Vintage

By the time you read this it will be summer, or maybe even fall, but currently, at the time of my writing, it is January, that hard month after the many festive holidays have been boxed up and put away and the New Year has been properly ushered in and what we see ahead is only another frigid block of time called February. At present (which is now for you the recent past), though, it is cold across the entire nation. Weather maps in the newspaper and on the internet show blue and white splotches inching eastward, spiraling round and round, reminding us that breath is sometimes something that can be seen and that our skin is a very feeble defense, indeed.

But we have taken heart during this naturally cold season mainly because there is coffee waiting to warm us, gloves and hats and many layers we can don—but more so because every once and a while we see someone else out on his or her bike, riding to and fro no matter what. Bundled tightly, snot frozen in clear strings on their cheeks and lips, we like to think that these dedicated beings possess some sort of super-human conviction. In our vision of them, they have cars at home that they have left in the garage because even though it’s close to zero outside, they know that their bodies, when pushed to respond and transport themselves, will warm up unbelievably and move despite everything. They know that everyone will be soon complaining about how hot it is, but they will ride then, too, because they have chosen to move under their own power, reliant on only a steel or aluminum frame and some small, intricate components and ball bearings and rubber and leather all designed and put together just right.

It is these hardy among us that Boneshaker BA 42-100 has in mind. Your resolve to commute by bike is, indeed, the impetus for this very almanac. It is you who deserves weighty attention and significant accolades, not celebrity train wrecks and political hearsay, because you are not daunted easily. No, you keep pedaling quietly without recognition, and if you get recognized, it is most likely via a startling horn or outstretched finger. Imagine if we could harness or otherwise bottle your retenue and distribute it to the world’s leaders and workers and thinkers! Oh, the thought! You, with your cold toes and wind-burned face, realize that only you are responsible for your actions and you ride accordingly. This issue is for you, the tightly bundled, heavily breathing commuters of our world! Be well and safe—the future needs you.