11 MORE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW 1.
Every hour spent on the bike is an hour spent in perfect balance.
2.
Thus, on a bicycle, one’s mood improves over time.
3.
In a car, the reverse is true.We all benefit when people ride bicycles.
4.
5.
You cannot pay someone else to ride your bicycle for you to earn carbon credits. If you attempt to pull a No. 4, the resultant well-toned legs ARE NOT TRANSFERABLE.
6.
Despite evidence to the contrary, skintight neon Lycra togs are not obligatory.
7.
The person opening the car door is always at fault when a cyclist strikes the door.
8.
Half our trips are under three miles. And it’s quicker to ride a bicycle.
9.
Cars are just brand-name wheelchairs.
A 25-pound bicycle is not an automobile...but don’t try telling that to the cop. The law is convinced that“cars and bikes are the same.”Automobiles are lethal when carelessly operated.The police want to protect you. So you get to have a $400 ticket for blowing a red light at 3am. Because a bicycler has the same rights and responsibilities as a motorist. But that still doesn’t make a bike into a car. Hence, as your friends and spouse will tell you,“Be careful out there!”I will tell you: Pray that if you are hit, the responding policeman is a bicycler.
10.
People in high places, elected or appointed, are not overly fond of bicycles and bikers. As the“bicycle problem”persists (Marin is home to a huge number of bicyclers, many of whom know one another), time will win out.The next generation of Marin’s best and brightest will not be capable of an anti-bicycle philosophy.The elementary school and high school bicycle programs guarantee it. And those who had a bad experience with a thoughtless rider will lose their sway.—JP
11.
Yeah, spandex shorts are more comfortable for riding, but please, think of the rest of us before donning these.
The Ricky Cha Water Tank, another piece of klunker history that no longer exists.
June, when you spy a couple on a tandem streaking past the San Anselmo Coffee Roastery with body paint, you’ll know why. San Anselmo’s Coffee Roastery is where a pedaler’s version of bird identification takes place every morning. The spandex-clad patrons perch on the front benches and hail every passing rider by name, then gossip about them after they’re past. If the rider acknowledges the yell, the birder gets a point. If the commuter/racer/Fred looks over to reply—and so doing gets “doored”—two points. Note: “Fred” is the cycling equivalent of a nerd. Freds were the first to wear helmets, the vanguard that steered cycling do-gooders into advocacy, and the absolute last to succumb to spandex clothing. They have chainring marks not only on their right calf, but on their upper thigh, or better yet, their chin.
Ricky, don’t lose that number Ricky Cha Water Tank—the priceless historic artifact pulled down off the mountain. Without a peep, or a meeting or any discussion. It’s not Grand Central Station, but it was a marvel, and a destination. High up on the slopes of Tamalpais, at the intersection of Indian Fire Road and Eldridge Grade, stood a redwood water tank painted green and covered with mountain biker graffiti from the mid-1970s. Legendary rider George Newman etched a mark for every ascent. One year, he rode well over 300 times, and all the hatch marks were his proof. There were colorful mementos from the “Larkspur Canyon Gang” and the guys who rode in Mill Valley—ridiculing the use of gears, claiming one speed “is all you need.” Or declaring the existence of a “Morrow Majority” (the Morrow bicycle brake was the most desired of the klunker components). Ricky Cha was, along with Mud Pup, an original cartoon character in Fat Tire Flyer, the seminal magazine. The tank was dismantled many years ago, and with it went the Rosetta Stone ciphers of the klunker forefathers. < Jacquie Phelan (aka Alice B. Toeclips) is a member of the United State Bicycling Hall of Fame and the Mountain Biking Hall of Fame.
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