Over the lengthy weekend I spent a while with the ‘Noner:
I additionally examined my voluminous tubulars on a wide range of surfaces:
Presumably gravel has gotten so fashionable that folks at the moment are heading north on Citi Bikes looking for it. I’m guessing this rider acquired misplaced, wandered off looking for a deli, and was by no means heard from once more. Count on this to maintain occurring till Citi Bike requires riders to tether themselves to their bikes such as you do whenever you trip a jet ski.
Not solely that, however as a result of it wasn’t scorching sufficient right here in New York we took somewhat household street journey to our nation’s capital, the place it was roughly 9 hundred and seventy American Freedom Levels:
Regardless of the warmth we had a incredible time wandering agog via the Nationwide Mall just like the vacationers we had been, and should you or anybody in your loved ones is enthusiastic about aviation historical past I might extremely advocate the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Heart, which is nicely well worth the schlep out to Dulles Worldwide Airport for its astonishing assortment:
It was a beautiful journey, and it made me grateful not just for my household, but in addition to reside on this zany patch of land in between Canada and Mexico we prefer to name the USA:
[Mario Cipollini: A great American]
Nonetheless, whereas I attempt to not get political on this weblog, provided that we simply celebrated July 4th, and I simply visited Washington, DC, and it’s an election yr, I’m afraid I really feel compelled to deal with a sure elephant–and never simply any elephant, however one which represents an existential risk to our nation.
I’m speaking in fact about scooters:
Our nice monuments and memorials are shifting and highly effective, but when in some way the emotional wallop isn’t sufficient to to knock you in your ass then somebody on a scooter nearly definitely will. Right here’s a rider who managed to clip my spouse as we walked by the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool:
And right here’s what I can solely assume is the Croc of a youthful, earlier sufferer who was not so fortunate:
It was not removed from this very spot in fact the place Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these immortal phrases: “I’ve a dream… From each mountainside, let freedom ring.” So inspiring it was to be right here–and but there was seemingly no escape from the scooter riders, who did their utmost to show this utopian dream right into a Poe-tastic nightmare. Certainly, the one factor they let ring was their bells. Bells, bells, bells–Within the clamor and the clangor of the bells! This habits additionally prolonged to the streets of downtown, the place vacationers rode two-to-a-scooter on the sidewalk, ordered different folks to maneuver out of the best way, and rang their silly little bells at folks pushing strollers.
So was I fallacious about scooters all these years in the past?
I dunno. Perhaps it’s not a lot a scooter drawback as it’s a vacationer drawback. The advocates will level out that folks gained’t trip on the sidewalk in the event that they really feel protected sufficient to trip on the street, however it’s laborious to think about the form of one that has the temerity to trip via a freaking warfare memorial goes to be thoughtful sufficient to remain off the sidewalk irrespective of how inviting the bike micromobility lane is. Maybe not permitting shared scooters downtown is likely one of the few smart choices we’ve made right here in New York Metropolis within the final 20 years.
I coulda finished with out ’em is all I’m saying.
