2006-01-09
transportation
Elvis Presley wanted a bicycle for his 11th birthday. It woudl have cost $55 and his mother said they couldn't afford it. She persuaded him to get a guitar for his birthday gift, available at the more reasonable cost [but still pricy for that day and age] of $7.75. Yesterday was his birthday.
These days, we certainly need someone to revolutionize ways of getting around, much as Elvis revolutionized the world with that guitar. Cycle Santa Monica most likely couldn't agree more and has started a new blog on bicycling.
I recall my first bicycle, given by my father to my sister. my brother and I as a shared Christmas gift. It was a Schwinn; then widely perceived by kids as the Caddilac of bicycles.
Once I got some mastery of the thing, I went off on my day to ride it and git side swiped by a car entering an expressway ramp. My dad was pissed, to say the least. So we didn't have the bike for long, but at least I'd learned how to use it.
Years later, when I lived in Lake Placid, NY, I would cycle cross town to do my laundry, a duffle bag filled with dirty clothes straddling my back. For those who don't know it, Lake Placid is a mountainous town and this kind of exercise kept me in really good shape. [Good enough, I later learned, for some guy to remember seeing me and just waiting for the chance to meet me. It was his fantasy that if I could do that, I was a good catch as a date. We ended up living together for a couple of years so I suspect he thought I was that good catch.]
But I digress.
Certainly, as we come into the dawning days of Peak Oil, finding sensible alternatives to gas guzzliing road hogs will be crucial. Bicycing, is one of those options for folks living in cities but not realistic for others living out in the sticks.
I'm hoping that Cycle Santa Monica will help provide a place for all of us to deliberate seriously on our transportation options for the future. ¶ 01:58
Elvis Presley wanted a bicycle for his 11th birthday. It woudl have cost $55 and his mother said they couldn't afford it. She persuaded him to get a guitar for his birthday gift, available at the more reasonable cost [but still pricy for that day and age] of $7.75. Yesterday was his birthday. These days, we certainly need someone to revolutionize ways of getting around, much as Elvis revolutionized the world with that guitar. Cycle Santa Monica most likely couldn't agree more and has started a new blog on bicycling.
I recall my first bicycle, given by my father to my sister. my brother and I as a shared Christmas gift. It was a Schwinn; then widely perceived by kids as the Caddilac of bicycles.
Once I got some mastery of the thing, I went off on my day to ride it and git side swiped by a car entering an expressway ramp. My dad was pissed, to say the least. So we didn't have the bike for long, but at least I'd learned how to use it.
Years later, when I lived in Lake Placid, NY, I would cycle cross town to do my laundry, a duffle bag filled with dirty clothes straddling my back. For those who don't know it, Lake Placid is a mountainous town and this kind of exercise kept me in really good shape. [Good enough, I later learned, for some guy to remember seeing me and just waiting for the chance to meet me. It was his fantasy that if I could do that, I was a good catch as a date. We ended up living together for a couple of years so I suspect he thought I was that good catch.]
But I digress.
Certainly, as we come into the dawning days of Peak Oil, finding sensible alternatives to gas guzzliing road hogs will be crucial. Bicycing, is one of those options for folks living in cities but not realistic for others living out in the sticks.
I'm hoping that Cycle Santa Monica will help provide a place for all of us to deliberate seriously on our transportation options for the future. ¶ 01:58
