A Beast of Burden

I had to go out again on this foggy morning and use my bike for a practical purpose.

Although the fog is beginning to clear, planes are still landing in the reverse direction to normal (which means it's foggy at the airport too). You can hear them coming - then suddenly Whoosh! and here it is, over your head. This isn't a trick photo; they really do skim the treetops sometimes. Remember we are near the top and they have to land soon after cresting our hill.

Ok, enough diversions - let's get back to the subject now.

Bicycle riding can be sub-divided into categories such as recreation, sport, health and utility. Most of my riding is for recreation and mental health, and I often avoid the utility function. But this morning I had to bring home a box of See's Dark Chocolates for my wife's birthday. I have other stuff in the handlebar bag too.

I realize this isn't really very utilitarian (except for her), so I did a bit of research and learned this from a Utility Cycling Blog. BTW, I am not quoting directly here, but providing you with an edited summary. The author of that blog is just a little bit too serious and verbose for my taste:

Types of Cycling

We identify four (or more) categories of cycling:

• Recreation: riding for fun, pleasure, the joy of wind on your face and the feeling of flying (albeit with wheels skimming the ground).
• Sport: riding for athleticism, competition, and victory.
• Health: riding to be outside, covering ground, and raising the pulse without the stress on the joints caused by walking or running. Serious health cycling may eventually turn into a fitness or sport theme.
• Utility: riding for productive purposes other than recreation or sport or health.

Utility Cycling 

Utility cycling is using a bicycle as a practical means to accomplish a purpose. Utility cycling may overlap recreational cycling; as a utility cyclist may experience pleasure from riding. Utility cycling may overlap with sport cycling; as a utility cyclist may gain skill and speed from using the bicycle. And utility cycling may contribute to health. But utility cyclists have a purpose in mind other than pleasure or fun or fitness. Cycling is a means to a practical end; goal-oriented; for very tangible, short-term purposes; getting to work or running an errand (or gathering data for a blog). It can encompass these categories:

TRANSPORTATION / COMMUTING

DELIVERY

RETAIL SERVICES

EMERGENCY PATROLS

COMMUNITY BUILDING

POLITICAL STATEMENT

Utility cycling is not about the glory of sport cycling or the fun of recreational cycling, or the exercise value of health cycling, it is concerned with a practical desire to do things efficiently, economically, and even gracefully.

As you can probably tell, my idea of utility cycling means taking pictures of interesting cars and houses, not transporting goods to market or commuting to a job or making a political statement. If I want to get serious about it I need to come up with two things

1. A rack or two on the bike

2. A lock and cable

Being retired and lazy, I'd rather provide you with a photo of a beautiful Buick LeSabre convertible I spotted on the way home with the chocolates.

Now it's clearing overhead - you can see the Marine Layer(s) opening up and burning off.