Okay, I'm just going to officially put it out there right now......I HATE WIND!!!! Don't get me wrong, I think it's perfect for flying kites, especially if you're a big Mary Poppins fan:
For those of you who formally followed my Connor's Army blog, you know I can take the heat. On the particular day I wrote about on our cross country event I rode 109 miles on a day that eventually topped out at 126 degrees.
You also know that I even ride in the cold. Usually my drop off point is 15 degrees. Yes, I know some of my Minnesota brethren and sistren might just call me a total wimp but I only have enough layering (right now) to handle 15 degrees comfortably.
But what I really hate to ride in is the wind. Now conventional wisdom would tell us that in the summers the wind generally tends to blow from West to East. That's part of the reason we planned for the Connor's Army Ride Across America to leave from San Diego and end at Sunrise Day Camp. That and it really made more sense to end it where it began. And truthfully that was most often the case except for that one day in Kansas where the wind seemed to shift every three miles or so and I just wanted nothing more than to throw down my bike, get in the van and give it all up. But, I made it through and although I do ride on windy days, I pretty much hate it.
Until the ride this morning!!!!! The weather report said wind gusts up to 30 mph with possible rain. "Great," I thought, "this is just going to suck so hard!" But as it came time to leave and it wasn't raining I counted myself lucky. I might actually get to school completely dry today (of course as I sit here writing this, it is POURING outside!!!!!) but I would have to face the wind! And then the realization kicked in ---- the wind was blowing from the east!!!! I was going to have a tailwind of 20 mph with 30 mph gusts! YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!! So I headed out on the road.......and then the drizzles began. Dammit!
And thus became this week's Freewheeling Friday epic saga! I knew I wasn't going to be able to take the long road because I might get soaked. Now don't get me wrong, I had all my rain gear packed in my trunk bag ready to go. I just didn't want to stop on the side of the road and put it on. Once I start I HATE stopping. So the plan was to ride really fast and stay ahead of the rain. Hey, if the wind is coming from the East that means the rain is too so if I ride fast enough I might be able to stay ahead of it, right? And so began what I am now going to refer to as my "Gone With the Wind Ride". Simply put, I had nature's turbo booster installed on my bike this morning.
Now for those of you classic movie buffs you'll recognize it as the FOURTH longest Hollywood film ever made (beaten out by Kenneth Branaugh's Hamlet, Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, and that great hit from 2014 Nymphomaniac.) It was groundbreaking for it's time and garnered, I believe, 10 Oscars. It brought nothing but accolades for it's stars although it somewhat contributed to the eventual breakup of Vivien Leigh and her husband Laurence Olivier, arguably the BEST Shakespearean actor of the 20th century. However, as ground breaking as it was, I still enjoy Carol Burnett's version better:
But I digress. With said tail wind and with me time trialing for my skin (trying to keep it dry), I was pedaling as fast as I could. I ended up looking down at my cycling computer at one point while cruising along Pulaski and realized I was going 30.6 mph!!!!!! My average speed at that moment was creeping up on 18.6 and I wasn't even halfway there! Although my original plan was to go as short a route as possible, I decided to do my normal route (at an extra 1 1/2 miles) because I was making great time. It wasn't quite as fast as this;
But I was still going pretty fast! As I hit the bottom of Stilwell I looked down at my computer and my average speed was 20.1!!!!! And the drizzle was catching up again, time to crank it up Stilwell!!!!
As I finally pulled up to my entrance at good old SHS I looked down at the computer - 19.2! I lost almost one mph but it was faster than I've ever gone before. And it was all on Pearl, my frankenbike, 30 pound steel framed bike with the wide tires and fenders! My total time? 39.04 - I had broken the 40 minute mark!!!! It might not happen again anytime soon, but for now? I'm GONE WITH THE WIND!!!!!!!
Of course, the weather forecast for my ride home today?
Wish me luck! If I'm lucky I won't float away or go backwards like these guys;
And just to finish this Friday post off with some music to tantalize your ears, with any luck I won't be "Blown Away" (cover by Jess Moskaluke):
So please, Weather Gods, hear my plea and don't "Blow Me Away":
That's all folks for this Freewheeling Friday. I'm finally caught up and I'm heading out the door to go home. The weather forecast is: Cloudy with showers. Thunder possible. Low 59F. Winds NE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Here goes nothing. Oh, and something else to look forward to on Fridays now, watching my progress as I try to lose these last ten pounds - down to 171 now!
Today's musings were primarily driven by the fact that I didn't have my iPod to listen to on the ride. It's somewhere in the house and so instead of letting the bpm's of the songs drive the rpm's of my pedals I had to rely on my internal metronome. This got me to thinking about numbers.
Our society is driven by numbers. Everywhere you turn there are numbers that rule our lives. From the numbers on the clock to the numbers on our paychecks. Speed limits, time limits, class time, class numbers, call numbers, phone numbers, poll numbers (in this contentious election season more important than ever), addresses and tax percentages. This obsession carries on into art (such as this work by Charles Demuth):
Or architecture:
And then there are the songs. There are so many songs with numbers in the titles, and while the total can be seemingly endless, I did find one site that listed a great list of 100 songs in which each number corresponds with the number the starts the song. Some of my favorites included "Fourth of July" by Fallout Boy:
"The 13th" by The Cure:
or "21 Guns" by Green Day:
"23" by Jimmy Eat World:
The Clash's "48 Hours":
And since I am such a child of the 80's and 90's in terms of my musical tastes, there is this (in the original German) which has been one of my favorites since it came out (mainly because back then I could actually follow all the words):
In terms of numbers, for cyclists its still the same. Many of my spandex clad brethren and sistren are obsessed with numbers - power wattage, power to weight ratios, VO2 max numbers, gear ratios, bike weight, grams their derailleurs weigh, and don't even get us started on the times for the grand tour GC contenders! I'm no different except in that the only numbers I'm really concerned with these days are the times, mileage and mph of my daily commute. Although I'm of the "not racing" philosophy, when I see a cyclist up ahead I can't resist the challenge to pedal faster and try to catch up (okay, maybe sometimes pass) them. And with that comes the keeping track of my average mph, distance and ride time. It's always my goal to try to average at least 18.5 mph by the time I hit the bottom of Stillwell Lane because (depending on my fitness and mood) I usually lose 1 mph from my average by the time I get to the top.
