D&F 6/27/21
Happy Tour de France! Friday night late meant the beginning with a short women’s course race “La Course,” that ended in a really exciting sprint, and Saturday the men’s event kicked-off. Honestly though, as exciting as a tour race is, Lachlan Morton’s solo effort is so much wilder. I hope he’s filming a bit of it, because his YouTube race videos are a delight
What I find wild about this specific race series is that even if you don’t know a cassette from a brifter, you’ve likely heard of the Tour, even if you too are clueless about what this flag is.
I grew up in Austin, TX, where one of the most infamous bike racers filled all his pools before being completely relegated to the trash bin of history. None of my bike friends liked the guy, but it’s definitely true his cheating made the Tour hugely famous for most Americans of my generation.
Fortunately, we now have some cool female racers to look up to instead, like noted sapphist Taylor Wiles or former US champion Ruth Winder. Women’s cycling is much lower-profile than men’s in most countries, but fortunately coverage is increasing and more outlets are digging-in to the pay gap. Here’s to equality on and off the road.
Speaking of the road, have you heard about the increasing theft of catalytic converters, especially from Priuses? On a planet with limited and rare metals, I honestly expect this kind of theft to increase in the coming decades, unless we all end up fighting over water instead in the ashes of our cities. Are you just a little freaked-out? Yea, me too. Let’s keep voting and pushing the mega-corporations and old white men who run this planet to care a bit more, or perhaps folks will take things into their own hands. Personally I hope for more boring decades instead, where we decide to work together for the planet.
As the long days of summer pull us through a time of opening-up, are you finding it harder to sleep? You might be seeking revenge. I wrote about this phenomenon back in December as well, but essentially it’s us acting against our own self-interest in order to exert control where control isn’t felt. For me, this looks like watching “one more episode” or reading another chapter, and means I go to bed around 2am every night. One day perhaps I’ll figure out how to conquer it.
Links
- The disclaimer at the start of this post makes it hard to know what exactly is accurate, but I appreciate the questioning of Brave generally.
- Just mood shit:
- If you know me, you know I’m not a fan of dogs, but this dog is pretty cute, and so is this video series:
- Let’s explore the old worlds of the internet:
Closing
Well, I’m off to go on another big bike ride and try to decide if I’m buying this bike I’ve borrowed from my friend Roland. It’s a fantastic bike, but how many should I own?! I hope your weekend is full of adventure, and even an absurd action movie or 9. It’s a beautiful day in Oakland, and I hope you have blue skies wherever you are too.
Stay hydrated, wear sunscreen, and keep being cool, space cowgirls~