Driving Is Bad For Me

No, no, this time I'm not referring to the impotence.

I, like many cyclists, drive quite a lot too. In my case though, I almost never drive to work. Being a regular bike commuter allowed our family to go down from two cars to one and that has been a bonus. My sister is out of town this week and she gave me her vehicle, a small Land Rover, to drive while she was gone. Various circumstances including the fact that I have not yet replaced the broken blue tub and hate wearing a backpack have made it more convenient to drive in to work the last couple of days and the flexibility, ridiculous comfort and ease of driving a car again has been nice, but I find that I just don't feel right, particularly at work.

I must have become accustomed to the endorphin rush related to my morning exercise and commute, because I get to work and still feel almost as groggy as when I rolled out of bed, despite having had a shower and everything. I feel strangely full and unhealthy and almost depressed and there is no return home commute to snap me out of it. I'm pretty sure I'm not sick or anything, so all I can surmise is that driving to work (or, more accurately, not cycling to work) is now officially bad for me. That's cool for now because I love to ride.

What if I become too old or sick or both to do it (particularly in the winter) any more? I might just drop dead! I'm thinking I had better come up with some indoor alternative to cycling, you know, so I don't like, die if I have to stop for some reason. That will be tough, because I hate exercising. I like cycling, which just happens to be exercise by happy coincidence.

I know people, myself included, miss the bike when they can't ride for one reason or another, but this is the first time that I've experienced physical and mental blahs due to just missing a couple of days! I have a replacement tub waiting at home. It will be installed tonight, come hell or high water. This damn luxury and convenience is killing me.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

UK Cycling PSA - Bank Job

Quite a long time ago I posted this Awareness Test, a PSA from Transport for London that I thought was pretty cool. Well, today I ran across some more spots from the same people, the video below among them. I really like these PSAs because they are effective and fun without resorting to the shock tactics that can really put people off.

I like this one almost as much as the awareness test. There are more clips that are pretty good too and they can all be found here.

A final note: don't read the comments on the video's youtube page. It will just make you think the planet is stuffed full of chronically stupid people if you didn't think it already. Why is it that morons are to comment sections as moths are to flames? Please comment in the section below.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

On Love

When it comes to the heady subject of love, many are searching for answers. How do I find it? How can I keep it? What is it? If you are one of these searchers and your quest has brought you here, I pity you. Nonetheless, I have a perspective to offer and as the banner of this blog proclaims, I just can't seem to shut up.

Love, of course, defies definition. We know what it is deep in our guts when we feel it. We know the lucky among us find it, while the less lucky find it only to lose it. As young people we fear that we will never find it and hunger for it always. Thankfully, love has a way of happening to many in one form another.

The love one feels as a teenager is not the same as the love one feels as a committed adult. My guess is that some people are addicted to the rush associated with young love and so move from one new relationship to another their whole lives. Others, like me, settle in to a longer lasting love that runs deeper and more quietly.

Love manifests itself in many different ways. It can sustain and protect you on even your darkest days. It can also result in somebody buying you wine on a day that has been less than stellar.

- second, unrelated text from Mrs. R omitted -

Oh yeah. Now that's what I'm talkin' about. Here's to Love!

Happy Valentine's Day Everybody,

R A N T W I C K