Friday, July 18, 2008

Signs of the times

I rolled up to the stoplight on 8th south at State Street on my way home last night.  There was a hiptster in the bike lane in front of me wearing skin tight jeans that were twelve inches too long.  He had them turned up almost to his knees.  He also had one of those subtly ironic T-shirts meant to look like it came from the 1980s.  I could tell it came from Urban Outfitters

I was admiring his Schwinn Century bicycle, which he had modified to a single speed, not a fixed gear, but a single speed, when two more cyclists rolled up behind us—a man and a woman on commuter bikes.  The guy had a mirror on his helmet, because apparently, his ears don’t work and his neck won’t bend to the left so he can see cars coming behind him.  He also had a big pack of something mounted on his handlebars.  I suspect it was a sixer of a local microbrew.  There was another guy on a bike across the street, also waiting for a green light. 

Then another woman on a mountain bike rolled up behind us.  The guy with the mirror and the handlebar pack commented, to no one in particular, but loud enough for our little group of cyclists to hear, that “there are a lot of bicycles out this evening.” 

Looking back, and noticing his pot belly for the first time, I said “Yes, it’s a sign of the times.” 

He chortled, and said “It sure is, but I was riding my bike long before gas went to four dollars a gallon.”

So that explains excessive gut. 

I’m pretty sure he wanted me to tell him how long I’ve been commuting, since I surely didn’t look like a regular commuter to him.  I was on my road bike, wearing corduroys and a knit shirt, cycling shoes with no socks.   Actually, I don’t know what I looked like to him, but I think bicycle commuters should ride in the same clothes they work in

Anyway, I didn’t tell him that I’ve been bicycle commuting since 1995, when gas was less than two bucks a gallon. 

That explains the absence of any gut on me. 

In those 13 years I thought I had learned everything there is to know about bicycle commuting.  I thought I had all the requisite equipment.  But this week I found out I was missing something.  It was something so obvious that as soon as I saw it I knew I could have used it a thousand times in those thirteen years. 

It’s a lock. 

Cable_lock_250706_182251
Yeah, just a lock.  Not an ordinary U-Lock, or a cable lock—I’ve got plenty of those.  Incidentally, U-Locks are great deterrents for dogs as well as thieves, and I've been told it’s pretty easy to put one of them through a car window.  The lock I’ve been missing is a pocket size combination lock.  I think they’re meant for locking skis while you’re at the ski lodge paying ten dollars for a hamburger, but they’re perfect for those times when you forget to bring a lock along and need to run a quick errand.  It fits nicely in my (hipster) messenger bag and doesn’t weigh much. It’s not the most secure device out there, and I certainly wouldn’t leave my bike locked up all day with it, but it is lock enough to, as my mother would say, “stop the honest thieves.”  Where, oh little lock, hast thou been these last 13 years?

While 13 years may seem like a long time, Saturday is the 21st annual Mountain Bout at Snowbird.  It’s also the 3rd Annual Chad’s Boycott of the Mountain Bout. 

Maybe 21 years ago mountain biking was such a novelty that riding on awful service roads at a ski resort that charges ten dollars for a hamburger seemed like fun, but today we’ve come up with something that is much more fun, namely singletrack.   Could it be that the low attendance at this race, despite it’s proximity to something like 80% of the State’s population, has anything to do with the crappy course? 

Come on Snowbird, it’s a sign of the times.   



7 comments:

  1. Ok, nicer response this time.
    Maybe Ed has been saying, 'Hey Dick Bass, why not cut some more sweet 1 track at teh Bird?' Dick Bass responds, 'Ed, no one ever shows up to the race, so why should I?'
    Or
    If you come they will build it, or not.

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  2. Hipster dude you are not...Any Mtn Dew Code Red guzzling down hill kick ass freak knows that Burton is a SNOBOARD company.....Better look out they'll be after ya bro. C'mon Chad, get with the times.

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  3. You know, I don't really love the Snowbird race course either, but I was going to do it anyway. Then the guilt of missing a family reunion set in so I won't do the race. The course is better than it was, there is at least some single track. The first I did it in the mid-90s there was absolutely no single track. Dirt road up, dirt road down. So as it is now it is definitely an improvement.
    As for commuting in work clothes, I can't do that. Of course I am lucky enough to have a shower and locker at work, so I can leave clothes here and enjoy some extended rides either to or from work.
    It is kind of funny that commuting by bike has become trendy enough that the guy felt compelled to assure everyone he was in on it before it became cool. Kind of like "I liked so and so band before they became popular."

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  4. Chad forgot to mention his main method of conveyance prior to 1995. Fact: Chad lived three blocks from Timpview High School. Fact: Chad drove a car those 3 blocks every day that he went to school there. Believe it or not, Chad used to think that bicycle commuting (or walking) was extremely uncool. I'm glad he's changed his mind.

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  5. Ouch. Totally outed.
    Don't get me wrong, I am no super commuter. I generally commute a few times a week, but it is as much for getting a ride in as it is to save gas/money.

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  6. When I lived in Bountiful I bought a bike at the DI for $20 that had a basket, fenders, and a kid seat and rode that to the store, church, etc.
    At that price, I didn't need a lock.

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