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Distinguished Company Returns

\"distinguishedDistinguished company returns to us!

A while back I blogged about the Romanovs and cycling. Clairvoyance, perhaps?

The June 2019 issue of Adventure Cyclist carries an article, \”Cycling with the Tsars\”, beginning on page 10. I enjoyed it very much. I\’m quite amused, for instance, by the mention of Tsar Alexander III \”coasting down the Ural Mountains\” to work up an appetite for breakfast. Adrenaline junkies are nothing new, it seems.

With a sire like that, Nicholas II had cycling in his blood. Evidently he passed the trait along. All four of the daughters of Nicholas II learned to ride bicycles. Their brother Alexis had to be content with a tricycle. Because of his hemophilia, he always had to be careful to avoid falls, bumps, and so on. It must have been hard for him, especially as he is said to have been a lively child.

Do you long to go a-roving through the countryside on your two wheels? Nicholas II may well have had visions of himself taking such rides. I guess he wouldn\’t have had the luxury of multiple gears and hydration systems, far less an ebike. It\’s hard for me to imagine riding with no cassette and no Camel-Bak. Aren\’t I spoiled?

Lenin, who loathed Nicholas II, was himself — ironically — quite eager about cycling. He would take long weekend rides in the countrysides of France. It\’s a pity that \”Nicky\” and Lenin were such enemies. They might have had a lot of fun going on long rides together, keeping each other distinguished company. And when distinguished company returns? So much the better.