Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for January 09, 2015

Ah, the dreaded spandex. I guess every cloud has a silver lining, though. Oh, that’s right, doesn’t spandex have a silver lining?

Did anyone mention plum sacks?

Come to Redmond, WA.

You’ll love the bicycle/micrisoft moron capitol of the world.

I can feel the bike love here. On the other hand, I’ve never been hit by a bicycle, and I have been hit by a car. Twice in two years. Both times by young guys.

Great truck…..

Is the Captain afraid of a little competition in the story-telling department? But I’m not sure bicyclists would be drawn to an off-shore diner just by a few vegan (note: vegan, not vegetarian) menu items. Most people interested in a diner near water are probably thinking ‘seafood’.

When I was 17 I was working at Arby’s. A guy came in wearing running shorts. EVERYTHING was on display. The girls from the back of the store found excuses to come to the front & “help” me.

Sorry to disappoint you all, but bike jerseys have pockets in the back where we carry our phones, cash, etc. Nothing in the shorts except what we were born with.

You don’t want to know.

I don’t get the connection: why would adding some high-fiber, low-calorie vegan dishes to the menu attract people who’ve spent the day burning thousands of extra calories peddling their butts off? Seems to me the whole point of all that exercise is to allow one to indulge in something like a big ol’ cheeseburger without guilt (not to mention the “re-hydration” stop at the brewery)….

You can get those little accessory bags that fasten under the bike seat to carry money, a short pump, patches for tires, cell phone, etc. I rode a bike a lot when I lived in Iowa – great trails – but when I moved to Texas, I didn’t feel safe. Too many of the drivers down here behave like bicyclists with cars.

Oh, and one more thing I neglected to mention yesterday: on top of the wide genetic variation in our species, there’s also the matter of gut biome. We are learning more every day about how dependent we are on the collection of microbes that live in our digestive tracts, and these vary wildly from one individual to another, and even change over time in a single individual. So, once again, “one man’s meat is another man’s poison.” And so is one man’s vegetable.

We have back pockets in the shirts. I keep my money in a waterproof wallet inside a ziplock bag, because I wouldn’t want to handle sweaty money so I’m sure nobody else does. And yes, I’m past middle age, and spandex doesn’t do me any favors. ;-) Go to The New Yorker site and look up the cartoon with the tag line, “Can’t you take up a sport that doesn’t involve spandex?”

In the pocket of their jersey.

Jus suis Charlie

I spent some time Downeast, it’s Ford country. That looks like my ’51 Ford pahked at the diner.

I don’t know about the US but in the UK, cyclists don’t have to have insurance, they pay no form of road tax (or pavement tax) and don’t have to register their vehicles. Come on UK councils, you say you need more revenue……. get on with it.

Here’s a double irony: if you are heavily into exercising (like long distance bicycling), you need carbs. There are carbs in veg, sure, but those of us who have to count carbs to keep our borderline diabetes from going over the line are steered toward having half the plate in veg, because they are lower in carbs. So I’m not sure the Captain has anything to worry about. I’m guessing bicyclists are more into pasta…

I didn’t realize they were close to Ogunquit

I ride a bike. I do not have a motor vehicle, nor even a driver’s license.

I do not wear spandex.

I try to remain polite to drivers, but it’s hard when they…

don’t signal…

pull up next to me at a stop sign, stealing my position in traffic…

fail to yield right of way…

stay behind me, backing up traffic, because they have no idea how much space their vehicle occupies, and are afraid to pass.

I was hit broadside by a taxi, whose driver approached the thoroughfare I was on from a side road, made eye contact with me, and proceeded to pull out anyway. I had no stop sign. I guess she just assumed a bike would stop.

The best bike ride in the world is from Bozeman, MT to West Yellowstone, MT. The ride is 98 miles in total with the first 70 miles being a solid uphill caused by going up the side of the Yellowstone Caldera. The other vehicles on the road will be these 80 foot long land yachts with rear view mirrors mounted on two long polls located on the right side of the yacht. The result being that if you are not hit by the yacht there is a good chance that the mirror or the mounting poles will act like a dull guillotine. The bike ride was done on a compact, long wheel base recumbent with 20 inch wheels front and rear and intended to be a commuter bike. No spandex is needed or wanted. BTW, if you are a guy planning to have a family, the “family jewels” are much safer on a recumbent.

I’m a MAMiL, and the only vegetarian riders I know are transplants from Europe. I think most ride to be able to consume prodigious amounts of beer without getting (too) fat.

That Spandex is scary. Very scary. I will not rant. I will not rant. I will not rant…… … OK FINE! Two very good bike lanes bracketed a one way street and the idiot rides his bike on the sidewalk, against the flow of traffic! One of those bike lanes is an entire street! And has been there for over a year!\I will not rant. I will not rant. I will not rant. …. going now.

There’s a common misconception that all vegans are health nuts. I’ve been vegan, vegetarian and omnivore, and my butt stayed glued to the couch about the same amount of time under all three scenarios.