January 2013 President’s Letter
You Can't Complain...
You really can't complain about the just-concluded 2012 bike riding season. It lasted much longer than usual in this hottest-ever-in-the-history-of-the-planet year. There were people riding outside late into December, until snow finally made the roads slick and unsafe for road bikes.
That, of course, didn't stop some of the club's bike commuters, who are hardy and well-equipped enough to continue their riding even after ice and cold have driven the rest of us inside. Nor, apparently, does it bring a halt to those of the mountain biking denomination, who sometimes like to liven things up by tooling around on trails, even after they (the trails, not the bikers) are frozen and have been dusted with snow. Whee! Put my orthopedic surgeon on speed dial!
Well, more power to those folks. But I like to take some time off the bike at this time of year to rest and recuperate, as well as to do some cross training and cross country skiing. And, of course, to gain back the weight I fought so hard to drop during the bike season. It's my winter activity; my sport of choice.
But after having been cooped up sick inside the house for the better part of a week, I'm busting to get out and do something ... anything.
On January 26th, I'll get that opportunity – and so will you. Presumably, you're already way ahead of me on this score and have written on your calendars that that date is the one on which the KBC Recovery Party falls. More information about the event is available elsewhere in this Pedal Press.
We've got a great lineup scheduled, with awards, raffle prizes, the KBC Volunteer of the Year presentation and, of course, more great food than you can shake a bike pump at. Oh ... and beer! And, I guess, some other beverages as well.
Talk Talk...You might think that coming up with subjects for the monthly KBC President's Letter would be easy. How hard could it be, you might surmise, to plop down in a desk chair every 30 days and let flow words of wisdom about such a wonderful pursuit?
Well, this month, after enduring days without end of gray skies, weather too cold to bike outside, and sickness and despair, let's just say my usual fount of inspiration seemed a little to the threadbare side.
So, I put out a call to member Kathleen Kroll to see what she could come up with as pertains to the subject. As anyone who knows Kathleen will readily testify, thinking up things to talk about is not her problem. And that, in a nutshell, is what this is about ...
Kathleen said, "If I were writing, I'd spin a tale about the time I was huffing and puffing up the hill outside of Kendall on the Wednesday night ride when the man riding next to me said, "You know, you'd actually make it up this hill if didn't talk so much. Why don't you save your breath?" Ha! I don't ride for accomplishment ... I ride to socialize. Don't be ridiculous."
Those of us who are relatively long-time bikers recall the days when the type of cycling we do within KBC was a mostly-male activity. As far as I can tell, in perusing the club's archives, there never was an official policy to exclude women. But one would never have known that from the turnout at the club rides. The peloton was almost completely dominated by men.
Those days are, thankfully, over. We saw more female cyclists at the club rides in 2012 than ever before. That's a terrific trend, and one I hope continues. The things that make biking a worthwhile pastime for men make it equally beneficial for women.
So, getting back to Kathleen, I mentioned that "we saw" more women biking on KBC club rides this year. We also heard them! Kathleen, apparently, is not the only one who likes to talk on the bike ... and everywhere else.
This tendency has come as quite a shock to some of the old guard, whose ideal auditory inputs on a ride have in the past consisted of grunts of effort and little else. I'll confess I too was somewhat taken aback in the beginning at hearing the chatter coming from bikes astride which sat members of the female persuasion. It was different; very different.
And better. Along with the talk has come better communication; more back-and-forth; the opening up of social connections. In the past, it always astonished me that I knew next to nothing about many of the people with whom I ride thousands of miles a summer. Are they single? Married? Do they have kids? Are they gay? Straight? You just never know because you never exchanged that kind of information. And in few other areas of life does that cloak of impenetrability, even isolation, occur.
But that doesn't last long when lines of communication are opened up on the bike, as they have this past year. Let's keep that going; that talk, that buzz, that energy. It's a good thing – and the happy smiles that result are the satisfying byproduct.
See you at the Recovery Party!
Zolton Cohen, KBC President
(Editor's Note: By the way, I'm a Gemini.)