I Am Awful

The Rev. Michael C. Kelly, March 2007

Remember that patent that I found so interesting and poked fun at? I received a comment recently from somebody who knew the inventor. The commenter informed me that the inventor had passed away just over a week before I posted that blog entry:

Anonymous said...
I found your blog entry doing a Google search for the patent you've written about. I am sorry to say that although I could have easily put you in touch with the inventor, he is very much missed as he died in an accident last December. As far as I know, the system isn't for sale (though I know he auctioned some for charities) and I don't know what will happen to his dreams of encouraging kids to have more fun outside. But if you want to know more about him, try this link: http://www.loudountimes.com/news/2009/jan/02/Purcellville-pastor-kelly-obituary/

Of course, I followed the link and learned what you may have learned already. The author of that patent was a well-loved parish priest in Purcellville, Virginia, who died young (at 53), helping others to the very last. I, as you may have guessed, felt pretty bad. I mean, I had been mocking, if gently, a recently deceased Priest... I replied to the commenter, who responded with what I think was a lot of class and kindness:

Rantwick said...
Anonymous,Thank you very much for posting your comment. I followed the link and Father Kelly sounds like he was an outstanding Pastor and person. I feel a little guilty having poked fun at his patent idea, and can only hope that his sense of humour would have extended to me as well.

Coley said...
(ex-Anonymous) Don't feel bad, when he first told me about his bicycle airplanes I thought he was quite nuts. He did have a great sense of humor and I'm sure he would have supplied you with a witty comeback or some quote from history. :)

I would like to extend my sincere, if late in coming, condolences to everyone who loved Father Kelly, and encourage my readers (both of you) to follow that link and learn about somebody who was certainly much more than an inventor.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

"?" Bikes On Fixed Gear Gallery: Mixed Company

I have posted my fixed gear commuter bike on fixedgeargallery.com, a showcase for everybody and anybody who has assembled or bought a fixed gear bike. I must confess, I did it partly to add a little variety to the mix on that site, where many of the bikes are beautiful, some of the bikes are hideous, and very very few are practical. Most bike photo links there look like Yournamehere's Brandname (marque), but my link was Rant Wick's ? I saw that I wasn't the only "?" in the bunch so I didn't feel too bad, but I did feel the need to find out what other ?'s were like. At the time of posting, the ?'s immediately following mine were:

Jon Jump's ?

A DeadHead! I couldn't have been happier. Deadheads (although I never really was one myself) are my kind of people. So far, ?'s are great.

Next: Constant's ?

At first, I though that black, spikey, barbabeau thing was a spoke card, but upon closer inspection it is just behind the bike. Just the same, displaying that thing in the photo was excellent. ?'s - Two for Two!

Third: Damien Guy's ?

OK, the overall bike wasn't really to my taste, but the groovy applique of spiderman comics kind of won me over... I think I was really wanting the ?'s to come through, so I liked it.

Fourth: Jesse Sotelo's ?

This is where things started to go south, and paradoxically, north again! Flipping your stem to go way down so you can have your pink anodized bars rise back up on your otherwise powder blue bike just didn't compute for me. My hopes that the "?" was the key to FGG bikes I would like were sinking like a -30 degree stem. Hoping against hope, I carried on to the next...

Zach Hollandsworth's ?

This bike is where my whole theory unraveled, both literally and figuratively. The owner of this bike describes it as his "commuter", just as I described my own. An open wire basket, complete with items various and sundry. A proud close-up of the venerable Brooks saddle, contrasted with what would appear to be some sort of misplaced pride in that awful bar tape. The owner describes the bike as "recently finished", so I guess he's done. This "?" is truly just one big question... I am going to stop writing at this point. I have already violated my Mother's (and everybody else's Mother's, I think) rule that starts with "If you can't say something nice..."

One last thing: I am a big fan of BSNYC. Before other fans of the snob lambaste me with critical comments for ripping off his regular and excellent evaluations of entries into FGG, please know that this post was prompted solely by my own entry into those hallowed web pages, and my "?" theory was based on an honest hope. I have no intention of doing this again, because RTMS does it best, and I know it.

?

R A N T W I C K

If You Were Riding the Bicycle #1

The way some drivers love to hate cyclists and the way some cyclists love to hate them back really puzzles me. Its like a kind of bigotry, really, as we take turns making ridiculous sweeping generalizations about each other. I am sick and tired of cyclists who characterize any driver that criticizes them as a selfish, dangerous, gas-guzzling destroyer of the earth.

I am equally fed up with motorists who complain that cyclists are all road-hogging, rule-breaking moronic hippies or Lance Armstrong wannabes.



The truth, of course, is that as with all people, there will be selfish, stupid fools who obviously don't understand anything at all sprinkled through both of these groups.

When I'm riding with cars, I do my best to make good time while being as considerate of drivers as I can and ensuring my own safety. I drive a car too, and I know how worrisome and sometimes annoying certain people riding bikes can be. On the other hand, I have zero problem with a cyclist who slows me down for little while as they make their way along safely and predictably. When I'm riding, I try to put myself in the motorist's shoes, and this approach has served me well over years and years of bicycle commuting.

What I'm asking for in this post (and hopefully others if they present themselves) is that motorists do the same for me in specific road situations that I will illustrate with real video shot from my bike. Please don't jump to the conclusion that other cyclists would agree with or approve of my decisions; I fully expect to get called out by some practitioners of the very safest and best types of cycling too.

So, here we go:

What would you do if you were the riding the bicycle? Until next time,

R A N T W I C K