Future investment

My chances of ever winning the Tour de France are getting less likely each year. Come to think of it, at 35, I might never even win the white jersey. I can only blame my parents for not forcing me to practice bicycling, against my will, since childhood.

In other news, another Budget cyclist Jr. just lately emerged. As an indirect result, in the near future, my only possibility of having 15 minutes of daily solitude will be in the toilet of the workplace. I'm hoping that I may be able to spend a portion of these 15 minutes blogging about bicycling every now and then, as I'm currently doing, but I can promise nothing. Other matters may be more urgent while in the toilet. Also taking the laptop to the stall may seem suspicious to other toilet-goers.

It would be ridiculous even to assume that there could be time for actual bicycling, apart from commuting, in my daily schedule for the next two years or so. All of my time will be spent either in family-related matters or earning money to be consumed by the family.

However, I do have a cunning plan for the future regarding both family and bicycling. Along with the emergence of a new child, my likelihood of becoming a father/coach of a professional bicyclist have just doubled. The talent is there to be moulded, now it's only a matter of encouragement/coercion/brainwashing and countless hours of practice. Also, now that there is offspring of both sexes, it might be even possible to have two world champions in the family at the same time. At minimum, I'm expecting my offspring to dominate the Finnish race circuit in the near future.

On to other matters. I recently participated in "The First (and Last) Annual BSNYC/RTMS Cockpit of the Year Award" competition arranged by my idol, Bike Snob NYC. As my entry didn't end up among the finalists, I might as well publish it here:

Yeah, admittedly, it's pretty lame when compared to the other contestants. Also, the handlebar probably is installed the wrong way around because of bicycling-related cluelessness of a shop window decorator, not because of individualistic aspirations of a creative bicyclist, as this installment was spotted in a Gant clothing store window in Espoo. The pale complexions of the nonplussed onlookers is explained by the fact that they are mannequins.

Come to think of it, I don't recall ever witnessing particularly zany cockpits in the real world. Perhaps we, the Finns, are a bit conservative when it comes to bicycle customization. Or perhaps there is a law against that kind of thing.