The Power of the Bike!

First of all, I apologize for taking so long to update this blog.  There's been a lot going on with planning the cross country ride and with my birthday weekend which just passed.  But with our departure for San Diego coming up soon, I decided that I need to start blogging on a more frequent basis.  So going forward the posts will be shorter but more frequent, and will become daily once we actually leave San Diego.

Shortly after Vladimir Putin was reelected for his third term as President of Russia there was a series of protests in which the people of Moscow staged their own Occupy movement to voice their discontent with what they see as blatant corruption in the Russian government.  As the protests were winding down the little boy pictured above happened to be on a bridge facing the scrum of riot police.  Julia Ioffe, the Moscow correspondent for The New Yorker and Foreign Policy magazine, happened to be standing right behind him.   To her he became the Tiananmen Square image for this protest.  Indeed, as he faced the police protesters in the crowd behind him were heard to shout, "Here's the guy that will storm the Kremlin. Be ready boys! Here he comes!"

After seeing this image it brought to my own mind the idea of how much power the bicycle can have for us as individuals.  It can free us to do things we might not do left to our own two feet or if we were confined to our four-wheeled conveyances.  Children instinctively use their bicycles to fly across distances and experience the freedom that it can bring them.  Once they master that first feeling of being able to ride themselves without training wheels or someone else holding them up, they are off and rolling!

Of course, part of the problem that we all have with keeping it up and rolling is that engineers still don't know for certain what keeps a bicycle upright.

Of course it is a know fact that superheros often use bicycles.  For instance Superman;

Batman and Robin;

Spiderman (although obviously not in Spiderman: The Musical, there he mostly falls) ;

Even the Mighty Thor on occasion - although his ride is a bit bumpier;

Or turn you into this guy;

Or hang out with these guys;

But the Power of the Bike is that it can turn any of us into the superheros we imagine from our younger days.  All it takes is the ability to turn the pedals or for some the handcranks;



As you can tell, those are all members of various branches of the military who were wounded while serving our country - now THAT'S  what I call a superhero!

But for us mere mortals the bicycle gives us a freedom and a sense that we can do anything, that we can change the world, that we can go anywhere.  At least it did when we were kids and we would just hop on our bikes and ride from dawn to dusk exploring the world around us and not worrying about grams and pounds and miles per gallon and what we need to earn to pay the mortgage.

But as with all things we grow up and we add more responsibilities to our already overloaded "plate".  Yet as this, Ride Your Bike to Work Month winds down, its good to remember that we can make a difference on our bikes.  There is a program that is being run through Endomondo called the National Bike Challenge (you can check out my page here) and their stated goal is to get 50,00 people to ride 10 million miles between May 1 and August 31.  An admirable goal and the end result is that many more cars will be off the roads and less pollution (particularly Carbon Monoxide) will be put into the atmosphere!

I hope to contribute to that goal by adding 3700 miles to the total as I Ride Across America with the goal of tryin gto make the lives of some children fighting cancer just a little bit better.  It's been a slow start to the fundraising thus far and we're hoping that it can pick up a bit as we go across country and some news agencies (hopefully) pick up our story.  But regardless of whether or not we reach our total fundraising goal, my children and I (yes, Sarah is planning to ride about 400 miles and th eboys between 50 and 100) are going to do what we can to help others.  Are we superheroes?  No, just people trying to use the powere of the bike to make the world a little better for others who can't do it for themselves - and isn't that the best super power to have?

And now, to remind us all that we have it within us, a little musical interlude courtesy of Five for Fighting;



Stay well everyone and we'll see you on the road in a matter of weeks!!

National Bike Month - Now With Root Cyclone™ Technology!

So on their offical website this is what Dyson has to say to explain why a Dyson vacuum cleaner is different than all of the others;

Instead of relying on bags and filters to trap the dust, a Dyson vacuum uses patented cyclone technology to spin the dirt out of the air. That's one of the reasons why it doesn't lose suction, picks up more dirt from your home and expels cleaner air.

In other words, becuase of their patented technology, a Dyson (of which the Connor Clan are proud owners) picks up more dirt, ergo it sucks MORE!

Maybe its all about the pneumatic actuator.

So in the spirit of the self-metacognative , (or self actuator) in examining myself and "knowing about myself" I have come to the following conclusion;

(In patented old-school neon technology)

Now, I may not yet have the patented Root Cyclone™ Technology but if I continue on my current downward spiral (not to be confused with downward facing dog, a yoga pose that is very painful to many);

(It's not easy being flexible)

I may find myself in the realm of said technology sucking ever so much more than I do right now.


What, I say what, may you ask has prompted this stream of self-deprecation?  Well, as I wrote last week, this month is officially "Ride Your Bike to Work Month";


(See, I'm not making this up!)

and although I started out somewhat auspiciously (in the pouring rain), I've only been able to commute eight out of the 14 work days since the month started.  I haven't even been able to put in weekend "pleasure" rides!  I feel myself deteriorating and my muscles are atrophying to the point that I will look like this guy in no time at all;

(I think he later went on to a lucrative career as a Grateful Dead model)

Well, maybe with a bike helmet on instead of the top hat - they tend to fly off during fast descents.

In a nutshell, I SUCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!  As of this writing (literary terminology for right this very second) I have 37 days before the Grand Depart which is the fancy French term for "the big leaving" - not to be confused with The Big Lebowski;



becasue as everyone who has read this blog knows, our big leaving is from San Diego whereas the big Lebowski is from Malibu.  Close but not quite.

