Thoughts about Utilitarian Cycling
One of the things that interest me is utilitarian cycling. Now by utilitarian cycling I do not mean exotic cargo bicycles, nor tricked out $5000 commuters. What I mean is using an economical bicycle for everyday tasks. The trip to the store, to the library, maybe to work. Also light recreational riding around the neighborhood, in the park, to see the sights. And maybe an occasional weekend trip stopping at inns for the night. No strange clothing required just everyday togs. No need to join a cult of some kind and look down on unbelievers. A photo from the book “Bicycles –The History” by David V Herlihy always makes me think about this.
It was taken just after WWII in England. They were riding bicycles that had gone through the war. Notice that many are missing parts. Cars simply were not available even if they could afford one, so the bicycle was the main mode of short distance transportation, while the train with a bicycle car on it provided transportation to more distant places. Notice how they are wearing their work clothes. The casual way they are riding. Not going hell for leather, just moving at a comfortable pace. Not a drop bar racing bike in the bunch.
At one time adults here in the USA did not ride bicycles, not because they weren’t efficient short range transportation, but because someone might think they were so poor they could not afford a car. When the ten speeds became popular during the 1970-73 bike boom, the main attraction was, I think, that they looked like sporting equipment rather than transportation for poor people. A toy for people with money in other words. Unfortunately that still seems to be the case. Even the people who do use them for local transportation do so for some other reason, like showing their environmental consciousness. The have to have some kind of exotic bicycle that makes it as plain as the spandex on the sport riders that they are not doing it because it is cheap.
Well, I personally like it because it is cheap, convenient, and fun. And the fact that they really have not made any real improvements on utility bicycles since 1900 tickles my fancy.
New Pedals
Awhile back I was riding the Dunelt on the local greenway. I have gotten so I can run the five miles up and back in the middle gear. However that puts a lot of pressure on the machinery, my two hundred thirty pounds is a load on the crank on the mild uphill stretches. Apparently the drive side pedal came loose; oh I could feel it wobbling, but I figured it was the old ball bearings giving up the ghost. However it turned out that the pedal had as I said come loose, and by the time I was back to the car it the threads were pretty well stripped.
Stripped Block Pedal
The hole in the crank arm was stripped as well, but luckily the local bicycle shop was able to chase out the threads to where it was still usable. I also ordered new pedals from them. I picked out a pair of MKS Sylvan Touring alloy rat-trap pedals as that was the most period looking ones we could come up with. I would have liked to come up with a pair of rubber block pedals like the originals, but the only ones I could find had reflectors on them. They gave me a good price on them, matching my best web price plus shipping cost. They look pretty good on the old Dunny.
MKS Sylvan Touring Pedal
The bike is getting a bit too many new parts for my taste but at least they do not look out of place. It now has alloy rims, new brake pads (Not period correct ones), the Taiwanese generator lights, and Taiwanese tires (Or is that tyres), as well as a 1990’ish Brooks B72 leather saddle.
I eventually want to refinish the fenders that are showing rust through the paint in a satin black that will match the old paint on the frame.. I like the old but well kept look as much as I dislike the restored to better than new look I also would like to get a old English style touring saddlebag for it.
First Day
Well, my first day in school in a couple of decades is over.
The parking my landlords provide is a 10–15 minute walk from Stanford Hall where my class is. The professor seems to know her stuff. I may just be the only student in the class old enough to legally drink, but I am no longer good at judging ages in that group. Our first assignment is to write a letter about ourselves to the professor. The second is to write instructions for a game learned by listening to the instructor’s description. Since my memory is not so great these days I immediately organized and typed up my notes as soon as I got home to fix what I recall in my mind. Next class we are supposed to cooperate in pairs to develop our notes into a set of instructions.
The game can be looked up on the net, but the purpose of the assignment is to get information from and expert source, verify it, and write it up so anyone can use it. So that is what I will do for this assignment. Some of what I have to think about is the accuracy of the source, learn to play the game so I understand it completely, work with my co-author to write a set of instruction, go back to the source with any questions, revise it, then have it tried by a test group which I imagine will be some of my fellow students. At that point in real life we would revise it again and I personally would be using instructions for the game from the web to clarify everything, there are several variations of the game, and so on.
It is much more interesting than most of my formal schooling was as it is a real real-world type problem, not some made up by an ignorant booby who does not understand it themselves problem. Of course I was not taking third year university courses either. So for my first day, thing are going OK.
University Student
Well here I am at 65 enrolled as a new university student.
North Carolina has a program where residents 65 or older can take up to 6 credit hours of classes a semester as non-degree students. My birthday was back in November and I have been trying to get admitted ever since. It has taken until today. This morning I got the tuition waiver form and walked it down to Registration.
The lady there takes the form and says, “What class do you want to take?” I tell her and she spends about a minute on her computer then says, “OK you are registered?” I could not believe it they actually required a highschool transcript for admission, I mean when you are 65 you can not remember the last time someone wanted to know about highschool, I mean what difference does anything from 48 years ago make today? Then registration takes one minute? I took some college classes back in the 70’s registration took all damn day standing in line to not get the classes you wanted.
So anyway a week from tomorrow I will be sitting in their “Introduction to Professional Writing” class. It is a strange feeling realizing that, for I do not have happy memories from my school days. However, it will get me out of the apartment, I probably will learn something, might even improve this blog 
2009
The comment I heard most this past week was “Good Riddance” when speaking of 2008. Apparently almost no one has much good to say about life over the past year. High prices, financial difficulties, poor health, the wars, politics, and so on, and so on.
Let us hope that 2009 will be better for everyone. I wish for all my readers that 2009 will turn out to be the best year they have had so far.