Today was no different and Pearl and I (yes, I refer to my bike's by name, it's part of my obsession/addiction and I'm searching for an approved 12-step program) pushed it to reach the magic number. By the time I reached Southwoods Road I was cruising at 20 mph, and my average was 17.4! Agggggggghhhhhhhh, time to ramp it up!!!!!
3/4 of a mile later as I pulled up to the door where I go into the building, the numbers said it all - 17.4 average mph, 15.12 miles commuted, and my ride time was 50:20.47 - not bad for riding on a bike with 38 mm wide tires and weighing in fully laden at just under 30 pounds!
And the other numbers?
FFR - Nothing, maybe they're migrating to a safer space?
RRL - Another baseball cap, this time Ford/Lincoln Mercury. There's a lot of heads getting too much sun, right?
Well, there is the old saying that whatever CAN go wrong, will. It's one of the things they taught us very early on in our EMT training. As you head out onto a call with the information, ALWAYS keep in the back of your mind the worse case scenario and how you might prepare for that. This little adage (some might call it an epigram) is called "Murphy's Law". Now this is not to be confused with the early 80's Canadian-based American musical duo Chéri and their one hit wonder of the same name:
Nor should it necessarily be confused with that hardcore punk rock band Murphy's Law which, coincidentally enough, was also formed in 1982, same year Chéri's song "Murphy's Law" came out:
No, I'm talking about the phenomenon that crap happens when you least expect, or NEED, it to happen. Such was the case this morning. I was all psyched to ride to work this morning and leave early to maybe take a slightly longer route in. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, my front tire decided to be flat. The same tire that was fine when I rode home on it last Thursday. "Well, that's just GREAT," I thought, "I don't have the time to change the tube". In my still sleepy stupor (it WAS 5:30 in the morning) I decided I would just put on my spare wheelset and that would settle it all.
So I pull down the wheelset and pump up the tires, change the wheels out all in the space of five minutes and I'm ready to go, right? But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, the cones have somehow managed to work themselves loose. I mean the last time I used this wheelset was last winter and I don't remember that being the case so what gives? Well, now I have to adjust the cones and I'm off, right?
But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, because now I have taken care of the wobble but the bearings are TOO tight and I'm not getting the easy and free rotation I need from the front wheel:
Or for those of you more aurally than optically stimulated:
Though you Super Bowl fans may remember it as a clever reinterpretation of this commercial;
Needless to say, this cold water in the face reflection on Edvard Munch's Der Schrei der Natur put a damper on the entire mood of my ride. But in my new Zenlike riding style I have learned that I can let that effect me completely or try to embrace the philosophy that even a "bad" ride is better than no ride at all. So I do what anyone who likes riding should do, I sucked it up and headed out determined to make the best of it.
And you know what? It was a GREAT ride! The tires on this spare wheelset are 25mm compared to my usual 38 mm so I seemed to just fly along! The air was crisp, the sun was up, the traffic was light and the ride was so much fun. Even climbing up Stillwell was fun!!!! Go figure!
So it just goes to show you, yes "Murphy's Law" happens. Things go South in an instant and you get a flat when you least expect/need/want/appreciate it but look at the forest instead of the trees and have a great ride anyway - it beats sitting in traffic getting pissed off because people are cutting you off!
One more Murphy's Law for Cyclists just to bookend this particular blog. It reminds me of my days traversing the state of Kansas by bike:
And today's roadside count;
FFR - Squirrel (I guess the car didn't have Bridgestone tires), bird
RRL - Car mat, glove
Here we are on another Freewheeling Friday! The morning was beautiful, the temperature was perfect and today I defied the Cycling Gods by making the conscious choice that I would NOT let the traffic lights dictate my pattern. I would determine my own destiny and ride the path I took yesterday to see if I could better my time!
But let me explain today's pick of image. I have to begin by a disclaimer. I'm not really a DC Comics guy with the sole exception of my Flash and Batman t-shirts. Mainly because they're just cool and I've had them for so long. I think there's a quote somewhere that says, "Always be yourself....unless you can be Batman, then ALWAYS be Batman!" It's sort of like this Snicker's Commercial:
But I have to say I'm REALLY a Marvel Universe guy and as such I'm way too excited for this movie to hit:
This is not to denigrate from so much of the rest of his work, such as his BRILLIANT performance of Richard III in The Hollow Crown series:
And we can't forget his cult hit role as the famous detective in the Sherlock series. Since there are so many clips to choose from, how about this one in which the actor himself shares his favorite Sherlock moments:
So maybe I can't realistically be Batman, but being Benedict Cumberbatch would be completely cool! But getting back to my ride. So I defied the Gods and took my own route. Of course, there is always an inherent risk in defying the Gods and today's consequence was I hit almost every light in my path. Now normally that isn't too bad but today it probably slowed me down a good 1/2 mph on my total ride. Be that as it may, because I took the slightly longer route today (as I did yesterday) I heard different songs appear on my playlist, including this one by Three Days Grace entitled "Just Like You":
And speaking of Three Days, here is a reminder why we wait three days to call from that philosophic soul Barney Stinson:
But back to my point. If you read the lyrics to the song, you'll see how much it ties into my post from yesterday. As I listened to this song (it's got a really great bpm that helps me rev up my rpm), I realized that it encapsulates so much of the vitriolic rhetoric that has been going on in this election season. Fakeness, hatred, anger, falsities spewed and I have made a conscious effort that as much as I love so many of my friends on the other side of the political aisle - I cannot be just like them. I can't adhere to the hate mongering that is coming out. The caustic rot that is being spewed is just too much and if I were to allow myself to believe all of that, I would become nothing more than a toxic spewing slug myself (sort of like a certain candidate for POTUS). So I pedaled hard and reflected upon these things as I continued to wend my way towards school. Going up Stillwell I heard another great RPM revving song and since Duolingo now tells me I'm 42% fluent in German I could actually understand most of the words:
Of course, watching the video it looks like something out of a Quentin Tarantino movie! A little too blood and guts but from the lyrics you would never get that, unless of course you ponder upon that enigmatic last verse.
