Bicycle Restoration

I'm still pretty slammed with work and life right now, but it is Monday and I wanted to post something.

My buddy and I played at a Stag n' Doe on Saturday night, doing our acoustic duo thing. It was a really fun night. I don't know what your experience of such events is like, but in my world these are usually pretty boozie affairs. I didn't go crazy or anything because I was playing, but I drank enough that leaving my car there overnight was the wisest course of action.

I awoke fairly early on Sunday morning, feeling a little bit hung over. It was cool and raining lightly. I got into some cycling clothes and rode out to the Stag n' Doe location to get my car. I have long been a believer in the restorative powers of a bike ride when you're feeling a little worse for wear. This ride was just over seven miles, so no big deal. The rain got heavier. I made no attempt to stay dry, instead allowing the cool rain to wake me up.

If you don't list riding your bike among your favourite hangover cures, I strongly recommend giving it a try, and arrange for some cool rain to fall if you can. Rain makes it even better.

Be Good,

R A N T W I C K

Ah, That Forester!

The "father of vehicular cycling", John Forester, born 1929, is getting up there. Nonetheless, it would seem he has lost none of his ability to move people. I bike T.O. , a Toronto based cycling blog that I read often, has had a couple of posts about John Forester and Vehicular Cycling lately. For those of you who have been living and breathing the tenets of John Forester for decades, it may seem quite bizarre that these articles make VC/JF seem like something "new". The fact is, however, that for most recreational cyclists and the encouraging numbers of transportational cyclists taking to the road lately, he is. For a great many people, John Forester's ideas and the Vehicular cycling concept are still some pretty crazy talk, especially now that bike lanes and cycletracks and sharrows and such are becoming the most popular answers to cycling woes.

People sure do get passionate about this stuff, and John Forester has become a rather polarizing figure who people either love or love to hate. The first piece I noticed set the table for a critical analysis of VC stuff and the second piece started in with gusto. Of course there are plenty of people ready to blast those critics right back. Most of the comments, while heavily biased, have been pretty polite so far. I do wish, however, that people who ride bikes would try a little harder to ride and let ride... everybody has a right to their own opinion, so please go for a bike ride and settle your nerves before you type. Warring factions within an already tiny army begin to look kind of ridiculous after a while.

The people I like reading best in such matters are those that don't deal in absolutes and show some flexibility in how they think and open minds to how others might think. Treating others as you would like to be treated in print as well as on the road is an important first step. That sounds suspiciously like Civility to me. I like that word. It sums everything up pretty nicely.

Your Civil Servant,

R A N T W I C K

Hey, Don't Forget...

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Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K