Random Biker Thoughts When Not Biking

An image from http://fortheloveofbikes.blogspot.com/2012/01/downton-abbeys-bicycles-in-1917.html. My wife and I have only just started watching Dowton Abby, and have ordered Seasons one and two--this is Lady Edith from season two.  On a bike.  Nice riding outfit, Lady E!

As expected, the week looks to be a total bust from a biking point of view. While it’s definitely warm enough, snow last week has left that peculiar Cedar Rapids white frosting on may residential streets, rendering biking just too dangerous.

To be far, it seems to me, in a totally unscientific way, that street clearing in snowy CR seems marginally better than in times past, but that might be an artifact of warmer weather following this winter’s snows.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to the second half of February. February and early March are still winter (are at least they were in living memory, these days, who knows?), but the increasing sunshine tends to make a snowpack less persistent—and the snow does not have to be “gone” before I can back, just basically retreated from most pavement.

So what are my random biking thoughts?

• My spouse wants to toss the junk bike as a useless money hole. She has a valid point, I admit, but I’m secretly hoping to get a new rear axle before spring break in March. My daughter from England will be visiting, and her husband bikes, and it might be cool if we could get some trail time in while he is in Iowa—it would only be fair, since I borrowed one of his bikes when I was in Norridge last year.

• I’m really, really happy with my back rack. It has made transporting books so much easier. I’m not as in love with my new front basket, which seems pretty flimsy. But, as Red Green once said, it’s only temporary—unless it works.

• The older grandchildren have bikes now, I think. I know Nikayla does, and I thought that they bought a bike for Tristan, too, although I’m not sure. Anyway, I want warm spring weather to arrive so I can be on the Boyson Trail with a grandchild or two who are riding their own bikes. It will be a new family biking thrill.

• I haven’t seen many bikes in Dowton Abby, yet. It does not seem like the British upper crust in the 1920s spends enough time outside, and the servants certainly don’t have the spare time. Still, this is a generation after the “safety bike” craze, and surely bikes are a common commodity in Britain post Great War? What’s the point of beating the Hun and retaining the Empire if one can’t pedal about a bit? (Yes, I've seen some images  from earlier seasons. I have not viewed those seasons, yet.) And I would love to see the Dowager Countess use a three-speed to arrive for some formal luncheon …

That’s it, for now. I’m sure when the weather turns, as inevitably it will, I’ll be back on two wheel.