* ... NEW YEAR'S RIDE: Hats off to the Kern Wheelmen bicycle club for hosting the annual New Years Day ride up Round Mountain. More than 150 riders showed up for the annual trek up the mountain. Most of these folks are not hard core cyclists but rather regular people with a passion for cycling and staying in shape. It was a spectacular sight and inspiring to see all these people get a healthy start on the new year. Among those I spotted were local tennis pro Hank Pfister, retired endodontist Bob Smith, local racer Tyler Williams, Carl Crawford, Kim Keathley, Pete Elieff, Greg Walker, Zane Adamo, Rob Baker, Robin Ablin, the entire Brown Monkeys cycling team and many more.
* ... BIKE PATH: And speaking of cycling, shame on the middle aged woman who was walking her dog on the bike path near the RiverWalk amphitheater when she unloaded verbal obscenities on a cyclist who politely asked her to pull in her dog leash. The woman was walking on the far right (which is correct) but her small dog was on the other side of the yellow line on its leash, a recipe for disaster for the dog, the woman and a rider. When asked to pull in the leash, she unleashed a vulgar assault that should not be repeated.
* ... FIRST FRIDAY: If you don't already have plans, it's worth a trip downtown to take in the monthly First Friday celebrations. A show worth catching is an exhibit at The Metro Galleries featuring the stunning paintings by Pasadena (and former Bakersfield resident) artist Faith Taylor.
* … BAD FORM: From a reader: "Saturday morning at Costco there are two children in full-blown pajamas. The parents also are in full blown pajamas, slippers and all. How did they get in the door ? Do they realize what can be transferred from pajamas to food? Maybe we need new signs that read 'No PJs' and tank tops .... no service!"
* … MANNERS: Betsy Gosling wrote to weigh on on the issue of proper etiquette for rooting at youth sports games. "Recently a woman wrote to you indicating she thought it was 'poor taste' for a parent, for example to yell to the pitcher to strike out the batter. I've thought about those comments and wanted to respond. If that pitcher was my son or grandson, I would be yelling for him to do his job and strike out the batter. If the batter were my son or grandson, I'd be yelling for him to hit a home run. That's not criticism as she suggested. That's encouraging the person to do the very best they can do. Their job was to play baseball at that moment in time. I believe these boys were about 12 years old. If they haven't learned to handle criticism, even constructive criticism, and not let it bother them, this is a good opportunity for them, in playing sports. It's a cruel world out there; in case, anyone hasn't noticed. We need to teach our children to the best of our ability how to handle successes and failures. They shouldn't be treated like "princesses" during their young life; what a shock that will be for them when they grow up and find out a person has to work and work hard to succeed in life. Sports is a great area to help parents teach these important lessons, boy or girls, team or individual sports."
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