Ride of Silence - Charleston, SC

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Originally uploaded by twobicycles

I wrote essentially this same post as an email to the Coastal Cyclists Yahoo Group yesterday, but wanted to both amend and preserve the sentiment here.

The fact is that I absolutely love the Ride of Silence and look forward to it all year long. Apart from the important primary mission of acknowledging and respecting cyclists who've been killed or injured on the road, I also love this ride for how inclusive it is. I don't know of any other event where riders on mountain bikes, beach cruisers, fixies, classic racers, carbon fiber rockets, and daily commuters all come together to ride. I doubt that Joe Citizen on the street has the slightest idea why the herd of 50 mismatched cyclists are going 12 MPH down the street, but it doesn't matter as much (IMHO) as the fellowship and solidarity that I (we?) feel in the group. The after party at Peter's house isn't just a garden variety social with great food and music. It is also an extremely important opportunity for advocates and stakeholders, some of whom might never meet or talk otherwise, to revel in the ride, share information and get motivated to keep pushing for better and safer cycling conditions in Charleston. The fact that some of my absolute favorite people on the planet are among this bunch only makes the experience that much more enjoyable.

Can't wait for next year's ride!

Bird Watching

If you didn't know anything about me apart from what you'd read in this blog, you would have no idea that I've come to love bird watching over the last couple of years.  It started with Cathy and I just seeing birds in our yard.  We put up a couple of feeders and began noticing different species of birds, migratory patterns and even found a few nests with eggs/chicks.  That was enough motivation to make us thing about looking for birds in other locations.  By coincidence one weekend, we happened upon a birding group at Cypress Gardens being led by Dennis Forsythe.  Little did we know that he is one of the foremost expert birders in South Carolina!

In the subsequent couple of years, we have bought better equipment, amassed a respectable stack of birding guides, and participated in a significant number of both informal bird outings and formal bird counts.  Cathy is on the board of the Charleston chapter of the Audubon Society.  We were featured in the local paper last year in association with an article about people who are taking up birding for the first time.  Perhaps the biggest indicator to me of how involved we've become in bird watching is that I used to be known by most of my peers and friends as a cyclist.  Now everyone asks me what new birds I saw lately.  Pretty cool.

The picture below was taken on 2 May on Dewees Island.  This is our group for the spring count that we've done on Dewees for the past 3 years.

Lost Dog Metaphor

I have a friend who pointed out something about dogs that I’ll never forget.  We were in his car going somewhere and he pointed at a dog walking along the road.  He observed that the dog appeared to be moving with a purpose.  The dog wasn’t just wandering around, but seemed to know just where he was going.  He told me that if you see a dog that doesn’t look like it knows where he’s going; it is probably either ill or injured.  I have since made a point of watching dogs that I see to decide if my friend was full of crap (as I initially assumed) or a very keen observer of dogs.  I confess that I have long since concluded that he was 100% correct and have noticed several dogs who were obviously disoriented due to illness or injury.

I’m sharing this insight with you because I’ve decided that this same analogy applies to people.  I was in my car this morning on the way to work and came upon quite a few of my fellow drivers who appeared to have absolutely no purpose for being on the road.  They were variously going slowly in the left lane, waiting at stop lights until the car in front of them had gone 100 yards before moving, conducting all manner of business on the telephone, and performing a variety of personal hygiene tasks.  This would be absolutely no problem in the town where I grew up in east Tennessee.  We had precisely one stop light and nobody was in any particular hurry to be anywhere.  In downtown Charleston, however, this sort of behavior ought to be a capital offense.  I firmly believe that the folks I’ve described are substantially defective in some way.  Why else would they get in their cars to accomplish tasks that would much better be done at home or in their offices?  I think it would be a very good idea for police officers to stop these people and perform a public service by using their night sticks to whack some sense into these defective drivers.  I’ll bet that it wouldn’t take very many of these treatments before most of these drivers would either stay home or stay focused on the task of driving while they are in their cars!

Another fine day in the Holy City

I usually lead a bicycle ride on Sunday mornings, but this morning I just couldn't get myself motivated to go.  Instead, I slept late, had a leisurely breakfast and started a blog entry (that I'll finish tomorrow) while my bride worked in the garden.  About 10:00 I asked Cathy if she wanted to go for a walk to enjoy the spring flowers that are exploding everywhere.  We went to Hampton Park (next to the Citadel) and strolled around for a while, then headed over to a coffee shop near the new bridge across the Cooper River.  After coffee, we walked over near the river to see how the demolition of the old bridges is progressing, and later ran into a friend of mine who was working on a full scale replica of an old sailing ship called the Spirit of South Carolina.  Click on the thumbnail images below to see the full scale photos.

One more thing...   If you've got a few minutes, take a look at this excellent web site that Cathy discovered.  Soul of the Garden

Bumper Sticker Philosophy

So it turns out that I'm a big fan of bumper stickers.  Most are pretty lame, a few are funny and some are intentionally offensive, but I have seen some that I thought were awesome.  These are some examples of my favorites:

"Well behaved women rarely make history"
"Vegetarian:  Old Indian word for lousy hunter"
"Against Abortion?  Don't have one!"
"Question Authority"
"Sometimes I wake up grouchy...   and sometimes I let him sleep."
"Whatever you do...   Is it necessary, truthful and kind?"

