Growing up is hard to do

As summer slowly creeps upon us, I find myself reflecting upon my childhood quite a bit.  I think it probably has to do with summer being the official season of happiness in "kid-dom."  No school and endless days exploring streets on the back of my Huffy 10-speed are the stuff of good memories.  It occurs to me that I've always owned a bike...before the 10 speed, I had a single speed Huffy street bike with coaster brakes, and before that a tricycle, and before that a metal green pedal car.  I loved that pedal car, which made my interest really pique when I saw this posting in Craigslist last night:

Yes, for the low, low cost of my iPhone, I could find myself behind the wheel of an adult pedal-car!  What a steal....and what better way to rekindle the cycling spark of yesteryear?  Certainly, reflection is typically a positive thing and can even be interesting to others when one has led a fascinating life and chooses to share their lifetime of experiences, say in the form of an autobiography.  It used to be the case that autobiographies were written at the end of one's tenure in a given pursuit, following a long string of achievements.  But why should one wait to review their accolades until they are old and grey?  Why not live in the glory days while the glory days are still in full swing?  Thus, last week, Mark Cavendish's book entitled Boy Racer was released

This is just smart marketing, because in the life of a pro cyclist, who really knows what tarnishing event might happen tomorrow that could make obsolete (and devalued) the accomplishments of today?  Plus it leaves room for sequels.  Take the case of Lance's self-documentation:  First there was "It's Not About the Bike," followed by "Every Second Counts," and most recently "Comeback 2.0: Up Close and Personal."  Hopefully Cav's "Boy Racer" will be followed up by another equally fascinating installment now that he's in his professional adolescence....

And speaking of getting old and cranky, I was rather surprised to see this story last week.

As reported by the Tribune, apparently James Nikolas busted out a scoped rifle and went after some kids that he thought had stolen his bicycle.  Luckily, no one was harmed and Mr. Nikolas was apprehended later that day.  Interestingly, he posted the bond  of $7000 and was released at 2 AM.  You know, for $7000, I'm guessing he could have bought a pretty nice new bike to replace the one that was stolen.....unless he was riding a fully equipped Pinarello Dogma Di2......which, I admit, are probably pretty popular amongst the mid-Missouri NRA member demographic.