There IS one image from the video that probably disturbs me more than any other image and that is the image of the needle being used, especially considering today one of my EMS friends sent me a link to this video:
Overdoses have become an HUGE epidemic all across the country. Again, I didn't want to post this on my Facebook page because I didn't want to start an entire political debate about what are the causes of drug addiction. I don't really care. What I do care about, as an EMT is that every time we get a call for overdose or "unknown" we have to automatically think that we may be getting called in for a case like this. For a while Nassau/Suffolk Counties were considered the center of opioid overdoses but apparently a small town called Huntington, VA is now the "Drug Death Capital of the World". It's tearing families apart and we have to find a solution. I don't care if you're Blue, or Red, or Purple - it's time to do something about it and keep our country from dying.
Well, that's it for now. I should get back to doing what they pay me to do - teach kids how to express themselves so hopefully they won't have to turn to drugs to feel better.
Stay well my friends and I'll see you on the road!
Today as I rode in my mind was awash in one of those Joycean stream of consciousness monologues (the one I'm thinking of is Molly Bloom's ending monologue from Ulysses) that find me contemplating everything from stink bugs to Quantum physics. I really did have so many things I was thinking about that I'm not sure I can do justice to all of them in a mere post but here goes - it's fun to try.
Today I started my day feeling incredibly guilty for yelling at my son James for not taking care of the stink bug in his room last night. I really shouldn't have yelled at him to "just take care of it yourself" just because I didn't feel like dealing with it. As Amy reminded me, she cooks, does the laundry and all sorts of things she doesn't necessarily want to deal with. On the tip of my tongue was the old tit-for-tat but I held myself and disposed of the stink bug. After all, I WAS seriously afraid of spiders until I became a father and had to deal with them so I guess I can't fault the little guy for being freaked out. Now if I could only get him to do the dishes!
Also going through my head was the thought of my bike ride with my other son William. For some reason I as I eased out through the early morning fog I could only think of how my son William looked flying along Laurel Avenue on Sunday enjoying the FREEEEEDOOOOOMMMMM of being on his bike. It took me back again to my own forays on my first geared bike and I decided today would be less about trying to reach a killer average mph and instead enjoy the feeling of just riding my bike. And so with William Wallace's speech ringing through my ears;
Of course, like the real William Wallace I don't shoot firebolts from my arse - if I did, I could ride much faster. Awfully hard on the bib shorts though.
The next thing running through my head was the word opprobrium. It was mainly in my head because I had to delete a Facebook post I had recently put up in which I was showing support for all the people I know who are involved with law enforcement. My nephew is a State Trooper in Louisiana, many of the people I work with at Northport Fire Department are in law enforcement and my sister works for the INS - she has a badge and enforces immigration law so I guess technically she's in law enforcement. Anyway, I had posted in support of them against the statement Donald Trump made that our law enforcement people are too afraid to make arrests because of "political correctness" and basically, there is not one law enforcement person I know who would hesitate because of that. And then the comments started in. People started polarizing and politicizing my statement of support and it became a "us" against "them" debate. It seems as I nothing can be said or expressed without it becoming a political event. I then thought about how our government has become like the situation in Northern France during World War I. We have two camps, two political ideologies if you would, that have entrenched themselves for the last six years or so. Both are dug in and are dedicated to protecting their own point of view and will do so doggedly. They're so entrenched they can't move forward and they refuse to take a step back to better evaluate the situation. They're afraid if they give an inch the enemy will take it over and they will lose their tenuous grip on the power they have. So they continue to lob invectives and to do nothing but block the progress of the other side no matter what - even if secretly they agree with it - out of principle and stubbornness. And you can't sway them from their post no matter what.
So I deleted my post. I then posted again saying I'm not going to put another pseudo-even-remotely-political post up and I used the words opprobrious, vituperation and disparage all in the same post. I received a lot of good natured ribbing about the words but they're just words I use all the time. So I spent part of my ride time thinking about how, even though I'm a drama teacher, I try to incorporate vocabulary into my daily lessons to make the kids think and to encourage them to expand their vocabulary. Just because we're actors, we don't need to be stupid, doltish, vacuous, vapid, or obtuse!
Then I thought of Quantum physics. I admit I don't really understand it but I'm fairly certain James understands some of it. It's frightening the things he can easily grasp. It might even make him as happy as Sheldon Cooper:
And by that time I was at school and it was time to start thinking of something else entirely - how to bring the passion for what I love doing to the acting students of SHS and at the same time try to encourage the administration what we do is important. It may not be as important as the new Virtual Enterprises classes (they just had a new facility built for them with computers, carpeting, a huge space) but to the theatre kids it is and despite the fact we're still operating in substandard (at least compared to VE) facilities, we have a program and the kids are amazing. So I headed in, got ready to make coffee and began my quest to seize the day. FREEEEEDOOOOOMMMMM!
Since I know you're all wondering;
FFR -- One squirrel and something that looked like it might have once been a blue jay.
RRL -- A FILA baseball cap, a shower cap, two gloves.
I love my children, REEEEEAAAAALLLLLYYYYYYY I do. Those words became my mantra about ten minutes after I left my house today for my commute to good old SHS. You see, James has a drum lesson at 4:00 today, well before Amy or I will be home from our respective rehearsals. Cue big sister Sarah who now has her driver's license and can pick up said percussionist from school, take him to his lesson and bring him home. Complication? This means the Connor Patriarch needs must ride to work. Usually no worries except today there was a forecast for rather inclement weather. "No problem," thinks same patriarchal figure, "I'll just wear my rain gear and deal with it."
