The World According to a Snob

Okay, so lately I've been reading a very enlightening book written by a persona known as Bike Snob NYC (if you look to the right of my main page here you'll see a link to his blog or you can just follow this link to BikeSnobNYC).  Now I have to say, I don't follow too many blogs on a daily, monthly, yearly, regular basis.  Honestly I don't have that much time in reality but I do follow his as well as the Cycling News website mainly to see if Alberto Contador has 'fessed up to using Clenbuterol - I mean c'mon tainted beef, the only time that happened to me was from eating bad meat in a Mexican restaurant in Berlin, Germany and I had food poisoning for three days.

(click on the "D" above and zoom in to street view to see the theater where I was performing West Side Story at the time I contracted said food poisoning - ugh!)

Of course the other main website I follow is that of my beloved Dallas Cowboys who don't seem to be doing so well.  Actually, for them it probably feels like the world is falling down around their shoulders, or at least the sky is falling.  It would probably look something like this;

(Notice the nonplussed expression on this Cowboy fan's face)

But of course, anyone who is a New York Met's fan probably knows that same feeling.  I can't help but already start to think that the season is already over.  And now that the last great challenge for the peloton comes this Saturday in the form of the Giro di Lombardia whatever will I pay attention to?  Yes, I guess I could hope against hope that things will change (remember, the glass is half full) but I'm not holding out hope this year.  I really can't anymore.

But I digress - what else is new oh faithful readers??????

So I've been reading the Bike Snob's Book, the full title being (as you can see from up above) Bike Snob:  Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling.  Now don't get me wrong I love the Bike Snob's post and I've learned a lot (even borrowed some things, see the dachsund of time) about writing and posting blogs.  Although I have to shamefacedly admit that as much as I try I'm not as prolific as he.  Still I try.  Digression anyone?

As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself I've been reading his book and I'm working on my second reading of it, primarily because I have nothing else at home I want to read, although I have been thinking about digging up my copy of Stendahl's The Red and the Black (which I haven't touched since I read the first third of it in my college English class but it's always intrigued me as a great source for a musical) and reading through that.  Darn, my constantly moving train of thought, now I'm stuck somewhere on a sideline.

So in the opening chapter the Bike Snob talks about how the bicycle is one of the great inventions of all time and a way that we know that is because the Amish people (who normally eschew anything that is technological and ostentatiously decorative) use it constantly;

and even the womenfolk get into this utilitarian mode of transportation;

and sometimes they even use it as a family outing event, sort of like an extended SUV - but of course I think they prefer to call it Ye olde paceline;

The point that he makes though is that the bicycle is an amazing invention and there is not much you can do to improve it, though many have tried, witness The Schweeb;



Now, given my penchant to enjoy many things German I am intrigued by this simply because the name for it comes from the German word "schweben" which means to "float" or "suspend" as the company proudly flouts on its website schweeb.com.  Yet as one of my students (Jillian Feinstein to be exact, which now makes two of the past four ACT presidents I have quoted), "I don't think people will use it because people are lazy and when they commute they want to sit and listen to their iPod.  You're the exemption to the rule of American laziness."  Ah, gee thanks Jillian Sarah.  But I think she has a point - to which I imagine the Amish velocipedists would agree.

We as an American people (can we really be considered a people when we can't even get legislature passed because we can't agree on anything?) are lazy when it comes to our European, Asian, Australian or even Antartican bretheren and sistren.  In those parts of the world the bicycle is used as a form of commutation (in the sense of commuting not to be confused with its use in the legal sense which is defined as "the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional.") on a daily basis which is part of the reason why (with the possible exception of China) no other country in the world contributes as much to global warming as we do.

There are many good reasons to get out and ride your bicycle - transportation, exercise, attracting the other sex, save the environment, or to help others less fortunate than yourself.  All endeavors of which I think even the Bike Snob himself would be proud.  Yesterday seemed to be a day when a bumper crop (which is slightly more than boucoups and slightly less than a hell of a lot) of cyclists seemed to be on the streets that make up the environs of Syosset, Huntington, Greenlawn, Northport (i.e., the route I usually travel to and from work).  I counted at least 22 cyclists of all varieties (commuters, day laborers, casual riders and a pace line of four "enthusiasts") in my 15 mile (shhhhh, I took the long way home) commute home.  The weather was great and it was nice to be sharing the road with so many of my cycling brethren and sistren right here on the streets of home.

I have to say, of the five categories I listed above I think I qualify for all except the third one (primarily because I have already attracted the perfect woman and its hard enough as it is to get her to ride her bike) but the one that is most near and dear to me is the last one.  I just wish I could do more. 

As you've all read in many of my previous posts I really want to cycle cross country to raise money for Sunrise Day Camp.  I believe in what they're doing and I see what they can do for the kids that are fortunate to go there.  To be able to raise $50,000 in order to send 8 kids to camp and make a difference in their lives would be the most amazing gift I think I could give to the world.  But I can't do it by myself.  I need help and to be honest at this point I don't know where to turn to find it.  I'm not good at all at the self promotion business.  I don't toot my own horn, even at those times when I should.  I know the route I want to follow, I know (roughly) what we need in terms of financial support but I don't know how to go about getting it.  Do ANY of YOU have any ideas?  Can you share them?  I know some of you have put the word out (thank you so much Jason) but I think its going to take a village to pull this one off. 

So, my fellow villagers in this great community we call Earth, how about it?  Can each of you help me by trying to reach out to ten people who might be willing to help me procure sponsorship to complete this Mitzvah Project?  Can you help me find ten people or businesses willing to sponsor me for $1,000 each so that I can have the funds we would need to raise five times that?  You have my e-mail, you have my facebook information so let's see how we can make a difference in the lives of children with cancer - let's use our bikes to fight this fight!

Stay well, and I will see you on the road (weather permitting).