More musings. This is becoming a habit.
“Bicycle touring is heightened awareness. You actually SEE the morning light,” writes RJ. Exactly.
Cut off from the world in your automobile, you are. Senses dulled, lights and sounds filter uncertainly into the cabin. On the bike it’s different. No, its radically different. You are not on your bike. You are (back) in the world.
You may actually hear the birds. And speaking of birds, and wolves for that matter, this is what I saw, and what cameraperson did not capture on today’s ride.
Pulled up at the lights to left of us is a young lady on her scooter. Just to her right, a little nearer to us is a man on his scooter. Pulled in close, too close to the girl, he is talking to her. She looks straight ahead, very uncomfortable. A bird in a cage.
I say loudly to cameraperson, in English. “I think that guy is harassing that girl. We should ask her if she knows this guy”. The guy visibly stiffens, goes silent. Maybe he knows English. But the loud tone of my voice is unsettling.
The light goes green, the girl guns her poor scooter and zips around the next corner. Our friend’s machine is no match for hers, so she’s clear.
We have a term for this sort of person: se lang (色狼) or “horny wolf”. Someone whose sensory stimulation needs constant satisfaction. Maybe these people need to take up cycling. Some of them do really bad stuff. Not so today. At night, it might have been different.
What struck me is that if I was not on the bike, I would not have noticed it. If I had been on a scooter? Maybe I would. I normally drive the car around on workdays and to do shopping. In other words, spend far too much time with dulled senses is spent by this satin cesena.
Enough musing for now. Next post: a story of several dozen wheelsets.