Grillin' & Chillin'

Tonight we headed to downtown Wauchula, where they had Main Street blocked off for the Grillin' and Chillin' event. It was a fund raising event that had a grilling contest. There was music and some classic cars there too. We had fun!



I didn't take my camera, so these are courtesy of Aric:

And just because they are so cute:

Bicycles, Time and Leisure

I was outside the post office, unstrapping a bundle of packages from my bike's rear rack, when a woman walking past with a toddler looked at the bicycle and smiled.



Her: That's a beautiful bicycle!



Me: Thank you.



Her: (Whistfully) It's nice that you have time to ride a bike. Wish I did.



Me: Oh, but I ride a bike to get places, so it actually saves me time.



Her: Yeah, but you know. When you're married and have a kid, you have no time for anything and need a car.



Me: Well, depending on where you live, it can be faster to get places by bike.



Her: Maybe if you're a student, but those days are past me! Love your bike though, take care...



Okay, so I've basically been told - albeit in the friendliest way - that I was either a bum or a woman of leisure if I had the time to travel by bike. It is a sentiment I've heard before.Looking at things objectively, I think that it is difficult for those raised in the US to overcome the association between the bicycle and leisure. It follows then, that if you ride a bike, you must have a lot of spare time. For people who like to project an image of being busy and hardworking, riding a bicycle can compromise that image. That's one aspect of it, I think.



Another aspect, is that of course it can take longer to do things by bike - for instance in the suburbs or in the countryside, where distances are vast and car parking is plentiful. I acknowledge this as a genuine obstacle to transportation cycling. But it is illogical to apply it to contexts where the opposite is true and where the bicycle can indeed function as a time saver - with or without children.



One thing I found particularly curious, is that the woman did not cite being worried about cycling with a child, whereas I didn't have that issue (which would also have been an assumption, but never mind). Instead, she just kept bringing up time and the difference she perceived in our lifestyles.



Our society has a complicated relationship with time and leisure. Both are viewed as commodities; we seek them out and are envious when others have more than we do. At the same time, we willingly give them up and waste them - be it by watching hours of uninteresting television just because it's on, or by organising our lives around stressfully long commutes for a small difference in salary. I am not critical of the way others live their lives and I make no assumptions about their values and priorities. Three years ago, I did not seriously believe that riding a bike to places could save time compared to driving there, but after trying it both ways I now believe it. I wonder to what extent the bicycle-leisure association is an obstacle for those who would otherwise benefit from transportation cycling.

Purchasing Power

The economy is terrible, but my purchasing power has just undergone a significant increase. How, you ask? Ah, keep reading!
Yes: a set of Wald folding baskets - filled with enormous grocery bags, the contents of which I could never have fit into my previous set-up. We passed a bike shop today that happened to have the black Walds in stock, and I ended up buying them. Now that I no longer have the front basket on my Pashley, I needed something ASAP - at least to tide me over until I can get panniers.

Well, the Wald baskets did not disappoint! You can't quite tell from these pictures, but the grocery bags are very full, with the level of the contents extending far beyond the brims of the baskets. Technically, it is possible to haul more than twice the volume of each basket. We tied the handles of the bags together on top, so that the contents wouldn't bounce, and had no problems at all.

The bicycle remained just as stable with the grocery bags inside the baskets as without.

Just as easy to maneuver, too.

As we were about to head home from the grocery store, we ran into Biking in Heels. Talk about a sense of community! We compared notes about panniers and tires, as I eyed her rear rack with longing (I've been looking for a suitable rack for my vintage Raleigh DL-1 with no success).
I was a bit nervous about what it would feel like to cycle with so much weight in the rear of the bike, but once we took to the streets it was effortless. Mind you, I am cranky and picky when it comes to carrying stuff on my bike - so when I say "effortless", you can take me literally. When I carried groceries in a front wicker basket, I had to lower the gearing on this bike in order to cycle comfortably. With these baskets I happily remained in the same gearing as without the groceries.

These passers-by are clearly envious of my amazing baskets and of the abundance of groceries I was transporting.

Can't say I blame them - this is great!

Intrigued by the Pedersen

While most of the time my reactions to bicycles are love or hate at first sight, my interest in the Pedersen developed slowly. I do not even remember the first time I saw one. It's sort of always been there, in a distant corner of my awareness - a lovely absurdity that I categorised somewhere in the realm of antique bicycle designs that have no place in practical, everyday cycling.





That began to change, as I watched my friendWolfgangcasually roll up on aPedersenone summer day in Vienna last year. I knew that hehad one in his collection. I just didn't know that he actively rode it, or even that itcouldbe ridden in the same manner as a regular bicycle - in traffic, at commuting speed.Turns out I knew nothing at all about these machines. Still produced in Europe and even imported in the US, the Pedersen is a Danish design that, its proponents boast, is the most comfortable bicycle in existence.





The multiple-stay frame construction provides suspension. The hammock saddle, even more so. The result is an upright, cushy ride, that Pedersen enthusiasts describe as downright regal in comparison to standard bicycles. Wolfgang's bike was too tall for me to ride, so I cannot say whether I agree. But I find myself wondering more and more and would very much like to try one.





Though I do not remember the first time I saw a Pedersen, I do remember the last time: a couple of weeks ago in the garage of the office building where the Co-Habitant works. Yes, someone who works in his building commutes on a Pedersenand leaves it locked up with all the other bikes. I suppose they are all used to seeing it there by now and no longer process it as anything out of the ordinary, but I was terribly excited to discover it. And it seemed to be in my size. Perhaps I should leave a note...





If you are curious to know more about Pedersen bicyles, there is a history page here, and agreat article in Bicycling Magazine by Florence Williams about hunting for one in Copenhagen. Feedback from owners is, of course, most welcome: Are they feasible as commuter bikes? How on Earth do you mount and dismount them?

In summer when the days were long

Fairy dreams of green-wood fern


Feather from the wing of time


Summer's nimble mansion


Berries harsh and crude


My stem was fair, my bud was green


Bloom I strove to raise


Hidden secret of eternal bliss

-----

Notes
In summer
Fairy Feather
Summer's Berries
My Bloom Hidden

Seoul street food: Grilled Squid

Yesterday Dutchman and I were in Itaewon, a really cool and trendy neighbourhood in Yongsan-gu, Seoul and I bought my first street food—‘Grilled Squid’!







They were grilled directly on coal.







Yummy! They are going at 3,000 KRW a pack (about EUR 2).









Will be posting more street food stuff soon!

Tall Boots, Zippers, and Mixte Stays

If you ride a mixte with twin lateral stays and wear tall boots with zippers along the inseams, you may notice that the zippers can rub against the stays as you pedal, which, over time, can damage the paint. This was a big problem on my vintage mixte - whenever I would wear boots like these, the entire length of the zippers would rub. On theRoyal H. this is less of a problem -either the stays must be closer together, or my feet further apart on the pedals. The zippers themselves clear the stays and only thepull tabs hit them occasionally. Still, it won't do to have metal tabs repeatedly hit parts of the frame.



I am going to try covering the pull tabs with black electrical tape or something similar. If that doesn't work, then I guess I just can't wear these boots on the mixte. Unfortunate, because I don't own that many pairs of footwear. My previous pair of tall boots had zippers along the back, but after wearing them out I was not able to find a replacement with the same design. Just a little glitch to be aware of when it comes to mixtes and tall boots!