Be careful, bicycles!

When I was a kid, I used to hang out with my friends. Every weekend we used to catch our bicycles and ride up and down the Diagonal or climb Montjuïc or Collserola. I remember I had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed riding on my bike. Actually, now that I am 33 years old, I would love to have a bike and ride whenever I could because I think it is a very nice sport and hobby. As you can read, I like bikes. I love cycling and I will watch any race it’s shown on TV. For me, it is a great sport.

However, it is a different thing altogether when people use the bikes to move around the city. The city council in the last few years has developed the so called Bicing, a service which allows you to rent a bike. The people who are supposed to rule our city, think that the bike is a great transport for the citizens. The main problem is that we don’t have the same culture as other countries have and it is dangerous for everybody: pedestrians, bike riders and drivers.

I am tired of seeing bike riders with a helmet that protects their heads, something that should be compulsory for all of them. If they fall off their bikes, they can get really hurt. Besides, the bike drivers don’t follow any rules. They can be in the streets pedalling as if they were running the Tour time trial or they can be in the middle of the road doing what they want.

I understand that the bike is a cheap transport and it is good for the city because it is pollution free. However, I think that our governors should have a look to the actual situation and pass some laws to try to make it easier for everybody. When I am in the car I suffer because I never know what they are going to do, many of them are unconscious and don’t follow their line. When they are in the streets it is similar and very dangerous for pedestrians as you can get run over by a bike if you are not cautios.

To start with, I think that all the bike riders should wear a helmet otherwise they should get fined by the police. Then, they have to decide what are they: a vehicle or pedestrians? As I said from the beginning, I like bikes but I think that now there are a lot of them and it is getting dangerous for everybody. We have to start making decisions.

Bye, bye winter

Today, at 17.57h according to the radio, spring starts. “Hurray!”, will think a lot of the Barcelonans. More sun for us, longer days, short sleeves and terraces full of people having their drinks. For many people, it is one of the best stations of the year. Not too warm, but hot enough to be in the street and having fun with the family or friends. 

 

However, is not how I feel.  I have to admit that I enjoy this time of the year where you can be outside, enjoying yourself, having a coke or a beer with whoever you want. I will not discuss this, obviously but I have to say that, for me, it is bad news. I see my clothes, and I think that a lot of the will be in the wardrobe until next year.

I know I am different to most  people, but I really enjoy winter. Winter, for me, is Christmas, New Years Eve, the three kings, family, cold, presents, fun, hope, best wishes... It is also my birthday, my sisters birthday. January is the month I started with Jéssica, and in February we started living together. March is my wife’s birthday. I think I have a lot of things to celebrate in winter. As I wrote once in this blog, it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

I love wearing long sleeve shirts, jumpers and coats. I like putting on my scarves or going out running early in the morning when it is cold. I enjoy walking around the streets and feeling the cold in your face. I enjoy a warm cup of coffee or tea when it is cold outside. I like the darkness in the streets when I get out of work and I go walking to the metro. Winter finishes today and I am willing for it to start again.

Now it is time for sun. In a few months, we will be in the beach. We will be warm, it will be hot in our flat. I understand that people like this time of the year. I do myself, but nothing like winter. It is the best time of the year.

The knife sharpener

Yesterday I was walking in the street and I listened to a very characteristic melody. I turned around and there he was: the knife sharpener. A man in his early sixties, with his motorbike, his sharpener and playing this typical melody. In a way, I felt sorry for him. How many people will actually stop him to sharpen their knives or any other item they need? I thought that it will be very interesting to follow him a day and write something about him. Actually, I thought that it will be a good piece of news for a newspaper or magazine.

I thought that it was a job to disappear in the medium term. Maybe I am wrong, but I don’t really think these people earn much money and I would like to know how they manage. The knife sharpener will pass as the night watchman did. We can’t fight against progress, but I think that it is normal to feel a bit sentimental when you remember this kind of things.

In a way I felt really sad. I have to admit that I have never stopped a knife sharpener, but that melody is so special that I am sure I will miss it when, in a few years, there won’t be any of them. I also thought that it will be a shame for next generations that will never get to know this kind of jobs. I am sure that if I ever mentioned them, they would look at me as if I was mad.

I think that it is very important to go back in time and listen to our parents or grandparents. The stories they tell you help you to see how was life a few years ago. Now we have computers, laptops, internet, mobile phones, tablets, television, etc., but it hasn’t been always like these. I like to listen to my wife’s family when they explain to me how was life in their little village, how Jéssica’s grandfathers had to meet in Encarna’s window to pass some time together.

As I wrote before, it is stupid to fight against progress. Probably, we all live better now than fifty years ago, but we would have been able to get here without the effort and sacrifice of our grandparents or parents. I miss a lot talking to my grandparent Jaime even though I think I did well and I know a lot of things of his life. I also miss not having spoken more with my grandparent Ed, who died too early. Listening it is very important and indispensable to appreciate more what we have.

The blue line

Barcelona woke up a few days ago with a blue line painted on it main streets. Nearly 20.000 runners will follow that blue line on Sunday to complete one of the biggest sport challenges: the marathon. 42,195 meters that will begin and finish at the same point: Plaza España. The runners will go around the main streets of the city and pass by our principle monuments.

I won't participate this time. I have been training the whole winter, but this Sunday I have to work and I will not be able to run it. When I finished Barcelona’s half marathon and after all the efforts I have to say that I was even glad not to run it. However, in the last days, I felt really sorry because I think I am fit and ready to finish the marathon. I will have to wait another year, even though I don’t know if I will be able to sacrifice me like these past years.

What I will do is go down and see my friends run. They go pass my house in the 10th kilometer and I be there shouting and giving all my support. For me anybody who runs the marathon deserves my respect. It is something terrible, hard and really tough. I would even say it is not human but once you finish you feel as if you were the king of the world.

That blue line is the lead for all the heroes that will run this Sunday. All the training, the sacrifices, the bad moments will have the price this Sunday when the runners cross over the finish line. All my best wishes to all of them. On Sunday I will be in the streets with them giving the all my support. They deserve it! Come on!