Social Expectations and Cycling

This was mowed just a few weeks ago. Technically, OKC should trim the margins of the sidewalk, but I’m guessing that they won’t do it until they have served the private landowner with the process of condemnation for nuisance. The whole property is overgrown like this, and until this summer, had been mowed regularly. Sooner or later, some prissy middle class dweeb is going to complain and then we’ll see it done.

This was once a cow pasture. I took lots of pictures, and the place was quite lovely. Someone decided this was perfect for development, and starting sometime back in the winter, heavy equipment has been tearing away at the original landscape to flatten it out for several acres of concrete. I’m guessing it will be a massive warehouse for something related to Tinker AFB (just a mile away), or perhaps something along the lines of an Amazon facility. Middle class marketing builds this kind of stuff and destroys natural beauty.

By no means do I hate the middle class. Whenever technology lifts beyond a certain point, the middle class will always become the dominant life form. Without them, an awful lot of stuff we like can’t happen. Even if we find their crass materialism annoying, we still get nifty stuff like this little municipal park in Midway Village community because the middle class push for it.

They are the reason cool stuff like this gets built. What we have here is the Reed Convention Center in Midwest City, attached to some kind of Marriot Hotel property. My wife’s employer has used this place a few times; it’s very nice just to sit around outside it on one of the many benches under big shady trees. Yeah, the rates are expensive for any part of this operation, but that’s why they can afford to keep a very nice park-like area open to anyone for free. And they do roust out the homeless really quickly.

Thanks to the silly pandering of the middle class, Del City has rebuilt the old trail that once ran around Eagle Lake. At some point a decade ago or so, it was washed out and quickly became forgotten under the weeds. This past spring, a construction crew came out and began working on it. There is now a concrete bikeway all the way around again. Just a few more weeks and it will all be connected and finished. This shot from the eastern shore was impossible until recently.

But I will take issue with anyone — usually prissy middle class — telling me I need to wear a helmet. On a conventional bike, there is some risk of crashing from all kinds of things, so a helmet is a good idea. Wearing one has saved me a headache a couple of times. But on a folding bike, the risk of falling is almost nil. Instead, the biggest threat is being run over by drivers who aren’t paying attention. The second biggest risk is sunburn (I’ve had stripes sunburned into my scalp from helmets). So, I wear this high-visibility hat that keeps the sun off (and a mesh that allows my head to breathe). You can just make it out in this ad hoc selfie.