This morning rolls around and I get everything stowed in my trunk bag (not in MY "trunk") as the sky looks cloudy but free from the wet stuff and I head off the road. And two miles later as I hit the corner of Elwood and Pulaski the sky opens up! I proceed to pull off, duck under a tree and put all of my rain gear on and water resistantize (I know, not a real word) my trunk bag for the ride to school (ten more miles to go!). And the rest of the ride all I could think of was this scene from Finding Nemo:
I proceeded to creep along slowly (about 14 mph which as you know is slow for me) as the rain was coming down in buckets. Visibility was low and I was getting squishier by the minute. All I wanted to do was go home but I figured I was already wet at that point so I might as well keep on pedaling. So once again I began thinking about another scene from the same movie:
And that's what I did. Ducked my head down and kept on pedaling, making it (squishily) to school five minutes before the first period bell rang. I gave my first period class a "do now" and proceeded to dry myself off and change, saving dealing with the clothes and wet bike for later periods.
Now along the way I also experienced that fun phenomenon I spoke of last week in which no less than three individuals in vehicles passed me with the clouds of "conflagerated hemp" emanating from the partially open windows. This time, as I was going slower, the "aroma" lingered much longer and I was seriously afraid of the contact high. But the rain served a purpose of tamping down the smoke so I arrived without the transcendent effects my fellow travelers were surely experiencing on this wet and slippery morning.
This past weekend saw me immersed in various aspects of my bike sub-culture life. It started on Friday as I made a concerted effort to try to work on some of the bikes I have for ReCycle for Sunrise. As I've already "decommissioned" Connor's Army, I've begun to seriously cut back on that operation as well. I've stockpiled way too many bikes in the shed and basement and it is time to just convert my inventory to rideable state and find homes for them while at the same time making some more money for Sunrise Day Camp. So on Friday I worked on a bike to get it ready and shipshape.
On Saturday morning I got the chance to work on the Cow Harbor 10K as part of the Northport Fire Department's Rescue Bike Squad. It was fairly quiet as a whole and only a bandaid or two for the bike squad. However, in my capacity as Bike Squad Coordinator I did get the chance to start reaching out to some of the other area bike squads to start working on training our squads together in order to facilitate a verisimilitude in our bike squad operations. Hopefully by training together we can be in a better situation to support each other on days like the Cow Harbor Parade, or the various events where we can lend a hand to our neighboring departments. Also, I had put three of the bikes for ReCycle out on the lawn and lo and behold, when I returned two of them had been sold. I quickly fixed up another one that had already been "claimed" by a previous customer and called her to let her know she could pick it up. By the end of the day four bikes had been sold and another person called to see if they could pick one up the following day.
Sunday dawned and I originally thought I would go for a ride but I decidedly to forgo that in order to help set up for what would be Sarah's penultimate time selling lemonade from in front of 351 Main Street. We have so few of these left and I wanted to make sure it was all just right for her (also one of the reasons I spent 30 minutes on Friday afternoon putting a fresh coat of paint on the front fence). I made pancakes from scratch for the family and then headed off to the fire house to get ready for the Cow Harbor Day parade. After all, it is Cow Harbor Weekend .
We got all the bikes set up and just as we were preparing to head up to the parade meeting site a call came in, "16/23 Motor Vehicle Accident". I was all for heading to the parade start but since it's a "general alarm" it really DOES mean all available man power so Jordan Descovitch, Tom Smalling and I headed off up the street to see if there was anything we could do to help out. Maybe we could serve as red and black (a great book by Stendahl, not to be confused with Stendahl Syndrome although it is named for him) fire police. Of course, halfway up Ocean I realized I was on my own so I had to back off a bit and wait for my compatriots. I guess all this commuting IS paying off. But, eventually everything was taken care of, patients transported and we all headed off to the parade to serve as a mobile ambulance as 2-9-15 was on standby at the end of Main Street.
After the parade we stood standby for a few hours and then I got the chance to meet with my family and enjoy some of the time with them. We got to see kittens but we DIDN'T get to have our customary lobster, crab cake and fried oyster dinner as the vendor wasn't here this year. But, all this disappointment WAS offset by the fact that the Dallas Cowboys won!!!!!!!!! Hey, we're only 1-1 and in second place in the division but I'll take it!
And the crowning touch of the weekend. William's girlfriend rode her bike over and William wanted to ride her home and then ride back on his own. Amy and I were at odds over letting him do this so I volunteered (still in my Bike Squad gear) to ride with them back and then bring William home. And that is when I was reminded of what it means to ride your bike. While I stayed back with her William took off. He loves nothing more than just going fast on his ten speed. And as I sat there watching him peel off into the distance I was reminded of myself at his age and how much I loved to just get on my bike and take off for hours exploring the byways of where I lived. I vow he and I will do much, much more of this!!!!
But back to today. As I sit here writing this I'm still drying off in various places and looking out the window at the rain still pouring down. Good thing I have rehearsal today for The Compleat Wks of Wllm Shakespeare (abridged) to keep me busy until the rain tapers off. Okay, gotta run and do what it is they pay me to do - have the best job in the world!
Okay, update. As I write this portion I am at home having steadily gone further and further south as the day progressed. I may have picked up something from the call from yesterday (one that I went on after the parade) and right now I'm not feeling well at all. I cancelled rehearsal and headed off back home. Thankfully it didn't rain at all on the way home but I really feel like guano! I'm hoping I can feel better tomorrow as I have rehearsal and I have a CME class on Trauma tomorrow night. Uggh. I hate getting sick. I guess I should have gotten that flu shot!!!!!!
