I love my bike. It’s a great way to feel closer to the world and be healthy. It also gives me perfect thinking time: No conversations, and enough stimulation to keep my mind active, but not so much that I’m overwhelmed by distractions. It’s just me, the bike, the road, and whatever song my phone decides to shuffle into my right ear (California law won’t let me listen in both ears while riding). Today I got about 40 miles in, which gives a pokey rider like me about three hours worth of thinking. Here are some things I thought while riding today, in no particular order. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot of election-related brou-ha-ha.
- I’m a middle class heterosexual white guy in good health and with a good job, living in a nice neighborhood in a big city. It’s really easy to forget how many layers of privilege that I have.
- There was a man on the edge of the bike path, arms raised, shouting his messages to the world. I thought he might have been praying to Mecca, but he was pointed in the wrong direction. Maybe he was praying to Manitoba, or the LAVC Finance Office. As I rode past, all I heard him say was “Ultimately, Ultimately…”
Social media can be like that guy shouting toward the college. It’s easy to post something, feel like you’ve made your statement, and move on. I need to do more than shout. I need to do. - It’s always a bit exciting when the guy at the bike shop says he likes my bike. He wasn’t trying to sell anything to me; he just liked it.
- We need to stay friends with people we disagree with. We need to challenge each other to defend our beliefs. We need to call out our friends when they are wrong.
- Fighting is good, if it’s a good fight.
- I do not have all the answers. Some of my beliefs are wrong.
- I need to ride more.
- Liberals need to work like hell over the next two years.
- Trump is probably a one term president, if the Democrats pick the right candidate.
- My iPhone has a sense of humor about the election; it decided to play this song.
- It also played this song right when I nearly got clipped by a car.
- American sexism and racism means that “the right candidate” is probably a white guy, even though there are women with incredible qualifications.
- Riding to my parents’ house and back is a nice enough 40 mile trip, but it sure is flat. I need to start doing the ride around the valley thing again.
- I should adapt those Art of Photography youtube photo assignments as class lessons.
- I wonder who I know that’s going to the protest rally tomorrow.
So yeah: mostly political stuff.