Morning Milk: Castlemilk from Cessnock and Back

Oh what joy it is to have deep roots, or equally spacious routes. Routes are roots after all so you need to take care of them. The biggest problem for man today (as always) is 'being carried by another'. This carraige is actually a miscarriage of being because you are not doin it yourself. Ask the animals if you don't believe me. Ask Nature herself! Nature is the carrier, the only carrier. And it is this carrier that has generated 'you' thus far. However, during the past few hundred years Nature's informing has been usurped by the machine's. The result is that the human has become not in-formed (as would be the case had he remained true to the Earth) but de-formed since now he relies upon external power sources that not only deplete him but the environment that houses him. So, develop your routes, and deepen those roots! And ply them regularly!














Normally, I skip out the city by using the train, but today the train people are on strike and so I went through the hell-realm myself. But it ain't so bad in spite of how it looks. Sure, a lot of these 'neighbourhoods' are jam-packed full of cars and tenements but that kinda makes the streets cycle-friendly cause no car can actually go fast on them due to parked cars and the single-track nature of most residential streets accordingly. And so, it ain't so bad, and it's actually quite nice (for a wild cyclist) cycling on roads for the smoothness. And when you think of all the hoods I cycled through - Pollokshields, Dumbreck, Langside, Newlands, Giffnock, Muirend, Castlemilk, Simshill, Cathcart, Shawlands - in less than two hours, it's quite amazing the territory that you can cover on a bicycle compared to say on foot. And then there are the four parks I cycled through: Pollok Country Park, Netherlee Park, Queens Park, and Maxwell Park, all apart from perhaps the last large spacious areas with plenty of peace and green. And so, an hour and forty five minutes door to door and by the time I got back I was levitating..! This is because I have deep clean routes. 






The Cyclist as Priest

Imagine seeing a priest and giving him the shoulder as he walked by you. That's how I feel when cars menace me, by creeping up behind me when there's no space to overtake (today, it was on a steep short single track road) and stalking me like a hunter stalks its prey. Why can't car drivers show cyclists and walkers (the non-polluters and thus holy people) the necessary respect? Lord knows, walkers and cyclists, in the era of the state of the art pram, have earned it. Why then would you threaten this person (and shoulder this priest) for being holy and healthy? Why? Because all car drivers (and this is the essence of being carried) inhabit an infantile consciousness that has not yet flourished and flowered. As such, they are an impatient lot and cannot wait to get past you. But really, all car drivers should be stopping completely in order to allow the cyclist or walker the necessary space with which to finish their climb. And in that stopping, they should all get out of their vehicles and kneel before the holy man, and thank them for setting a fine example and not shitting all over their children's air.



The Wizard of O

 
















Sometimes the camera sees you in a different light than you see yourself, and this different light is closer to the Reality of things...

All flesh is grass..

And a blade of grass the journeywork of stars...

Wise and hard are those who align their selves with the land and its elements...

Unwise and malleable are those who do not.


Are you a wizard then, or just soft in the head?



Up to the Edge and Back

Ok, so I decided to avoid the train today and simply cycle all the way up to the wind turbine in the Cathkin Braes and back. I took a new route after Pollok Country Park thru Newlands and Muirend and into Netherlee park. Here I crossed the White Cart Water at the snuff mill bridge and headed on thru to Castlemilk. From here, I rejoined my usual path up to the turbine. Then, it was simply straight back down thru Simshill, Cathcart, Langside, and finally stopping at Queens Park to meet my father and brother for a coffee. 









Cycling As Running for Intelligent People

Just watching David Goggins, endurance runner, talk about how his knees, after thousands of miles of running on hard surfaces, are now fucked. His book title, 'Can't Hurt Me' sounds as if it may be a parody. It's then he mentions swimming... that if he can't run, he'll swim. I tell him he should have started cycling and avoided that impact that has reduced his knees to mush. But even to cycle, or swim, you need your knees, perhaps the most important joint in the whole body since this is what you are, a walking entity. So, cycle, don't run. Running is for morons who don't know how to cycle.

The Floating Bicycle

Ok, so it took me an age to finally get it up on the wall, but I did it and now it is at home. It's a wonderful piece of craftsmanship the frame, and one day I may just put it back together again. But for the moment it is a flying bike that is caught in a state of suspended animation.




The Bicycle Stand

 
















Remember bicycle stands? I think some bikes still do them, and I guess they're pretty good. But my bike doesn't have one, and so I improvise. This is what the hills do to you: they help you see and 'vise'. This 'vise' comes in the form of improvising, supervising, and ad-vising (yourself)... and standing up for that Self. Hence the stand...