But the ride home taught me to listen to myself and listen to my body. Although I was feeling sick I also managed to enjoy the time I had - just like the ride I had yesterday with William. That ride and this one only serve to remind me of why I started riding and what I'm trying to get back to - the freedom that my bike can bring me and the joy of just feeling the wind on my face. Okay, I'm heading off to bed now. But first the update;
FFR - Squirrel, groundhog (?), rabbit
RRL - Nike hat, shoe, glove, toilet seat lid
Ah, the best laid plans of mice, cats and the morning cycling commuter aft gang agley! This morning I woke early with the plan to be out of the house and on the road by 6:00, 6:05 at the latest. I was dressed, I had a great cup of coffee in me, Betty was ready to go (it's Freewheeling Friday remember) and I was all set to head out the door when suddenly the ADT smoke detector in the attic started going off and wailing like nobody's business. I suddenly felt like Bill the Cat (for those of you who don't remember Bloom County it was a great cartoon strip in the 80's that has made a resurgence lately, although for those of you feeling nostalgic, you can go here to get a fix) though "Ack" was definitely not the word going through my brain.
As we know from past experience, ADT calls straight to the Northport Fire Department before it even calls us. Since I had first gone up to the attic to see what was going on, by the time I got downstairs to call the dispatcher and let him know not to tone it out because there was nothing there, ADT had gotten there first and so this is what I heard coming out over my pager;
"2-9-0 Northport Fire Department on air with a signal 13. Number 351 Main Street. Repeating,
2-9-0 Northport Fire Department on air with a signal 13. Number 351 Main Street. KEF577, time
now is 0606"
"Ack, ack, double ACK!"
At this point I know the Chiefs will be arriving soon since it's already toned out and here I am in full cycling togs as i was getting read to start my commute. So I throw some shorts on over my cycling bibs just as two police SUV's and a truck from the highway department show up with members of the Northport Fire Department. I met them out front and thanked them for coming out (they all know my address and expected the worse, especially considering the Passover Yoda Debacle). Just then the first of two Chiefs rolled up and I had to sheepishly explain to him that the batteries had died and the wireless alarm just decided to go off. AAAAACCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!
So now I'm fifteen minutes later than I wanted to roll out and as a result I wasn't going to be able to go the long way to school today. Instead I was going to go either the medium route or the short route, whatever the Traffic Light God decreed. As it so happened, it became the same route I took last Friday when I was able to fly past Mr. Fi'zi:k.
"Okay," I thought, "I can make the best of this and crush my time from last week. Maybe I'll even run across another rider on the way!" Well, not only did I not only NOTsee another rider, the wind gods had decided to thwart me as well and were blowing on my nose and across my bow as I rode. There would be no arriving at SHS with a 19 mph average!
So every now and then I let things out about my past and my students think I'm making this stuff up. Like the time I double dated with Gene Kelly, or that I performed for the Konungariket Sveriges
Regering (in essence the collected body of the Swedish government), or that I went to high school in Ansbach, Germany (although they're starting to believe that one), that I was an athlete in high school (remember, theatre kids don't do the sports ball), and they one that amusingly still puzzles them is that I was an English teacher.
Now, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy my job. 98% of the time I honestly feel I have the most amazing job in the world. I get to play all day and help young, passionate people hone their craft and pursue their dreams. And when I see that lightbulb go off or I watch them take a role and make it magically their own, it is the best reward a teacher could get - and I get to experience it. Do I miss teaching English classes? Not so much. But there's no excuse not to be well spoken and so I try to interject more sophisticated language in class when I'm teaching. Invariably I'll get something like, "ooooooo, SAT word!" but if they are at least recognizing it's and SAT word, then that's something.
And one of the words I like to use with them is the word hubris. Although it only has a Words with Friends score of 12, it's a good word to use to describe someone who is a little too full of themself. As I was today.
I was so confident that I was having a good week of rides and that i would just fly through today's ride that I got cocky. And that's when the cycling gods decided to knock me down a notch and send the wind gods to slow me down. I guess I deserved this little cosmic spanking, much the way Zoot deserved to be punished in Monty Python and the Holy Grail;
So today my hubris was spanked, reminding me never again to tempt the cycling gods by being overweening. The ride home was excellent, although windy but at least I managed to maintain 18 mph on average. The wheels keep spinning and I keep thinking and enjoying the freedom only two wheels can give.
That's all for this Freewheeling Friday. The only thing left are the road reports;
FFR - One rabbit, one raccoon, and something I swear looked like a groundhog.
RFL - Two hats, a Mets t-shirt, a sled, and a bunch of pvc piping just hanging out on the shoulder.
We've all done things in our young and carefree youths that we have left behind us. Perhaps certain behaviors, certain tastes in music, clothes, food, or recreation. Perhaps we've left behind bad habits. It seems like you get to a certain age and you should cast certain things aside to make room/way for new adventures. To put away the behaviors of our youth or as it says in 1 Corinthians 13:11;
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
There are many things I no longer do, from wearing certain clothes that really aren't for me to sitting in front of the television watching cartoons and eating cereal that turns the milk purple;
Now granted, reading/collecting Calvin and Hobbes books is probably something I should have put aside long, long ago but it's just one thing I can't put away.
But there is one thing I think most adults SHOULD definitely put away and that's the habit of what the youngun's like to call "Wake and Bake". For those of you who don't know, that's smoking weed (or using the scientific term, Cannabis Sativa) immediately after waking up. Apparently, there are even commandments for how to go about this particular practice. Although it's not as safe as it used to be (I'll get to that in a minute) it seems most ridiculous to see someone do it after they've "reached a certain age".
So what has prompted this particular rant on holding on to the follies of our youth?
Well, for the last two days I've become aware of an amusing and at the same time disturbing trend - at least three times in each of the past two days cars have passed me reeking of the scorched leaves of the cannabis sativa plant. At least once there was a wisp of smoke trailing behind the vehicle, not unlike this scene;
The only thing missing is the skateboards, dude. For one of them the smoke was so thick (and it was stopped at the light beside me) I thought I was going to end up with a contact high, like this poor officer;
Fortunately I didn't, although I did arrive to work a bit hungrier than usual. Now normally this wouldn't be sooooo unusual except for the fact that it happened two days in a row between 6:15 and 7:00 in the morning - and all of the cars were different. AND all of the cars were LUXURY cars!!!! Exactly! It wasn't some teen or twenty-something in a beat up old car, it was people nearly my age (I got a look at some of their relaxed faces) and I think one guy was even older!
