glasses, like this one I recently purchased from an online retailer.

I see you!  You are fascinating!

I hadn’t really had any interest in purchasing a bicycling mirror, but I was persuaded to do so after reading this persuasive essay by a bicycling safety pendant.  Yep, I’m a sucker for safety.

Here is my review, which I will try to place in a more appropriate place (hey now, please refrain from rude suggestions!) at my earliest convenience. 

As Don Henley soulfully advised in a popular song, “Don’t look back, you can never look back.”  But some of us like to look back.  One way we can look back is by using a Take A Look cyclist's mirror.  This mirror does exactly what it should.  I dropped it once onto my concrete garage floor and it didn’t even flinch.  Just kind of tinged pleasingly.  I rode with it for 2 days and it was mesmerizing.  At first I had trouble adjusting it so that I could easily see past my baggy jacket-ensconced shoulders.  But then I kind of accidentally moved it off to the side whilst activating my Nite RiderMini Newt Pro 750 headlamp, also attached to my helmet.  Sometimes I feel like a bobble-head, because I attach a lot of things to my visor-equipped helmet.  So, then, when I readjusted the mirror, it happened to be at a great angle for allowing easy observance of my 8 o’clock by merely moving my head ever-so-slightly to the left.  (As some of you may be thinking, I could also continue that motion of my neck and see the same thing but with a wider angle).  The damn thing was distracting.  I felt like I couldn’t just enjoy my view because this bright, shiny, fascinating object was dangling up in a not-quite-there, yet in-my-face kind of way.  I think this might be what having bifocals is like (I’ll let you know if that’s accurate in a year or two).  I felt the mirror was distracting and unnecessary for my suburban commuting.  I need to watch the road in front of me almost all the time.  I typically ride pretty close to the curb.  If someone is going to sideswipe or rear-end me, I’m probably not going to see them coming.  If I do see them coming, I’ve probably taken my eyes off the road and am likely to be lying in the road whether or not they swerve at the last minute.  That is because there are a lot of potholes and other obstructions along our roadsides these days.  Staying focused on what’s in front of me is more of a priority than checking out what’s behind me.  My dad has a bar-end mirror  which I think would be much less obtrusive, but equally unnecessary.

So, there you go.  Let’s get safe and focus!  And now we dance!