Ahh, the simplicity… maybe

Reading about Team Anderson’s car warning light coming on in their old Vetta made me think of the feature photo. Then, when Scott (Rocky shouldn’t be pulled in as a guilty party) mistook the engine temp gauge for the fuel gauge, I thought: Oh, I ‘ve got to share the car warning light photo.

The first time I saw this I laughed so hard I cried. (I have my own funny car warning light story from all the fleet cars I’ve driven in various jobs). So I thought everyone could use the laugh.

And everyone could be thankful that bikes are simple machines and a simple sort of beauty that don’t require warning lights.

But then again, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a warning light that came on when a rack bolt was about to vibrate right on out of its hole? Or a light warning your tyre air pressure is getting low before you pinch flat?

The floor is open for discussion 🙂

I also saw this article posted in one of the facebook cycling groups and I liked its message. Check it out here: https://www.bicycling.com/culture/a22824169/the-riders-who-dont-fit-in-are-the-ones-we-need-most/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=socialflowFBBI&fbclid=IwAR1HMDNs1RrSiANri1wCiXI5dF-GUxaukuwEkkiMOd_Mdn0lkEoORviHG3U

The ending of the article sums it up:

These riders remind us that you’re not one of us because you’re fast or you have the right bike or the right look or a silky pedal stroke, or because you started racing when you were 13 or you have a lot of followers on Instagram. You’re a cyclist because you ride, you really ride—whether it’s shitty or beautiful out, whether you’re first place or last, whether anyone is still watching or even knows you’re out there. And you’ll know you’re doing it right by the way it makes you feel: so stinkin’ happy.

Nerdy chick in Australia who loves to ride and is accompanied by the crew: 'The Commander' Verne and the 'Mental Health Specialist' Kermit.

10 response to "Ahh, the simplicity… maybe"

  1. By: Lednar De Nalloh Posted: February 17, 2021

    ‘You’re a cyclist because you ride, you really ride’…Yeah, right on. Don’t need a carbon fibre bike or lycra, great story.

  2. By: gregblood Posted: February 17, 2021

    The warning light chart is definitely hilarious. Thanks for sharing it. And now I’ve saved it to my computer so I can share it with others.

    Here’s my warning light story. About 20 years ago I had a Chevrolet Celebrity and one day the “Check Engine” light came on. We were coming back from a long weekend in Michigan and were still 100 miles from home. Well, the car seemed to be running just fine and the oil level was okay, so I took a chance and continued driving. We made it home and the next day I took it in to the dealer to have it checked out. The mechanic ran all the tests and said, “everything checks out OK. Something must have tripped one of the sensors.” Cool. Well, the next week the light came on again. I just figured something tripped one of the sensors and drove that car another 70,000 miles with the “Check Engine” light on. Every time somebody else got in the car with me they’d say, “Hey, Greg, your check engine light is on,” and I’d say, “yeah, I know.”

    Jay is my new hero.

    • By: The Navigator Posted: February 18, 2021

      Lol, that’s a great story! 70,000 miles is a long time. I hung out sometimes with an Indian guy when we were doing our PhDs. He didn’t speak English all that clearly and had no clue about cars, so when he came to Oz he got screwed over when he went to buy an ancient, little Hyundai. That poor car always had a few warning lights on. But, two days after the check engine light came on, my friend left his car at the train station while he went to Melbourne. The car was stolen and never recovered, but was insured. Best thing that ever could have happened to that car! (Nigel helped him find a decent used car the next time around. Nigel also helped another international PhD student get their Aussie driver’s licence and suffered thru some scary driving lessons with her! Our neighbours were a bit racist and xenophobic and would give Nigel dirty looks over the driveway fence with all the foreigners that came around. The neighbours were always fake nice to me (remember I have an foreign accent, too).

  3. By: Suzanne Posted: February 17, 2021

    Love the warning lights! Thanks for posting!
    And thanks for the encouraging words, too. Because I am not fast, I don’t have the right bike or look or pedal stroke, I didn’t start riding until I was 40 and never raced, and don’t have an instagram account. But riding does make me happy.

    • By: The Navigator Posted: February 18, 2021

      Yeah, I was never any of those things either! But I have always been a cyclist of some sort. I have met a couple “Jay’s” while on tour and was envious of their lifestyle but perhaps not their mental health issues.

  4. By: Lednar De Nalloh Posted: February 17, 2021

    So how do you find your blogging website Emily. Thinking of setting up one myself. There seems to be lots of options like wordpress etc

    • By: The Navigator Posted: February 18, 2021

      I like it because it gives my friends and family a way to follow along easily with what I’m up to. They all asked numerous times for me to do it – and the site looks good on a mobile phone. They like to be able to get an email advising them of a new post. And I like that I can control the content and not worry about what else is on there. Yes, there are lots of options. I can’t recall all of the ones I researched, but I ended up with a wordpress site because it is really user-friendly, you don’t need to know code, it integrates with other stuff, and they do all the domain name stuff and renewal. I haven’t had any issues with it really.

      • By: The Navigator Posted: February 18, 2021

        I think there was a steep learning curve figuring out how to create menus and such, but I was very, very unwell at the time I set up the website and had tremendous brain fog… so maybe it’s not as confusing as it seemed at the time. If you want a lot of followers though, you would have to be very pro-active in promoting it or just stick to cycleblaze or CGOAB. Since I just do it for friends and family and whomever else wants to come along, I’m happy with my own site. I’m sure any of the hosts would be fine, just a matter of finding one that you like the price, storage and support available I guess. Good luck!

  5. By: NancyG Posted: February 19, 2021

    I am just now back at checking in here. Have been unable to ride weatherwise! Snow/slush/ice/frozen rain. Now melted and temps in low 40s, so will get out today.
    I laughed out loud at your lead photo. I enjoy your blog, and did try wordpress for a short time and found it a bit confusing. Of course that was after having used blogger for a while which I found very easy. Something about wordpress just did not do it for me without someone to guide me through it.
    Thanks for those good observations about cyclists, and being happy whatever kind of riding you do. :’-).

    • By: The Navigator Posted: February 20, 2021

      Hope you’ve gotten out for a ride and the weather will be kind for you to round out the month. Yes, I loved that feature photo because I’ve driven dozens of different fleet cars in my jobs, and they all have different features. And who knew there could be so many different ways to set cruise control. I got a coffee cup warning light once and couldn’t for the life of me figure out what that meant. (Turns out it was a fatigue warning light that came on if you had driven more than 2 hours straight).
      Yes, I don’t mind WordPress now that I’ve got it set up, but I did find adding categories to menus a bit confusing at first. Luckily there are lots of different platforms, so I think most people can find one that will work for them – just a matter of trying some out and doing some research. I enjoy your website, too. It’s nice to be able to share that way with friends/family that are far away.

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