In Which I Almost Rescue Teddy

Image from Wikimedia Commons by Fir0002/Flagstaffotos. The pink bear I almost rescued was plainer, no bow, but looked a lot like the one on the left.

As I noted on one of my other blogs, I recently watched “Toy Story 4,” and I do recommend it.

Today, I enacted a scene idea for Toy Story 5.

Picture a small lake in a midwestern city, maybe Cedar Lake in Cedar Rapids Iowa. An old man is seen pedaling a bicycle, newly equipped with a bike rack, on a bike/pedestrian trail by the lake.

Something on the trail catches his eye. It’s a fluffy teddy bear, pink. “Aw,” he thinks sadly to himself, “a lost toy.” (Told you I had just been to a Toy Story movie).

Our biker continues his ride, being passed by a young bearded man on a bike who is headed the other way. Up ahead, he sees a woman and a man walking on the trail. She is pushing a double-wide baby buggy.

Generally, our biker says “bike on your left” as he approaches walkers. But in this case, he says “hey, did you guys have a pink teddy bear?”

Why, yes, they did.

“It’s on the trail back there.”

The couple slows, prepared to turn. Our biker is made of more heroic stuff.

“Oh, don’t bother to go back,” he says. “I’ll go get it and bring it to you, I can move a lot faster, you keep on walking.”

The couple agree, and our biker turns around. But as he pedals, he is passed by a familiar figure. It’s the young biker who had been going the other way, passing in the opposite direction with a pink teddy bear in his arms.

He gives it to the couple. The old man reverses direction again, and this time says “bike on your left.” As the old man passes them, the woman still says, “Thank you so much.”

Mission almost accomplished. Heart still warmed.

Anyway, before I rode my road bike to campus this morning, I thought of the old back rack that Cate used to have on a bicycle. She let us have the bike for our daughters to ride, and sadly it was stolen—but the back rack had been removed shortly after we got the bike. And we still have it.

And I was thinking, after RAGBRAI this year, that a back rack would make sense on the road bike so that I could eliminate the under cross-bar bag I currently use. I don’t like that bag because I have to stuff it, and it presses against a brake cable—it’s never caused a problem, but it still worries me.

So today I decided to put the old, new rack on the road bike. It’s only good for 20 pounds—in contrast, the rack I have on my hybrid bike is rated for 40 pounds. I have to be mindful not to use this rack for my briefcase, for example, but for a lunch box or a light RAGBRAI bag—I’m thinking it will do the job nicely. And whether it does that, it already does give me a better place to hang a rear light from.

This morning--put Cate's old back rack on my road bike. The stolen bike lives on in this rack and on the pedals of my hybrid bike.

The bear almost rescue took place on the ride home late this afternoon, where I took the longer trail route and swung down to Cedar Lake.

After I got home, and after supper, my wife and I got the tandem out and rode another few miles.

It was another beautiful Iowa biking day. And even if I didn’t rescue the lost toy, I’m glad the biking community came to the aid of a teddy in distress.

Tandem time! Actually, post tandem time-I am just about to put away the bike after an evening ride.