Lonely Daffy

I didn't plant any daffodils last fall but did have this one come up from some I had planted before. It was the only one. Daffodils are one of my favorite flowers but they don't like to do well here in the desert where the wind has a habit of burying them to deep with sand for them do to well after the first year.

One Way to Lower Your Bike's Gearing

overheard in a bike shop



Customer, returning from a test ride: "I love the bike! But it feels like there are not enough low gears? What is the best way to get easier gears?"



Salesperson: "Oh, well you need to ride the bike for several weeks for the gears to wear in. They should feel lower after that than they do now. If not, you can bring the bike back and we'll get you lower gears. But they usually wear in."



I almost laughed out loud, but I have to say I agree. The gearing on all of my bikes feels lower now than it did when I first got them. The gears have worn in so nicely! If you opt for this method though, be mindful that if you neglect the bike and stop riding it for a while, the gears will stiffen up and feel higher again the next time you get in the saddle. The fun facts of bike ownership.

Doggie In the Flowers

Tuffee walked through the field of lupines

All Legs

Well, I finally watched the Triplets of Belleville. For those who have not seen it, this is a French animated film about cycling, music hall singers and sinister men in black - surreal and somewhat disturbing (in a good way). No subtitles required even if you do not understand French.



There are many fascinating details in this film, but I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't watched it. Instead I just want to note one hilarious element: the caricatured cyclist's body.



Ah, the gaunt, emaciated cyclist. Sunken eyes, protruding cheekbones. Head bobbing up and down as if the straining tendons of the neck can barely support it. Hunched back and shoulders. Spaghetti arms. Non-existent waist, narrow hips...And then, suddenly - bang! An explosion of thigh muscle, bulge upon bulge, tapering at the knees before exploding again into freakishly well defined calves. I have seen such exaggerated renderings before, but none as expressively done as in this film. The half-soulful, half-dead look on Champion's face completes the archetype.



I have now met a few real-life cyclists with similar body types. They disguise it surprisingly well when wearing regular clothing, but once in lycra the leg explosion is revealed.Seeing such marvelously distorted proportions in person,I try not to stare. But it's kind of awesome, and awe-inspiring. Gives "all legs" a new meaning.



PS: You can tell it's winter, because I'm falling prey tocycling movies. Any recommendations besides the usual suspects? For now, I'll just have to live with "Belleville Rendez-Vous" stuck in my head...

His and Hers Bicycles: Matching Looks vs Matching Performance

I love the idea of "His and Hers" bicycles: an elegant pair of lady's and gentleman's bikes from the same manufacturer. When we first decided to ride bicycles, the Co-Habitant and I envisioned ourselves exclusively on such matched pairs. We acquired a Pashley Princess and Roadster as our transport bikes.We acquired a Motobecane Super Mirage and Mirage Mixte as our roadbikes.And we acquired a Raleigh DL-1 Touristand Lady Tourist as our vintage 3-speeds.



It was all so perfect!... except that it wasn't. I could never keep up when we were both on the Pashleys, which was a constant source of discontent (I am now convinced that the female model is just inherently different from the male one). With the Motobecanes things were even worse, as my semi-upright mixte was no match for his racy SuperMirage roadbike. Despite being perfectly matched in looks, our beautiful velo couples were plagued by a disparity in performance.

Having finally decided that the illusion of perfection was not the same as perfection itself, I shattered the symmetry - first by replacing my Pashley Princess with a vintage Gazelle, and then by selling my Motobecane mixte. Interestingly, the Gazelle is a better match for the Pashley Roadster performance-wise, and we no longer experience the same problem with discrepancies in speed when cycling together on our commuter bikes.



As for roadbikes, it is difficult to keep up with somebody on drop bars, while yourself riding with upright bars - especially if you are a weaker cyclist to begin with. MyRivendellandTrekroadbikesmay not look as sexy next to the Co-Habitant'sMotobecane as my vintagemixte did, but they are a better match when it comes to actually cycling together.



This particular discrepancy in "his and hers" bikes is something I wonder about when I see a man and a woman cycling together, where he is on an aggressive roadbike and she is on an upright hybrid from the same manufacturer (usually Trek,Cannondale or Specialized). While I understand that the idea is for the woman (who is presumably less skilled) to ride an "easier bike," surely it must make the difference in their skill levels all the more acutely felt?



Of the three "His and Hers" pairs we started with, only our vintage Raleigh DL-1s remain. These are actually matched pretty nicely in terms of performance, so apparently "back in the day" Raleigh got it right whereas today's Pashley did not. Although we do not ride these as often as we ride our main transport bikes, it is nice to have at least one pair of bicycles that matches both in looks and performance. Who knows, maybe in the future there will be more - but the performance aspect is a must. After all, a couple's chemistry is about more than just looks.

Drive By Shootings

One of the kindest things that Nathan does for me is to drive around and let me take pictures. Most times I like to walk around to take pictures. When it is as hot as it has been lately, I prefer to drive. I can't drive and snap shots, so I need his cooperation for this.



Every time we do this, I get home and find all kinds of interesting shots. Shots that have me going, wonder what I saw here. Or better yet, wonder what I missed here.



It is kind of hard to get the timing down right when taking pictures this way. Lots of pictures come out blurry. The lighting is off. The composure is terrible. The flip side is that we can see a lot, and capture a lot when we do this.Sometimes I ask Nathan to stop. Because I know that a quick shot won't do.I know that a drive by shooting won't be enough to capture what I want to.That we need to take a much closer look to fully take in the beauty. It is my photo tour version of "stop and smell the flowers".Beautiful, isn't it? Living the life in Virginia!

Another Rose