Sunday, May 30 was Bike the Drive. Perfect weather, 10,000 riders, Chicago potholes, who could ask for more? Sadly, there was one death - a gentleman from Dolton, IL. suffered a heart attack and passed. There were also several "accidumbs", a term I freely borrow from Tom Chapin (Harry's brother). One involved a young lady attempting to hold a conversation while riding, so, this one surely fit the accidumb category. Hey, I can get away with talking on the phone while riding, not that I am endowed with greater talent than other riders - it's just that balance is not an issue when riding a trike, but that still doesn't rule out riding into others, riding off the road (or path) or any of the other stupid things one can get into trouble with while riding a bike. Back to the young lady - sure 'nuff, over the handlebars she went, dropped the phone, lucky she didn't break her neck or her melon. Best of all, after being righted by volunteers, she started asking for her phone, wanting to finish her conversation. Priorities, please! Bad enough people have to talk and text while driving, now they gotta do it while riding a bike, in a crowd. I don't think of myself as being a crabby old fart, nor am I a daredevil or aggressive driver (any more), which I would like to attribute to maturity (or old fartism, if you so choose). I guess the closer you get to the end, the more you realize how foolish it is to do anything that would take away from what is left - something that youth has (painfully) yet to learn.
My friend, Earl Russell managed to do three complete laps - 90 miles in total. I've been tired all week just thinking of him doing that! More power to him! I was satisfied with doing 26.
Friday, June 4, 2010
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