A few questions for readers to ponder -
Does the end ever justify the means?
Is it okay to say "do as I say, not as I do?"
How many foot-long hot dogs laid end-to-end equal a metric mile?
I recently did something no one should ever do, but perhaps the ends do justify the means because I can share this picture with you (and as far as the hot dog question, I am just insanely hungry as I type this) -
I took the photo while riding, something you should never try to do, especially while on a busy pathway during rush hour. I only feel good about this picture because the quality is pretty terrible, meaning that I was indeed actually looking where I was going and not at my camera phone. I pointed my phone forward and without looking just kept hitting the camera button for like 30 seconds. This was one of only two photos that will allow me to share the meaning, and a challenge.
First the meaning. I have seen people transport dogs on their bikes many different ways, but I had never in all my days seen a dog in a rear rack mounted pannier. If you look at the end of the red arrow you will see a rather content dog. I know the dog was content because I followed this guy for over a mile and the dog was just totally chilling. If you think about it, most dogs seem to like to put their head out of a car window and this is just one long extended version of that experience. Sure the bike is not going as fast and the dog has to stare at the right calf the whole time, but this seems like a decent way to transport a dog.
Size is critical of course, any dog over 20 pounds would likely not be a good candidate for this type of thing, and I am not sure I would be super stoked about putting a dog so close to moving spokes. What if rover sneezed and leaned over into spinning pieces of metal? I'm thinking the result might not be positive. I could be wrong and perhaps the pannier covers the spokes, but I tend to often think of what might go wrong in certain situations. And why is the dog on the drivetrain side of the bike? I have witnessed a finger suffer great damage when encountering a moving chain. All things considered, humas are probably smarter than dogs, and if a human can mangle a digit, what about a dog?
So now that I have shared, I now wish to challenge. The challenge part of this entry comes at the end of the green arrow. I would like to add a new term or terms to the Dictionary of Bike Commuter Slang, in this instance related to the skin that shows when a rider is wearing a normally cut shirt that flaps away and exposes the lower portion of his or her back. I have been pondering names for this phenomenon I witness almost daily, at least during the summer, but have been coming up blank.
Those with creative ideas for this challenge leave your thoughts in comments. The brain-trust behind bike hacks will review the comments for dictionary consideration =)