Hey, I've got enough destructive habit of my own so I can't throw stones since I live in a glass house, but come on. If life is so rough that you have to blaze up first thing in the morning just to get through the day, you need to seriously reevaluate your life and priorities! It's not bad enough that these guys are old enough to know better than to drive impaired, or the fact that they're role models for their kids (or grandkids most likely in one guy's case), the crap out there isn't like it was when I was sowing my own wild oats. Not only is it more potent, it is also increasingly laced with other substances which can create other medical issues. Even more frightening are those overdosing after using the synthetic version, thinking it is "safer".
As I've gotten older I know I've gotten more "responsible" but it's more than that. Before I became an EMT I was blithely unaware of a lot of things of which I was previously ignorant. What has particularly become more clear to me from first hand knowledge is the insidious effect that drugs are having on our culture and communities. Yes, I occasionally experimented with some of the minor things but found I really didn't care for the lack of control I felt under the influence. I do understand that the lack of control is attractive to some. But what's out there now can kill people and sometimes it's the innocents that are affected by those choices. As we treat more and more patients on Long Island for overdoses, we find that we are fighting a difficult battle. Yes, some of them are battling mental illness, some of them NEED it for treatment of pain, but more and more people are turning to it for other reasons and it's taking it's toll. We need to change the mentality of how we are using drugs and why we're using drugs. If nothing else, let's stop setting the example that blazing up at 6:15 in the morning is okay! Let's reach out to each other and find other ways of coping with life!
And speaking of EMS work, for almost four years now I've been thinking that the ubiquitous gloves we use for BSI (body substance isolation) on medical calls were called "purple nitrate" gloves. If you don't know what I'm talking about, they look something like this;
There, you've probably seen them at the doctor's office, the dentist's office, maybe even the last time you got a tattoo. Now you can clearly see on the box it says "NITRILE" so apparently I'm just inept at reading but I swear I thought it was nitrate. The only problem with that is a NITRATE is a polyatomic ion with the molecular formulaNO− 3 and a molecular mass of 62.0049 g/mol. Nitrates also describe the organic functional groupRONO2. It's also used in fertilizer. And explosives. So purple nitrate while it might make some beautiful purple flowers and great purple fireworks, is not something you want to put on your hands or stick in someone's mouth.
No, the correct name is PURPLE NITRILE and the reason I'm writing it here is because I was also thinking a lot about these purple gloves as I rode the last two days. Why? Because for some reason I'm seeing a preponderance of them on the sides of the road. If they're used for BSI why are people throwing them on the road?!?! If you don't want it on YOU then why would you throw it down for someone else to possibly come in contact with? So today, I get to start back up with my "Random Flotsam Log" as most of it are these gloves. So my fellow responders, do us all a favor, when you're finished with your BSI, don't throw them on the ground - they might explode!
Stay well and I'll see you on the road!
FFR - One possum, one raccoon, and what could have been a squirrel
RFL - Four and a half pairs of purple nitrile gloves, two hats, a toilet seat lid.
It's been fifteen years. Fifteen years ago yesterday our world was forever changed and could never, ever be the same again. I remember exactly where I was when I heard the news. I was teaching my Production Practicum class and at about 9:00 Amy called me on my office phone. Usually I never pick up since that's what voice mail is for. But for some reason I had this feeling this was important so I excused myself from my class and answered it.
To this day (and to be honest I'm sure it was true the very next day) I don't remember what she said in this first call. She had heard something terrible had happened and the North Tower was on fire. We were both concerned for many reasons, one that this type of terrible fire was going on and because only a few years earlier I had worked at Goldman Sachs (my survival job that paid my way through Grad school at Pace University). There were times where part of my job took me to GS's offices at the World Trade Center. So when she called she knew that I knew people in that building, people I had worked with and talked to - and at the time we had no idea what floor they were on. Also at the time we had no idea that by 2001 they had relocated those offices to a nearby building. While she was talking to me and we were trying to figure it out the second plain hit and she was watching the live feed as it happened.
It was one of the few times in my life I've heard her curse. I do much more than I should but Amy? Never. This day was one of those exceptions and that stands out in my memory. She was truly upset by what she was seeing. I told her I had to go tell the kids what had happened as gently as I could because many of them (even pre internet at your fingertips) would probably be getting texts soon so I wanted to be there for them. Even though the bell rang for classes to change, they were all seniors and some had the next period free and the rest decided they were going to stay.
We talked about what this meant, we talked about how they were feeling (most of them old enough and aware enough to understand the ramifications of such an attack). Less than an hour later Amy called and was hysterical, the South Tower had collapsed and she had watched it happen. She was incredibly distraught and so afraid because we had friends who had an apartment in Battery City. They had a young child and he worked in the area. One of her first concerns was for them. She had tried calling but couldn't get through, no doubt because of the massive amount of damage and the amount of phone calls people were trying to make to reach loved ones.
The rest of the day was a blur. A television was set up in the Faculty cafeteria. We watched when we could. I spoke to all of my classes about what was going on and what it might mean for us not only as Americans but as artists. I calmed them down as best I could but many of them had parents who lived in the city. Parents were picking kids up and I was getting messages to send kids to attendance. When I could I would call Amy and try to find out if she had gotten in touch with Lauren. I got home as soon as I could so I could comfort Amy and try to be with her as much as possible. She was supposed to open in an Airport Playhouse production of Pippin but for obvious reasons that performance was cancelled. We spent the evening just watching the news and trying to make sense of the madness that had become our world. I've written before about my thoughts on that day on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. The difference then and now is that now, having becoming a first responder, I really understand the magnitude of the heroism displayed by all of those who ran into the building to help others. I would like to think that I would have gone too to help as it's what we do - we try to help others.