But the month is yet young and as I said in my last post, it is the LUSTY month of May which means there is so much to experience yet in this wonderful month - my favorite month of the year.  Why you may ask? 

Well, you see there is this anniversary that happens every May 20th that I like to celebrate - the day when the most wonderful woman in the world decided to take a chance on me and become my wife.  Over the last eighteen years I am constantly amazed that she still loves me and without her not only would my life be incomplete, it would be nowhere near as full of amazing memories as it has been.  Left to my own devices I would probably become a hermit of some sort - she draws me out and brings out the best in me always.

And the other big thing that happens this month (aside from our annual Shakespeare production which I always look forward to) is my birthday!  I'm creeping up on that half-centruy mark and I have begun to appreciate these days in a way that I never did when I was younger.  As a matter of fact I look forward to the  morbid obsession of others about their age.  It was after a conversation about getting older that I came across this littel ditty by the group Voltaire;



Apparently its populated by 100 "Gothic Lolitas" which I think is just another version of Steampunk.  But I could be wrong.

But, there is only one cure that will keep me from sucking and from feeling as old as the poor guy in the chair and that is getting out and riding and TRAINING for the big cross country.  And don't forget, if you want to take pity on this almost quinquagenarian and help me in my Quixotic quest to help the children of Sunrise, all you have to do is go here and make a small donation.  Do it honor of my anniversary, do it in honor of my birthday, or just do it because you don't think I suck!

So to celebrate the merry month of may I'm going for a ride!  I hope to see you on the road - even if its not on your way to work!

Biking in the Merry Month of May

It's May and that can only mean one thing - you're going to see a lot more cyclists on the road because it's National Ride Your Bike to Work Month!  Yes, its official and me and my people, we even have our own logo, uhhh, poster, uhhh on-line graphic;

As you can see from the above, we have a Bike to work week (the 14th to the 18th), a day (May 18th) and for the kinder  (pronounced as the first part of the grade you are in before first grade) among us, a ride to school day (May 9)!  Now there is an organization that is really behind this called PeopleforBikes.org and they have some exciting ways that we can make the most of this month.  To wit (I guess that mean "towards getting smarter"?);

1) Go for a type of bike ride that you normally wouldn’t: If you’re a road rider, try a mountain bike ride. If you’ve never ridden your bike to work, give bike commuting a shot. And if the ride to work isn’t something you can tackle this year, ride your bike to run an errand you would normally do by car, even if it’s just a trip to the coffee shop or ice cream parlor. Remember—forty percent of trips Americans take are two miles or less, an easy bicycling distance.

2) Introduce one other person to bicycling. Whether it’s your partner, a coworker, a family member, or just a friend, help someone find a bike and go for a fun ride. Bicycling is a pretty amazing thing, right? Why not encourage someone else to discover the activity that brings you so much happiness.

3) Participate in one or more National Bike Month events. A list of community rides can be found at the League of American Bicyclists.
Now I tend to do much of this (much to my wife's chagrin on number 2) and I've even signed up on Endomondo for the New York Bike Challenge.  All of this (hopefully) means that a lot more people will be out there doing what I do many (if not every) day of the week - especially since this has been an incredibly mild winter.  As a matter of fact, I kicked off the month by riding on May 1st, despite the fact that it was coming down in buckets and I felt a bit like this guy;

(Yay - riding in the rain!)

In all seriousness, it was pretty much like this. 

(Riding in the rain, just riding in the rain, What a glorious feeling....)

And because I'm trying to train for any weather conditions I took the long way to work which was 15.2 miles as opposed to the short route which would have gotten me there 10 minutes faster. I just figured since I was squishy already, I might as well go the full distance.  Speaking of "Squishy", here is one of my favorite clips from Finding Nemo;



And I was certainly feeling surrounded by water by the time I finally arrived at school.

But there's nothing like the feeling of starting the month of May (National Bicycling Month) by riding to work!  And add to that the fact that I'm really gaining the added benefit of training for the Ride Across America it makes it even more enjoyable.  So far I've managed to log in 1372 commuting miles since the beginning of January and I've probably added another 250 or so in "pleasure miles", that is rides I've done on the weekend just to get in some more mileage.  My goal is to try to get well over 2000 miles before we leave in June.

So you will see lots of us out on the road this month - I just hope you remember that we're not targets and you don't extra points for hitting us as this mtotist in Californaia apparently thought;



I have to say it makes me extremely nervous about riding in California - good thing I'll be taking a camera with me - I just may have to keep it rolling the entire time I'm in the state.  Hopefully, since it IS Ride Your Bike to Work Month, someone will put out a PSA about NOT hitting cyclists so we'll have an opportunity to live longer.

And just on the hopeful chance I DO survive riding through the bottom part of California and you, dear reader, feel compelled to congratulate me on my death defying act by donating to the children of Sunrise Day Camp you can click on the above linke (that's Old English for a connection) or just click  here if scrolling up is to taxing right now.

And speaking of taxing and Old English, there is a wonderful little song celebrating the month of May from a little musical called Camelot.  You may recognize a young Vanessa Redgrave in the role of Guenevere;



But, aside from riding our bicycles fearlessly, there are many ways to be "lusty" in the month of May as the group Culann's Hounds can attest to in their punked up version of "Rocky Road to Dublin";



You know what - that's it, I'm too fired up now to do anything else - I'm going for a lusty ride.  Anyone want to join me?  And if you haven't already, feel free to "like" us on facebook and follow more of our lusty cycling adventures this merry month of May!

Stay well and I'll see you (lustfully) on the road!