Of Bombs and Saddles

I always question names, particularly of things. In general they are meant to sell a specific object. Cars have some of the more silly names out there. I'm sure Ford would like the buyers of their Escapes do believe that they are in fact capable of escaping life's challenges and those paved roads that "society" tells them they need to drive on. And my Ford Focus could mean anything from the small size of the car and its supposedly meticulous craftsmanship to the way drivers like me approach a road, or a problem, or some such nonsense. Then there are others that seem to make no real sense, like Celica, which Don DeLillo, in White Noise, lumps with Toyota's Corolla and Cressida, marveling at the fact that they are "surpranational names, computer-generated, more or less universally pronounceable" (155). Very strange stuff. And equally as strange are the models that come with numbers and letters, like Acura's RL, or the computer I'm typing on right now, the HP dv1000.

So when I ordered my Brooks B-17 the other day, I wondered about the letter and number designation. What does that mean? They also have saddles with names, like the "Swift" and the "Finesse," but then there are also others with letters and numbers like the B-66 and the B-72. These strike me as surprisingly militaristic, and I was not at all surprised to find that the B-17 was in fact an aircraft in World War II. It was known as the "flying fortress" and it participated in numerous strategic bombing offenses over Germany and other countries. I could not make any connection between saddles and bombs until this afternoon though.

My own B-17 came in today, my last day at the shop, and it was definitely a bright spot on an otherwise disappointing stretch of summer. But I wont go into specific details here, I will just say that there are some people and some places that you respect for their actions, and others that you do not. And today there were a number of bombs dropped that I wasn't comfortable with, but would in no way describe as strategic. Nevertheless, they were destructive and left a few lasting marks.




Back to the bright spot though (and I would like to point out the my particular B-17 did not do any of the actual bomb dropping). It looks great. The leather is extremely smooth and stiff, and I look forward to breaking it in. For the next few weeks it should ensure that I do not ride more hours than I think I'm capable of. I can't wait to see it on the pacer. I think the classic silver will go very well with the antique brown leather. I promise pictures in a day or two, but at the moment I'm preparing for some visitors. Robin's parents and sister are flying in from Tucson. They will be staying with us for a week. They understand bikes though, so I should have some time to tinker and post more pics.