Bicycle Names Past & Present

Recently while browsing around an antique store in La Crosse I saw an old bicycle (see photo) dating from the late 1950s or early 1960s. It was called the "Roadmaster Skyrider" and its name got me to thinking how bicycle names in the "olden days" were generally more fun and catchy than most names given to bikes today. For example, a quick check of the Web found the following names for some current Trek bikes: Allant, Valencia, Soho and Lime; and also the following for some current Schwinn models: Willy, Jenny, Sierra and Collegiate. Compare those to these bicycle names from the 1950s-1960s: Fleetwing Cruiser, Flightliner, Skoot, Skybolt, Rambler 500, Eldorado and Breeze. I think the older names have more flare but I must admit it's funny how many of them are in reference to a sky vehicle . . . as if the bikes would be zooming around in the clouds. In some ways, sky related names seem more suited for small, private planes rather than land-hugging bicycles but such a name given to a bike increases its cool factor in my book. All I know is that I wish my current bicycle, a Redline R530 had been named a Redline Skyrider, Redline Skyliner, Redline Rambler or Redline Roadcruiser. Anything but R530. No class with that.

Hurray! Back On My Bicycle!

On Tuesday, March 11, after two months of using the city bus service to get to and from work I was finally able to use my bicycle again. It sure felt good to “be in the saddle” and the streets were clear and dry (see attached photo looking north on Sixth Street from Division Street) so safety was not an issue. January and February were not bicycle friendly in La Crosse due to what seemed an endless cycle of snow and subzero temperatures, turning the city’s side streets (where I ride 99 percent of the time to escape annoying auto traffic) into narrow ice skating rinks. Not owning a car by choice (Egad! How unAmerican!) I’m glad I have the option of city bus service when the weather is too crappy for bicycling but the bus takes me twice as long (30 minutes) to get to work compared to bicycling. The added time is due to having to wait for the bus followed by its indirect route to the downtown area. None of that with my bicycle as there is no waiting involved and I can make a beeline for downtown. Plus, the exercise of pedaling has to be better for me compared to sitting in a bus seat. And not to bash the bus service further but bicycling also allows me to come and go when I want without paying attention to the bus schedule . . . especially in the evening when the buses run on a hourly schedule. In short, I am one happy camper now that spring is just around the corner with the promise of decent bicycling conditions. Oh, I forgot to mention that besides saving time, bicycling also saves me $2.50 in daily bus fare . . . money that I can now spend on candy and comics.

Bike to Work Week

The week of May 14, 2007, was "Bike to Work Week" in La Crosse but I think it was a bust as I did not see more bicyclists than normal (which is few) on city streets. A good example is this bike rack with three bikes at La Crosse's Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center . . . a large complex that employs thousands of people. Beyond the bike rack can be seen a small section of a huge parking lot for medical center employees and visitors. I would say the ratio of cars to bikes here is like 300 to 1 which is par for the course in car crazy America. For most adults in and around La Crosse, "Bike to Work Week" might as well been "Nude to Work Week" . . . something they would never-ever take part in.