A Birthday Not Worthy of Celebration

April 20th is not a day that has significance for most Americans. But for a few students at JP Case Middle School, April 20th, 2010 did have significance. You see, April 20th is the birthday of one of the most reviled figures in history, Adolf Hitler. Several girls, who happen to be friends of my 14 year old daughter- who is Jewish- thought it would be funny to signify Hitler’s birthday through various postings on Facebook, Twitter and other online blogs that they use.

A post first appeared on my daughter’s Facebook Newsfeed. One of her friends status message now read “Happy Birthday Hitler.” Since this girl has 300+ friends on Facebook, all of her friends could now see her status. A second friend of my daughter said that she “liked this”, indicating her approval or amusement with what the first girl posted. The second friend then became a fan of one or more facebook pages commemorating Hitler’s birthday.

But the two above Facebook postings were fairly inocuous compared to what my daughter’s third friend did. Not to be outdone, and as the defacto “leader” of this peer group, she posted a picture of Anne Frank on a blog website called “Tumblr.” Written across the bottom of the young Anne Frank’s photo was a hand lettered “Happy Birthday Hitler.” My reaction to all this was close to rage. Here was a group of 8th grade girls, roughly the same age as Anne Frank, who hid in isolation from the Nazis until her eventual capture and later death in a concentration camp.

Aside from the general repulsiveness of commemorating Hitler’s birthday, the postings showed a complete lack of judgment and sensitivity towards my daughter and other Jewish kids at J.P. Case. The kids who posted this vile crap thought they were being funny and sarcastic. But to a Jewish person, the Nazis and Hitler are not a joking matter.

Think about who actually celebrates Hitler’s birthday today? Neonazi groups, such as White Aryan Resistance and other hate groups routinely hold public celebrations on April 20th to mark the birthday of the man they worship as their “hero.” Hitler is their hero, because he tried to rid the world of Jews.

I wonder how people would have reacted if these girls had celebrated Obama Bin Laden’s birthday, or maybe they can throw a party on September 11, celebrating the fall of the world trade center buildings? Would there then be some outrage?

These are the girls my daughter is friends with? They really have no clue. Safe within their suburban bedrooms, they sit in front of a computer for hours Facebooking and blogging such words of wisdom as “I need2 shower and do my homework” or “I hate everyone rite now” or “I really need to calm down and stop being so obnoxious...” Wow. Such literary presence. Are these our future leaders?

Below is a passage written By Anne Frank in 1944:

“I finally realized that I must do my schoolwork to keep from being ignorant, to get on in life, to become a journalist, because that’s what I want! I know I can write ..., but it remains to be seen whether I really have talent ...
And if I don’t have the talent to write books or newspaper articles, I can always write for myself. But I want to achieve more than that. I can’t imagine living like Mother, Mrs. van Daan and all the women who go about their work and are then forgotten. I need to have something besides a husband and children to devote myself to! ... I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that’s why I’m so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that’s inside me! When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that’s a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?”

The answer to Anne’s rhetorical question at the end is of course, yes, as history defines her as millions of people have read her diary since its release.

I wonder if any of my daughters “friends” have even read The Diary of Anne Frank? I seriously doubt it. How can you have time to read when you spend countless hours texting, twittering and facebooking?

There is a final chapter to this story though. Offended by the Hitler postings, I confronted one of the girl’s mothers. Rather than ask her daughter to apologize, she wrote me the following:

“As for my daughters opinion on Mr. Hitler......We are very fortunate to live in a country that provides us certain unalienable rights, included in these are freedom of religion and freedom of speech! If it is offensive to you, then do not read it or turn it off. That is your right! Just because you do no not like her opinion does not mean she has to remove it!”

Really? I wonder how the school would react if her daughter posted the picture of Anne Frank in the hallway? Technically she is probably correct. However vile, her daughter can post antisemitic material on her blog. However, then I will exercise my right of free speech to expose her daughter as an anti-semite hater, who is insensitive to her friends and classmates that are Jewish.

