It's been over a year since I published anything here. Things have changed, to put it mildly. I am no longer a student, I have a full time job, I have a good income (I don't want to brag, but it means that I have a bigger bike (parts) buying budget, I can afford things that were out of reach before... to a certain extent, at least.), I commute by train twelve hours a week and last but not least I have become a father. Oh, and to top it all off my computer crashed and my mobile phone was stolen.
Not to mention everything that has been and is going on around the world. China continues to buy the rest of the world, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and his surrounding clique seem to have went completely bonkers to the misfortune of the North Korean people and the rest of the world, Putin and his clique continue to bully all countries that share a border with Russia, right wing parties all over Europe seem to be on the rise (and, thankfully, so the resistance against these ideologies seem to be), the English people were duped into believing they did not want to be a part of the European Union (no, I think they were misinformed), a complete buffoon was elected president in the United States, earth quakes in Mexico, conflict in Venezuela... Well, and good things too. Bicycle-related things (after all, this is a bicycle blog) are that bicycling is on the rise, both as a way to commute and as sport, more bicycle lanes are being built around the world and it is being realised that we need to change our way of thinking and planning cities, traffic and cityskapes in the future. The biggest thing in Sweden right now, though, is of course the #metoo-campaign.
And let me just take a minute here and say that it really isn't that complicated, what it means isn't anything ludicrous or impossible, it simply means that women should be treated as humans. They should be able to go to school or to work and not be shouted at, called things, be grabbed or groped by men they don't want to be grabbed or groped by, receive unwanted sexual comments or worry about any of those things happpening. And men need to realise that a patriarchal society isn't just holding women back, it's actually bad for them too, since it means that we all get stuck in roles we don't benefit from (typically, men are not supposed to have feelings, not supposed to cry, supposed to be the one who caters for the family and might be struggling to do so et c). Being a douchebag in a sexist manner preserve the patriarchy. And yes, you can still flirt with women, just as someone said: If you can't tell the difference between flirting and sexual harassment, stop flirting. Or more tangible: If you are saying or doing things to women that you wouldn't want other men to say or do to your mother, your sister, your daughter, your girlfriend, wife or best friend, you are probably being a douchebag.
But again, this is a bicycle blog, and even if I haven't been blogging I'm still interested all things related to bicycles and cycling. But I started finding paid for stuff out there, which borrowed a little too much from my blog without giving me any credit for it. I don't make a dime on this blog, but it's not about the money (see above), I just don't think that it's cool taking ideas and texts without asking. And really, I'm cool with most things as long as you ask, as long as you don't run some weird Nazis-on-bicycles blog I won't object. (And I won't charge for it, either.) Anyway, that whole situation made me feel a bit tired. But I'll try to post more regularly in the future, and this is a great subject to start with:
A mid 1980's bicycle jersey, from the Postgirot Open professional staging bicycle race.
Really, I don't know much about this jersey. Obviously it's from the race, but the leader of the race wore a yellow jersey, the leader of sprint awards a green jersey, the leader of the points awards a purple jersey and the best amateur wore a white jersey, at least in 1983. (There really aren't any mountains in Sweden, so there was no best climber awards jersey.) So was it a commersial jersey, sold as merchandise? I have absolutely no idea. All I can tell is that it must be from the mid 1980's (the colour!), it's made in Italy, it's made by Castelli and it's super cool. That is, it's probably stifling hot to ride in, thanks to the 72% nylon and 28% acetate mix, but it's looks super cool
A nice and easy restart to the blog, isn't it? Ride safe!
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