When
Weekly Update #233 7/7/2024 to 7/13/2024
In the world of cycling it is not if it is when. Before I explain this long-held thought on riding a bike, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best small town in America.
For the fifth time since I started serving Seymour as mayor in 2020, we have had our entrance meeting for our annual audit. Due to the amount of funding Seymour receives we are required to be audited by the State Board of Accounts, or a contractor of their choosing, each year. I look forward to hearing their findings in a few months after they have completed their work and expect to discover, like in the past, minimal items that are often caused by the changing of preferred processes at the state level, but take some time to be shared with cities and towns. To Darrin Boas and his team, I say keep up the good work.
Some of the upcoming events seeking approval at the last Board of Works and Public Safety meeting were a 20th-anniversary event of the Indiana Health Center at Burkart Plaza in September, Scoop the Loop t-shirt sales by the Seymour Evening Lions in August, a Battle of the Bands in August, and a neighborhood picnic in August. We also had an update on the 4th and O’brien roundabout and the work being done on West 2nd Street. Mix in some sewer adjustments and some food truck permit renewals and you have a full meeting covering several topics. Often items will pass with little conversation as they are explained well on the application or a repeat event with little change, but sometimes more discussion is held and from time to time BOW does have to deny a request. Thank you to everyone involved for your time and efforts in reviewing and approving or denying requests that are brought forward.
This past week, I had a chance to catch up with other mayors from around our region and discuss upcoming items expected during the 2025 legislative session in Indianapolis that could affect cities and towns down the road. It also gives us a chance to share information with one another about solutions to various problems we may be facing. Thank you. Accelerate Indiana Municipalities, for all your work organizing the Mayors’ Round Tables, and thank you to all the mayors who made time to attend.
Many years ago I read an article related to police department bike patrols that said something along the lines of “it is not if you crash, but when,” and it has stuck with me for probably a couple decades now. Somewhere in the previous few hundred weekly updates I shared about one of my best nights riding and the six crashes it included. The overall of that update was about how 10,000 hours of practice will make you an expert in a field. This time, as I talk about a crash this week, it is about adapting to my surroundings, but this time more about my surroundings and people’s reactions to my most recent fall on two wheels. The crash itself was not bad, but as others heard of it, their responses had me chuckling mostly to myself and occasionally out loud. Bike riders would ask questions like “How is the bike?” before “How are you?” Others would snap back about being insensitive or uncaring. As a lifelong cyclist, I knew they could see that I was standing in front of them or exchanging texts with them so I must not be injured too badly. They knew that blood running down your shin looks way worse that it really is. They had experienced their own crashes over the years and become accustomed to the aftermath. Even my own parents have seen enough bloody shins over the years to not be too impressed with another one. Thank you to everyone for your reactions this week after my most recent crash. It was an interesting moment to compare responses and try to see them from different viewpoints. This week, I will leave you with a bicycle quote from five time Tour de France winner Eddy Merckx, "Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride."