[Yak] Leaving the party while the going's good

[Lynette Chiang]

Being out in the BF community I get to hear it all. Floyd's case is  
the third one I have encountered this this year where I've been told  
the partner is given an ultimatum - because if they get hurt they  
cannot look after the other partner. This made me, for the first  
time, realize that being single is not such a bad thing. On one hand  
it is wonderful to have someone by your side, for good times and bad.  
Yet, I would really hate to have it come to the point of ultimatums.  
Of course, we all have to make compromises. But ... to extinguish the  
fire in someone's spirit. To have someone say, stop what jazzes you  
(and let's face it, bike riding is not exactly hire wire acrobatics  
without a net or base jumping or human pyrotechnics), or I am going  
to leave/commit hari kari/beat you over the head with a long stick.  
One person I know cannot move outside his own zipcode without his ex- 
wife threatening to kill herself. For me, living in that kind of fear  
is a slower, more painful way to go than a broken clavicle. (Besides,  
are you not astounded how the human body heals even at an advanced  
age? Look at all the hip replacement folks back doing centuries ....)  
but back to living in fear:  I even encounter very wealthy people  
living in that kind of fear - despite plenty of money for health  
insurance and a large bowl of Ranier cherries for breakfast (that's  
my definition of wealth) etc. I just cannot understand it. It's like  
they are living in a $1.5m house of cards.

I have traveled many miles on my own. I could be wiped out any minute  
but you know what? I pay attention. I probably don't glide into the  
appropriate turning lanes as the LAB courses probably teach you. I am  
ultra cautious. I'll get over to the side and wait if I am not  
confident - which I generally am, because I motion and wave and make  
eye contact very pointedly so drivers really get where I am coming  
from. I wear my traffic cone (fluro bag) on my back all the time. I  
watch the corners for loose gravel after tearing up my knee in Costa  
Rica. I don't even like to have a chorus of 'car back' 'car up' - in  
fact I find it harrowing and often confusing. A rider on Route66 put  
it like this: YOU HAVE EYES. USE YOUR EYES. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

You could also fall over in the shower and crack your clavicle.  
Riding a bike is a more fun way to do that and keeps you SHARP. I  
ride bad roads. I sometimes ride roads even when I can ride bike  
path. It keeps me SHARP. It also reminds drivers that a bicycle is a  
vehicle, though they try to force us into extinction. And if I look  
at my website and tomorrow was my last day on earth, I have to say  
I'm pretty content. Even at 44, I've had a full life, because I chose  
it.

There are two groups in the BF community that keep me doing what I do  
(despite concerns about my precarious future like everyone else):

http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/seniors and
http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/specialneeds

These folks are sharp, jazzed about life, and there is no other  
cycling community quite like it.

The party's not over til the neighbors call in the riot police.  
Goodluck Floyd. Perhaps putting it on a trainer would be a good  
compromise if it comes to that  - that's how Lon Haldeman became a  
Race Across America legend.