My all time favorite bumper sticker, though, is the one that quotes John Lennon and says "Think Globally, Act Locally."  I've actually internalized this concept to the point that I apply it to just about everything.  I don't know what the dearly departed Mr. Lennon intended when he said it, maybe he was talking about the ecology.  I seem remember seeing this quote with a Greenpeace logo some years ago.  The fact is that it really does apply to all situations.  Case in point, South Carolina has one of the worst per capita fatality rates for bicyclists in the country.  This is something that I care a lot about, but have very little power to control.  What I can do is to influence my own community.  Toward this end, I'm a member of the local bicycle club and both local and state bike advocacy organizations.  I follow the issues in the newspaper and online and talk to my cycling peers about how best to survive participating in a sport that we're all fairly passionate about.  Steven Covey hits on this same concept in his Seven Habits book.  He talks about the huge number of things in the world that we might care about (including everything from AIDS, world hunger and the war in Iraq to my wife, my cat and what time Jeopardy starts) compared to our limited ability to directly control all of the things that matter to us.  Ultimately, we must make choices about which things matter most and decide how best to use our finite influence to improve those things. One of my pet peeves is when people tell me that they don't vote because they don't think their vote matters. I almost always refrain from grabbing them by the shoulders, shaking them violently, and screaming at them about allowing "W" to get elected...      TWICE!!!  Bottom line, I don't think that we all have to take on the world.  We just have to each mow our own grass, teach our own children, and think about how our insignificant seeming actions fit into the big picture.

Free advice is worth everything you pay for it!

I received some very interesting feedback on my "You do not have the right...." post from the other day.  My buddy said (I'm paraphrasing) this post was philosophically opposed to the previous post about people being basically good.  Damn it I hate it when he does that!  So I thought about it for a little while, and concluded that he was somewhat correct.

The "No rights" post does have an underlying premise that the folks it is intended to illuminate are, at the very least, dim and dishonest.  I honestly think that, more than being an indictment of people's nature, however, it is a plea for otherwise decent folks to use a little common sense in their behavior in society.  I still believe that folks want to do the right thing, but get caught up in the insane Jerry Springer, Fox News segment of society and lose sight of what's really important.  Lack of education, poor upbringing, religious zealotry and ego run amok are disadvantages that can produce some remarkably bad behavior.  I think the "No rights" post is chiding folks to remember what's important and take responsibility for our own behavior and choices.

Walk at Folly Beach

Yesterday was my bride's birthday.  We both took the day off from work and started it off with a walk on Folly Beach.  Click on the thumbnail images below to see some of the pictures we took.

You do NOT have the right...

This is a pretty old document, but I'm posting it here because I think it just doesn't get enough circulation.  It was written several years ago by State Representative Mitchell Kaye from Cobb County, GA.

We, the sensible people of the United States, in an attempt to help everyone get along, restore some semblance of justice, avoid anymore riots, keep our nation safe, promote positive behavior, and secure the blessings of debt-free liberty to ourselves and our great-great-great grandchildren, hereby try one more time to ordain and establish some common sense guidelines for the terminally whiny, guilt-ridden, basically lazy people. We hold these truths to be self-evident:

That a whole lot of people were confused by the Bill of Rights and are so dim that they require a Bill of No Rights.

ARTICLE I: You do not have the right to a new car, big screen TV, or any other form of wealth.  More power to you if you can legally acquire them, but no one is guaranteeing anything.

ARTICLE II: You do not have the right to never be offended.  This country is based on freedom, and that means freedom for everyone - not just you!  You may leave the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the world is full of idiots, and probably always will be.

ARTICLE III: You do not have the right to be free from harm.  If you stick a screwdriver in your eye, learn to be more careful.  Do not expect the tool manufacturer to make you and all your relatives independently wealthy.

ARTICLE IV: You do not have the right to free food and housing.  Americans are the most charitable people to be found, and will gladly help anyone in need, but we are quickly growing weary of subsidizing generation after generation of professional couch potatoes who achieve nothing more than the creation of another generation of professional couch potatoes.

ARTICLE V: You do not have the right to free health care.  That would be nice, but from the looks of public housing, we're just not interested in health care.

ARTICLE VI: You do not have the right to physically harm other people.  If you kidnap, rape, intentionally maim or kill someone, don't be surprised if the rest of us want to see you fry in the electric chair.

ARTICLE VII: You do not have the right to the possessions of others.  If you rob, cheat or coerce away the goods or services of other citizens, don't be surprised if the rest of us get together and lock you away in a place where you stilt won't have the right to a big-screen color n/ or a life of leisure.

ARTICLE VIII: You don't have the right to demand that our children risk their lives in foreign wars to soothe your aching conscience.  We hate oppressive governments and won't lift a finger to stop you from going to fight if you'd like.  However, we do not enjoy parenting the entire world and do not want to spend so much of our time battling each and every little tyrant with a military uniform and a funny hat.

ARTICLE IX: You don't have the right to a job.  All of us sure want all of you to have one, and will gladly help you along in hard times, but we expect you to take advantage of the opportunities of education and vocational training laid before you to make yourself useful.

ARTICLE X: You do not have the right to happiness. Being an American means that you have the right to pursue happiness.  Which, by the way, is a lot easier if you are unencumbered by an overabundance of idiotic laws created by those of you who were confused by the Bill of Rights.