I had originally intended to go out riding yesterday to honor those who fell fifteen years ago. From those of you who were readers of my Connor's Army blog you know that I often use riding my bike to deal with emotional things that have happened in my life. On this, the fifteenth anniversary I wanted to ride and remember those who were murdered (for let's be honest, that's what it was) and those (who I can now call) brother and sister first responders who answered their last alarm trying to help those in the towers.
Instead, as I was getting myself ready a call came in and I found myself doing what I do - answering the call to help the members of the Northport community. So my memory ride would have to be put off until today. And then, as I was getting everything together for my commute another moment of serendipity took place. I have to first confess that when I ride I listen to music via my iPod. Don't worry, I only use the right earbud (I cut the other one off) and I keep it low so I can hear traffic coming, I just use it to help create a cadence, but it is sound coming into that right ear. It meant this ride would have to be done in relative silence with the only sounds being the creak of the chain (it does need oiling), the "swish" of the tires on the pavement, the sound of my intakes and exhalations, and the sounds in my head.
It allowed me (attired as I was in red, white and blue cycling togs in honor of yesterday) to not focus on the lyrics and rhythms of "Black Betty", "Black Betty", "Another Girl, Another Planet", "Du Hast" and the other panoply of songs I listen to and instead use the silence to reflect on those events fifteen years ago. I thought about the way our world has changed. I thought about how the freshmen in my Acting I class weren't even born when this event occurred, they would never know a pre 9/11 time. I thought about how it has changed our culture and our mistrust of others. And then when I arrived at work I saw this video on my facebook feed;
And I sobbed.
I mourned for the wives, husbands, parents and children of those who perished. I mourned for the firefighters and other first responders who (as I know from my contact with some of these heroes) felt so helpless to do what they were trained and so passionate about doing - protecting others. And I mourned for our country because these images brought back to mind that we have never been the same since.
It lead to a long day of reflection of what is truly meaningful in our lives and how we can't let these children growing up forget this happened and forget that the memorial just above Battery Park is not just ancient history but is history that is still happening now. In this contentious political season it doesn't matter what party philosophy you adhere to, what is important is that all of us, Americans from all walks of life, remember this day and honor those who were shamelessly slaughtered by a contingent of cowards for a twisted ideology.
But as we remember and honor those victims it is VITAL that we honor those who, knowing the situation was dire and was "going south" extremely quickly, rushed TOWARDS the towers to do what they do - protect, heal and serve others.
Let us NEVER forget!
Stay well my friends, may blessings follow you all, and I will see you on the road.
Welcome to the first installment of what I am going to be calling Freewheeling Friday in which, hopefully, a few things will happen (weather permitting); 1) I will ride Betty instead of Pearl, 2) I will wax on more interesting things that flow through my consciousness as I ride a longer route to and from wherever it is I go, and 3) Whatever will happen will happen and we'll just roll with the flow! Sort of like Anything Can Happen Thursday;
Firstly, who is this Betty of whom I speak? Well, on most days (especially when I am commuting) I ride on The Black Pearl. She is the Frankenbike (the frame of which I found in the trash) that I began the entire Connor's Army saga upon and the one that carried me clear across the country raising money for Sunrise Day Camp. She looks something like this;
Avast There Me Hearties - A Pirate's Life for Me!
She's steel, she's real and she's a bit heavy on the climbs but she always gets me where I'm going and I can't ever complain because she takes the abuse of my commute in all sorts of weather and keeps on going! However, today I decided to freewheel on her sister, the svelte and sexy Betty;
Oh, Black Betty Bam-a-lam!
She's lighter, she's quicker and she's rebuilt after that crash I had all those years ago. But the plan is when the weather is good I will use her on Fridays to commute to SHS. Of course, since she IS so shiny and svelte I don't take her out in the rain.
So today was a ride unlike most of my previous rides in that SOOOOO much happened. First off I took the medium route to school this year which gave me an extra three miles to ride. Lots of fun. My average miles per hour were higher than they have been in a long time (time to brag, I was hovering around 19) when I turned onto West Pulaski Road from Oakwood Road. In the distance, about a quarter of a mile off, I saw another cyclist.
And so begins secret number one - I'm competitive. I try not to be. I try to really only compete with myself, to push myself to be better. That's really what all my training as a dancer and an actor have taught me to do - always strive to be better than you were. Well since I haven't taken a dance class in far too many years and this year begins the second year I'm not teaching dance, I don't really get to push myself in that way anymore. So I look to my riding to try to push myself a bit each ride. Today I was feeling good and since I'm used to propelling a fifteen pound heavier bike I was making good time. I wanted to have my best ride yet! And then I saw this lone figure in the distance and I thought, "I'm just going to ride my ride, I'm not going to try to catch him, just ride your ride". Yet as I did that I found myself inching closer. I suddenly thought, "I'm going to catch this guy". Now my first thought was that he was probably someone like myself, a middle-aged guy out on his road bike in the morning and it wouldn't be much of a challenge to catch him. But as I drew closer and saw his full Fi'zi:k cycling kit, which looked something like this;
And below that was a Garmin issue team bike and some SERIOUSLY chiseled calf muscles. So as I pulled up behind him (just in time for the descent to Cold Spring Harbor train station) I just tucked in and thought, "let's just see if I can hold his wheel for a while!"
As we turned right onto 108 I thought he would probably head straight out to Cold Spring Harbor and I would be left to climb Stillwell on my own. I announced my presence and let him know I wasn't creeping on him and trying to be a wheelsucker, just in time to see him start to make the left turn up Stillwell. "This is it," I thought, "here is where those chiseled calves and ultra light road bike leave me panting and dejected in their wake!" And yet, it was not to be.
Maybe it's the fact that I've been swinging with a heavy bat all these rides, maybe I had a good night's sleep (doubtful), maybe I just had more energy than usual. Whatever the reason, I passed Mr. Fi'zi:k and went into my own here-is-where-I-pedal-with-a-fast-cadence-and-keep-going tempo that I almost always use on Stilwell. I stay in the large ring at a high cadence until I get to where the hiking trail crosses the road and then I switch to the small ring. As I reached the crossing and started to put it into the small ring I noticed I had already pulled away significantly. Inconceivable! And then a school bus passed me so closely I could have leaned hard left and hit the side of the bus! I was a bit pissed at that point so when the bus stopped to pick up passengers 50 meters up the road I didn't stop, I just went around the bus.
