When I got to our usual meeting spot on the levee this morning, nobody was there. Odd, I thought, as I double-checked my watch. I was exactly on time, but there was not a rider in sight. For some reason, they left a few minutes early this morning. I felt rejected. An old bike racer coined a phrase back in the early 70s that I often repeat: "Bikies are like sheep." Indeed, if one of them starts to roll out early, they will all follow.
So I had a leisurely ride out under cloudy and drizzly skies, and met the group as they started their return trip. Big group for a Wednesday, and it was fairly brisk despite a good headwind. Talked for a while with Robin about some ongoing bike club stuff. There's this one club member who, for reasons I really cannot fathom, wants to be a club officer again. For some reason, this person has pretty much accused the president of the club, who has undoubtedly been the best president the club has had in the last 20 years, of trying to avoid having an actual election and instead appointing new officers for next year. In fact, the president has been trying to recruit a few people, particularly younger ones, into getting more involved and running for the officers' slots and doesn't have a problem with holding an election for positions where there might be more than one candidate. For my part, I would really like to see some new blood in the officers' positions.
Over the years, the club has managed to have actual elections only a handful of times. More often, however, when things are going well, nobody is willing to step up and the prior years' officers just continue on unopposed. There has been more than one occasion when we've "elected" riders who weren't even at the meeting and didn't know they had been nominated, much less elected, until afterward. I've always told people that they should be sure to attend the meeting where we have elections so that they can defend themselves! It's probably a pretty typical situation for a small organization like ours. I've tried quite a few times to have official elections, only to end up abandoning the idea because of a complete lack of interest.
Anyway, it seems to me that this person is intent on creating conflict where, as far as I can tell, there is none. The club is very open and most of the members work well together both when riding in races and when organizing them.
It's all kind of bizarre.
The weather here is dreary today. I made the ride in to work in-between the rain showers, so I didn't get too wet except when I had to ride through a rather deep puddle on the top of the Broad St. overpass. Even with full fenders, I still got a little splash on my shoe and pants legs. I sure wish they would clean out those drains up there. They have been clogged up so long that there are small trees growing out of some of them. There is a thick damp mist over the city and it's really starting to get to me. It looks like London in a Hollywood movie, and it's making me feel cold and sluggish like I should be storing brown fat and looking for a good hibernation cave.
2 comments:
I find it hard when the weather is mucky to completely avoid getting dirty, which is why I'm glad I'm a programmer (who people don't expect to look too nice at work) I think though that if I was more concerned about looking nice I'd get some overpants to pull on in case of rain. And I'd usually (when I was working) leave clean shoes at work to change into because biking is always messy on shoes.
Do you work somewhere where having splashed on pants is a bad thing?
T:
I work at a University, so one sees all manner of dress. Faculty members will arrive for meetings in anything from suits to shorts and polo shirts. Being on the administrative side, however, I aim for that elusive "business casual" look, wearing a tie when attending meetings and that sort of thing. My office moved from the more relaxed "uptown" main undergraduate campus to the Health Sciences "downtown" campus a couple of years ago, and in general people tend to dress "up" a bit more here. If the weather is bad, I will usually pack socks, shirt and pants in my messenger bag, wearing just decent enough commuting clothes to survive the trip up the elevator and past the V.P.'s office without looking or smelling worse than the average Public Health student, most of whose classes are in our building. Since my commute is only three or four miles, I can usually make it dressed for work as long as it isn't raining and the temperature is in the 60s or below. My wife works in the same building and usually drives in to work while I'm still out on my morning training ride, so I always have the option of driving back home for dry clothes if I get really surprised by the weather. It all works out pretty well, plus we have a "bicycle room" in the building where I can keep my bike. There's a lot to be said for working at a university!
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