They do things few other bikes do, and they do them in ways no other bikes do.
Standing is one of those things.
To stand a Brompton, unlatch the rear triangle, hold the saddle, lift the rear of the bike, and swing the rear triangle under the bike so that it comes to rest on the small roller wheels. It takes a second or two, and it's done. The bike stands on its own.
That has been the standing routine since I bought my Brompton. It's been five years.
My how time flies.
From time to time, to time, I have considered adding a side stand.
Side stands are a basic necessity for Brompton bike-packers. That's because the rear rack is carrying a good share of the travel gear. If you need to have the bike stand on its own, you must first empty the rear rack. What a pain. But... if you install a side stand, all it takes is a flick of your right toes and the Brompton stands on its own. Less than a second and it's done.
I'm not a bike-packer, so that's why I have hesitated installing a side stand for five years.
I finally installed a side stand because it makes it a little easier to stop and take photos, or to stop sit on a park bench and enjoy the view.
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| My Brompton with my Mini Cooper |
The tipping point was this video. The side stand it recommends is inexpensive and worth a try. So far I am both satisfied and impressed.
Bicycles need standing strategies because they live in a reality where gravity wants them to surrender to its powerful relentless will and fall. As we know, there are strategies that allow bikes to stand.
Canada, our home, faces a reality where a powerful relentless force wants Canadians to fall, to embrace its wishes. To bend our knees. To submit to its imperial will. To live in a world where integrity, honesty, compassion, reason and knowledge are no longer the nation’s values.
Canadians need standing strategies.
If my Brompton does very well with two standing strategies, Canada needs many more.
We are fortunate because we have more than forty million strategies.
We have parents, partners, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and neighbours. We elect people we know we can trust to lead us. We are respectful, yet strong. We have a history of courage, of facing powerful enemies, and emerging victorious.
We understand adversity.
We suffer what we must, we smile, and we extend helping hands to those in greater need, at home and abroad.
That is how we earn friendship and respect.
That is how we stand.
Just like my quirky Brompton stands, we have done this time after time, after time.
We are doing this now.
2 comments:
David, this is a good one.
You found the metaphor in your own garage. A bike that refuses to fall, in two different ways. And you didn't stop there. You took it somewhere true.
The forty million strategies line stayed with me. It's not a slogan. It's a fact. Parents, partners, neighbours, friends. People we trust. That's not small. That's everything.
Five years, two ways to stand. Now three, with the side stand. Some things take exactly as long as they take.
Thanks for writing this one.
Peter those are very kind thoughts, thank you.
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