October 9th Morning Commute
I did take a photograph this morning, on the ride up, but it does not seem to be there now. I'll add it if it is just somewhere out there in the ether, shifting from my phone to the cloud, like the chocolate bar in Willy Wonka.
I forgot to record my ride home yesterday; I was running late. But that's OK because it's the same commute as always.
Our porch thermometer read 48 degrees this morning, so it was probably a little colder than that - still a very pleasant temperature for a ride uphill. Again the sun was sending beautiful bands of pink light up from behind the mountain against a backdrop of robin's egg blue.
I tend to go back and forth about wearing a helmet. Philosophically, I fall on the side of not wearing a helmet, and I buy all the arguments for the overall group safety of doing so. I also know, from an individual standpoint, that if my individual head were to hit a curb without my individual helmet, it could kill me. But life is dangerous. Stepping into your shower is dangerous. I've never fallen in the shower, and I've never been hit by a car. I was trying to think this morning if I have ever had a close call with a car, and I really don't think I have. I find drivers, overall, well behaved, courteous, and respectful of my right to be on the road. Maybe people I know, however, seem to have constant close calls with cars, (one of the main people I know disclaim against drivers of motor cars has even been dragged beneath one for a distance by a literal little old lady). I'm forever curious how different people can have completely different experiences in the same city. (He's also a League Cycling Instructor, as am I, (or at least I was), so he's not just some drunk on a bike).
At any rate, I step into the shower with impunity, but I still weigh several factors and consider the feel of the day before I head out without my helmet.
Lately I have been riding without a helmet, and one of the reasons I do it is to normalize the act of riding a bike as a way to get around. People don't wear helmets in cars, though I'm sure it would help in some accidents. People don't wear helmets walking down the street - though it would definitely help in those cases where there are collisions involving pedestrians. How is it that helmet wearing on bicycles - especially transportation bicycles - became the expected norm in this country. FWIW, I would totally have my helmet on if I was flying down a road in the Alps. I can see why they're good for races. I accept that I can die riding a bicycle, just as I accept that I can die riding my Vespa, driving a car, or stepping into the shower. It is very likely that I will die of something at some point, and I feel very lucky to have made it this far in this current world.
But as for normalizing bicycling - I wonder how normal it looks to people when they see a 53 year old man on a 68 year old bicycle, riding along in a beret. That's what would inspire me.
I forgot to record my ride home yesterday; I was running late. But that's OK because it's the same commute as always.
Our porch thermometer read 48 degrees this morning, so it was probably a little colder than that - still a very pleasant temperature for a ride uphill. Again the sun was sending beautiful bands of pink light up from behind the mountain against a backdrop of robin's egg blue.
I tend to go back and forth about wearing a helmet. Philosophically, I fall on the side of not wearing a helmet, and I buy all the arguments for the overall group safety of doing so. I also know, from an individual standpoint, that if my individual head were to hit a curb without my individual helmet, it could kill me. But life is dangerous. Stepping into your shower is dangerous. I've never fallen in the shower, and I've never been hit by a car. I was trying to think this morning if I have ever had a close call with a car, and I really don't think I have. I find drivers, overall, well behaved, courteous, and respectful of my right to be on the road. Maybe people I know, however, seem to have constant close calls with cars, (one of the main people I know disclaim against drivers of motor cars has even been dragged beneath one for a distance by a literal little old lady). I'm forever curious how different people can have completely different experiences in the same city. (He's also a League Cycling Instructor, as am I, (or at least I was), so he's not just some drunk on a bike).
At any rate, I step into the shower with impunity, but I still weigh several factors and consider the feel of the day before I head out without my helmet.
Lately I have been riding without a helmet, and one of the reasons I do it is to normalize the act of riding a bike as a way to get around. People don't wear helmets in cars, though I'm sure it would help in some accidents. People don't wear helmets walking down the street - though it would definitely help in those cases where there are collisions involving pedestrians. How is it that helmet wearing on bicycles - especially transportation bicycles - became the expected norm in this country. FWIW, I would totally have my helmet on if I was flying down a road in the Alps. I can see why they're good for races. I accept that I can die riding a bicycle, just as I accept that I can die riding my Vespa, driving a car, or stepping into the shower. It is very likely that I will die of something at some point, and I feel very lucky to have made it this far in this current world.
But as for normalizing bicycling - I wonder how normal it looks to people when they see a 53 year old man on a 68 year old bicycle, riding along in a beret. That's what would inspire me.
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