Now, I would like to think Mr. Fi'zi:k did the same thing. Most cyclists I know would do so after checking to see the coast was clear. I don't know if he did or not. I DO know the bus passed me very shortly after and when I got the intersection of Stilwell and Picardy Lane, I couldn't see him. Inconceivable! How could I possibly drop Mr. Chiseled Calves? As I reached the intersection of Stilwell and Holly (the top of the climb) he was nowhere in sight! Okay, now I was pumped! In times past I've never been known to have a "big engine" but someone who has lots of "gas in the tank", meaning I'm not the strongest rider but I have endurance. Back when I used to ride fairly consistently with Huntington Bicycle Club I was told I should think about competing as a cyclist. A few of the members who actually raced tried to encourage me to do so. As flattering as it was, I just don't have the time to train the way I want to. And, if you go back to the first post, that's really not what my riding is about any more. I just wants to ride and think! Although pulling away so strongly today did sorely tempt me!
Now let me segue here. My in-laws are sailors. They've sailed almost as long as my wife has been alive (yes, only twenty years!) and although they used to sail competitively, those days are long past. However, when they're out with friends they always like to sail for bragging rights to be first to their destination and as they pass each other they might call out "not racing!" And that's the way I felt with Mr. Fi'zi:k. I wasn't racing, but the boost to my confidence did make me pedal just a bit faster.
And now I was flying! My average speed after climbing Mt. Stilwell was 18.9 mph!!! If I could just push it I would be able to roll into SHS with an average speed of 19. I made the left turn onto Southwoods road and the road ahead of me was fairly clear! I cranked it up to 22 mph and enjoyed the feel of the wind in my face. If you may know, I "lecture" to the SHS Driver's Ed classes twice a year about how to share the road and I subtitle it, "How Not to Hit Your Teacher on the Way to School". Well, TODAY that almost happened.
As I reached the point where someone would turn into the senior parking lot a black BMW, which at first nosed out and seemed to vacillate as to whether or not it was going to go, actually decided to go just as I was reaching the intersection in essence almost T-Boning me. And I don't mean the good kind;
Yum, steak!
But the REALLY bad kind, which can often look like this;
Nor is he that great songwriter who brought us "Deep in the Meadow" from Mockingjay Part 2, Musician/Composer/Producer T-Bone Burnett:
Another acceptable use of the moniker "T-Bone"
Although, since I'm telling secrets, I can confess I too am a closet guitarist;
Fortunately, I was able to slow down before she took me out and I made it to the teacher's parking lot. But then I had a thought. This could be a teachable moment. So I went across the parking lot, rode on the sidewalk back to the senior lot and tried to find the young lady to simply remind her of that lesson in Driver's Ed. Unfortunately, by the time I got there she had already vacated the car, although other students DID see it. That's where the real irony came in. I got in trouble from the security guards. I was told in no uncertain terms that I can't just ride around the parking lots. I reminded them I worked here and have for twenty years and was trying to find a student that almost ran me over. I even happened to see two of my theatre kids in the lot who asked me what happened. After I spoke to "security" he asked them if I was "bothering them" even though he was ten feet away when they spoke to me first. Oh well, so much for trying to teach a life lesson.
And since I'm sharing with you (all 150 viewers of you) some secrets I'll let you in on a big secret. For much of my life people have told me I'm good at something. It's changed over the years - drama in high school, forensics (speech and debate, not dead bodies) in junior college, classical acting at The National Shakespeare Conservatory, dance at SMU (although not all of my teachers shared that idea), musical theatre, teaching and directing (although I confess I still think I'm pretending and some will see right through me), supervising ('fess up time, I have my Administrative degree but am in no big rush to find a job and use it), drama specialist (various camps have loved what I do - I still think they'll see me for the sham I am) and now as an EMT for the Northport Fire Department.
Last night I went to a Continuing Medical Education class on Obstetrics, Neonatal, Pediatrics and Geriatrics. I knew most of the information (I still remember two years later) and I'm actually less nervous now about the concept of assisting on a delivery. But here's the secret - like with all of the other things I mentioned above, I really don't think I'm any good at that either. I feel like any day now my fellow members will see through me as the "buff" I really am and want me to just go away. There are times when I feel like if I go on a call, I may do more harm than good, like this guy;
That REALLY is a big fear of mine, that I'll go on a call and mess up somehow, and do more harm to the person. So I'm using this opportunity of refreshing through my CME's to really pay attention and really get it this time. I've put my family through a lot and they've been nothing but patient and supportive as I try to give back to the Northport community as a member of the fire department. I really do look up to all of the people that have worked so long and hard to make our community safe and I don't want to let them, the patients or my family down. So the trick here is to set the old EMT me in my sights and blow past him like he's Mr. Fi'z:k and become a stronger, leaner and realer EMT, like these guys;
It doesn't always make sense to the people around me and trust me, I'm not asking for an ego stroke, I'm really not into pity praise. But on my ride today I realized that it's one of the things that drives me, I'm always racing - against myself. Trying to be a better version of me. I don't always succeed, but I just keep pedaling.
So, I'm competitive. I'm a closet bike racer. I'm an iconoclast and don't want to listen to "the man". I'm very insecure about most of the things (okay, almost all) I should be confident about. And suddenly, I have a REAL big hankering for a T-Bone Steak! But Betty is calling me for my ride home -Let's see what today's ride home may possibly bring me!
That's all for now, unfortunately no new FFR, just the same ones I've always seen. Maybe the migratory patterns on Long Island have stopped!
Okay, I'm just going to officially put it out there right now......I HATE WIND!!!! Don't get me wrong, I think it's perfect for flying kites, especially if you're a big Mary Poppins fan:
