Two years ago this weekend, my Surly Long Haul Trucker was delivered by UPS. Is there anything quite as special as opening a box on a new bike? Maybe there is—assembling and riding it for the first time!

 
We love our bikes and everything that goes with them, right? And we never tire of looking at them. At least I don’t, and if I’m to judge from what others tell me, I’m not alone. So each Sunday I’ll publish a bike related picture. Most of the time the picture will be a photo, but I’ll also include drawings, paintings, sculptures, and any other representation of a bike or bike stuff. If you have one you’d like to contribute to the gallery, just email your picture(s) to me.

 
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Life in the slow lane has many pleasures. You can smell the flowers, for one thing. Roadsides, vacant lots, and utility rights-of-way, will soon be rich in wildflowers and other new growth. Even the medians of divided highways are home to vibrant wild communities. And as more and more forests, fields, and wetlands are lost to development, these often-overlooked pocket wildernesses are increasingly important.

It’s a matter of perspective. Where harried motorists see only a green blur, cyclists and walkers can focus on the details. Not that what we see is always pleasant to look at. From late spring to early fall, highway maintenance crews and utility companies wage constant war on roadside “weeds,” while shredding trash and scything wildflowers with equal zeal. The result? Whole communities of insects are deprived of food at critical times of the year. For days after the mowers go through, the road is carpeted with dead bees and butterflies.

Why should we care about a few dead bugs? Well, with some 35 percent of our food supply dependent on insect pollinators, and with the health of our bee populations already precarious, you could say our fate is tied to that of the butterflies and bees. Happily, some folks are trying to do something to right the balance. A UK organization going by the name of Buglife is working to establish a network of flower-rich “B-lines” throughout England.

These B-lines would help insure the survival of bees and other insect pollinators. In turn, they would help English farmers grow food. It sounds like a win-win scenario to me. Want to know more? Then just click through to Buglife’s website.

It’s too bad we don’t have something similar on this side of the Pond, isn’t it? But we could. And it needn’t be hard. We could make a start by asking state highway departments and private utility companies to let the “weeds” grow undisturbed wherever and whenever they don’t create a hazard. Then we can all smell the flowers.

 
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Just when we thought spring had arrived, a cold front blew through and dusted the landscape with wet snow. That didn’t stop the morning chorus, however, and this woodland resounded with the songs and calls of year-round residents as well as those who have recently arrived after the long swoop from southern regions.

Do you have a photo which you’d like to contribute to our gallery? Great! Just email your picture(s) to us and let us know.

 
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