FRIDAY NIGHT MUSIC

By Debbie Bulloch



As some of you may know, I have been fighting off a severe bout of bronchitis. I rarely, ever get sick, so being cooped-up at home is a strange experience for me. Worse, is being forced to stay away from my beloved bike and not go out for a long, hard ride. Ten times yesterday I went to my garage to look at my bikes and reassure them that soon we would be out on the road.

The one good thing about being sick (the silver lining in an otherwise dark cloud) is that the "forced" rest period has allowed me to catch up on my recreational reading. I've even had the chance to work on some poetry that I had started long ago, but never quite finished (look for them in future blog posts). Finally, the enforced hiatus has allowed me to dive into my iPod playlist and listen to some of my favorite songs. The funny thing is that when you have no pressing business at hand, and you listen to music just for the cheer pleasure of listening you hear things in a song that you had never heard before--or maybe you heard them but you were in such a hurry to get elsewhere that you never really paid attention. These then, are the songs that filled my otherwise "boring" day of rest:

JOHN WAITE - I AIN'T MISSING YOU



THE CARS - DRIVE



This song was brought to my attention courtesy of BH resident Matt56 Meredith--Thanks Matt!

PHIL COLLINS - AGAINST ALL ODDS

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BIKE - WHY I (WE) RIDE

By Debbie Bulloch



Those who know me know about my passion for cycling. They know all the miles that I accumulate pedaling up and down the hills near my home, they have seen the many photographs that I have taken while riding down the Southern California coast and they have read how I spend hours in the garage tending to my “herd” of bikes.

It is easy for me to explain the “it” of bike riding. What is harder, a lot harder, for me to do is to explain the “why” of cycling. After all, how can you convey to a non-cycling friend the joy of trading the warmth and comfort of my bed for a 50-mile ride in the wind and rain? How can you adequately explain pain’s liberating effect after spending 6 or 8 hours on the saddle? How can you communicate the sheer exhilaration of knowing that you can travel from Point A to Point B on this wonderful, human-powered machine called “a bicycle?”

Words simply cannot explain what it feels like to force your heart and mind and sinew to keep turning the pedals long after there is nothing more left in you except that little voice in your head telling you not to quit.

In the BBC documentary aptly titled, “It’s All About the Bike,” (based on the book by the same title) long-time British rider, author and filmmaker Robert Penn, travels across two continents as he searches for components to build his perfect, dream bike. Along the way, Penn shares with the audience his love for the bike, which Penn calls the “most perfect machine” ever devised by man.

Long-time BH resident xxPhantomxx Swordthain sent me a link to the BBC production of “It’s All About the Bike.” Due to YouTube file size limits, the hour-long program has been broken into six segments, each approximately 10 minutes long--please be sure to watch all six parts.

After you watch “It’s All About the Bike” you will then perhaps begin to understand the seeds of my passion for my trusty “steeds.”

Thank you Swordthain for the link.

It’s All About the Bike