Category Archives: Cycling

Weekend 568.0 (Sparsa Collegit)

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There’s a battle ahead, many battles are lost…but you’ll never see the end of the road…while you’re traveling with me.

(1) Impressions of a Soulless New Airport (The Imaginative Conservative)

“There is little architectural daring or upward movement. It is a place without a sense of place—it could be anywhere or nowhere.”

(2) Folding bike-maker Brompton rides towards £20m stake sale (Sky News)

(3) Scan from Helvetica and the New York City Subway System by Paul Shaw

Architectural Drawing. 86th St-Lexington Av Station Modernization of Control Areas

(4) A Quick & Dirty Guide to the Middle Ages (The Imaginative Conservative)

It was the Christiana Res Publica. “I saw monarchy without tyranny, aristocracy without factions, democracy without tumult, wealth without luxury,” Erasmus later wrote, idealizing the past. “Would that it had been your lot, divine Plato, to come upon such a republic.” Perhaps most important, medieval man believed that he knew his place in the Economy of Grace, in God’s universe.

(4a) Women’s rights…medieval style… (The History Jar)

Notes
The Brothers York by Thomas Penn (Pages 491-92)

Weekend 488.1

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(1) Brompton warns of price increases in midst of production scale up (Bike Europe)

(1a) The entire world is ‘awash in a sea of debt’ (YouTube)

(2) The Mendacity of Joe Biden and the Ruling Elites (American Thinker)

“The ruling elites in their headfirst dash to transform the culture have aligned themselves with the radical left whose sole objective is to centralize all governmental and economic power in a hybrid socialist federal government with themselves, and not the current ruling class, in permanent control.”

(3) Stock markets are telling us we’re saved, but history has a warning (Yahoo News)

Weekend 486.1 (A Tale of Two Cities)

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My morning ride was to central London (the area around Old Street) whilst my afternoon ride included the bucolic streets of Ham and the hills of Richmond Park. There’s a German Delicatessen (Hansel and Pretzel) on my afternoon route that’s excellent. I also had lunch at Stein’s (bratwurst) and was last there with the Orange/Blue Brompton after the Brompton World Championship in 2014.

Update: I walked to King Henry’s Mound in Richmond Park today. It’s the highest point in the park and offers (via telescope) an unobstructed view of St. Paul’s. There’s a survey marker / stone near the telescope indicating that St. Paul’s is about 10 miles to the east. The day before I was close to St. Paul’s and took this photo from Southwark Bridge.

Related
(1) Ham House & Garden
(2) River Thames: from Cotswolds to London
(3) Route Plan Roll Cycle Map (Mapping London)

Weekend 484.1

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(1) Feeling the strain: stress and anxiety weigh on world’s workers (Financial Times)

(1a) Biden sleepwalks into a stagflation nightmare (Asia Times)

(2) Brompton Bicycle “I’m getting on” by Antidote (Campaign)

(2a) Barcelona Brompton Folding Bike

(3) Renovations (According to Hoyt)

“Which is why mostly they live in ruins and grub in dirt and talk about their great purpose and congratulate themselves on no longer having any of that icky stuff in the walls. Because they no longer have walls.

Human society doesn’t work like that. Mostly what human society is built on is other human society. And I know I joke — a lot — about how Rome never fell, it just exported itself.”

(4) Gibraltar: The History of the Rock Across 14 Sieges (YouTube)

Portland

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Christ The Teacher Chapel / University of PortlandThe one on the west coast. I was there for a long weekend and in traditional limestone fashion wanted to draft a top ten…

(1) The Hollywood Theater at PDX. My favorite shorts from the Summer Program are Oregon: Only Slightly Exaggerated and The Famished Frog. I also liked The Water’s Fine because it reminds me of the work we’re doing on the Bike and Pedestrian Committee. 

Tip: The Fish & Chips at Mo’s Seafood and Chowder at PDX is delicious.

(2) Bikes, bikes, bikes! There are bike lanes and bike shops everywhere. Bike culture is thriving in Portland. If cycling had a patron saint it would be Elly Blue.

A couple of notable shops are North Portland Bike Works, Community Cycling Center, Upcycles, and Clever Cycles. 

Tip: Don’t miss the mural at the Community Cycling Center and stop for a cup of coffee at the Fresh Pot if you’re at the North Portland Bike Works.

(3) Union Station.  The ‘Go By Train’ neon sign beckons would be travelers / adventurers.

(4) The Chapel of Christ the Teacher at the University of Portland. The chapel/campus is on a bluff overlooking the Willamette River. 

“Slowly the procession advances, across the meadows and over a bridge…

Bonus: Ed’s story: Lose a dream, find a life

(5) Boys Fort, Powell’s Books, and the Portland Outdoor Store. You could get a one-of-a-kind journal at Boys Fort, a travel guide at Powell’s, and a coat at the Portland Outdoor Store before heading to Union Station to start your adventure in the Pacific Northwest. 

Tip: Budget plenty of time (and pack a really comfortable pair of shoes) since there is some amazing (and unique) retail in Portland like Chrome Industries.

(6) Pearl District. You could spend a full day with just a camera immersed in the architectural detail of this developing area. Visit the Bridgeport Brewing Company when you’re thirsty. 

(7) St. Johns / Cathedral Park. Stand in the shadows of St. Johns Bridge before enjoying the neighborhood retail/restaurants.

“…Finally, we enter a vast forest, and the branches of its trees interlace in the likeness of gothic arches…”

Bonus: Dinner at Wood Fired Eats.

(8) Portland Saturday Market. Impressive array of arts/crafts/food along the Waterfront Park Trail. 

(9) Bridges. A trestle of delights for bridge enthusiasts like the Broadway, Steel, and Fremont.

“…Soon we emerge into a blaze of morning light. Once again, the powers of life and death have triumphed over the hosts of death and despair.”

(10) Entrepreneurialism. The industriousness and creativity of Victor Atiyeh endures in so many Portland businesses (everything from breweries to messenger bags). There is a statue of this former governor at PDX.

*Photo is from the marble tabernacle inside the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. Quote is from The Legacy Collection: Fantasia.