Here is an interesting thought; Anne Frank’s birthday is coming up on June 12th. Let’s send all these idiots a message by celebrating Anne Frank’s birthday.

Saying goodbye to winter

April is a busy time of year for many of us as we transition from winter into spring. Aside from doing our income taxes, I start winding down my ski season and ramping up for cycling and bike racing. This year was a heck of a winter in the northeast, with several snowstorms in late February and early March that left people wishing winter would end. But I tend to hold onto winter as it's one of my favorite seasons.

Winter is a time when you can spend more time inside with friends or family, read a book sitting by the fire, enjoy a hot bowl of soup or cocoa. But you needn't spend your whole winter indoors getting lazy and fat- even if that is a programmed biological tendency for mammals. Winter goes by much faster if you spend more time outside. There are often gloriously sunny days during winter with cloudless skies and sunlight is a known antidote to the winter blues. Moreover, winter sports such as skiing, snowshoeing or skating will keep you fit and stimulate your body's endorphins.

And then there are the storms. For those of us that love this season, the excitement starts when those first flakes begin to fall and the ground gets covered in a blanket of white. Suddenly, the neighborhood becomes a silent, mystical place. Roads and walkways vanish into one extensive white landscape.

I do a lot of skiing during the winter. Some days were pure recreational ski days, others were driving my daughter to race practice. This winter we were fortunate enough to have some natural snow in the Poconos that lay in the trees between the trails. On a trip to Seven Springs, I found myself schussing through powdery moguls in Western Pennsylvania's coal country. It snowed there for four straight days as a storm system hung over the area during President's weekend. During the winter my daughter bonded with her racing teammates and I met a lot of people on the chairlifts and slopes. That in itself made all the early mornings worth it.

Now the snow is all gone and a lot of us find ourselves missing our winter friends and mountains. We will just have to wait anther 200 days.

Shawnee Race Team Invades Hidden Valley

Jan 28, 2010, Vernon, NJ

"Who are all these kids?" was the question from the guy doing the timing at the top of the GS course at Hidden Valley on a cold blustery night. "I thought this was a masters league." Well it is, but the rules don't bar juniors from racing in the consolation race. And race they did, as a group of J3 racers from Shawnee Mountain came out for the NJSC pasta and race night. It was a cold night, but that didn't stop a few of the kids from stripping down and racing in their suits.

At the bottom of the course, some of the faster guys from High Life were asking the same question... "who are those kids..." And when Michael Podstawski, an 8th grader from Flemington NJ smoked the course with a 23.73 on his first run, he was followed by John McDonald, also from Flemington NJ. John ran the course in 24.08. Only one master was able to beat Michael's combined time for the night, and that was Kevin Kanski of High Life. Not to be outdone by the kids which he coaches, Paul McDonald of Flemington NJ ran a 23.34, the fastest time of the night for one run.

Over on the women's side, our own Elissa Antelman, age 14, ran a 56.65 combined to take the women's race. Unfortunately for Ramapo Women, Elissa isn't 18 yet! Her teammate, Erika Brattstrom from Mt. Olive, NJ ran a 28.43 on her first run, the second fastest time. I'm sure both Ramapo or High Life would like to get these kids on their adult teams in a few years, but for now all they could do is watch with amazement, as a bunch of kids from a small ski hill like Shawnee stole the show. These are J-3 racers, age 13-14 and they will only get bigger, stronger and faster as J1 or J2 racers.

WHat did the kids think of Hidden Valley? They enjoyed racing there, but there were not too excited to ski there. "Its small, cold and slow lifts" was the general consensus. The kids did enjoy buffalo wings and fries at the bar after all the racing was over.

What to do when your chain breaks?

You're nearing the end of your ride, 3 miles from home you start up a steep climb and all of sudden.... POP.... you're pedaling and not going anywhere. This happened to me on today's ride, a drizzly 35 degree affair. In my case the chain on my fixed gear broke at the universal link. I walked up the steep part of the hill, and thought about whether I should try and walk the last 3 miles to my house in my bike shoes or call someone for a ride. I thought about rolling back down the hill to Frenchtown, where I could probably borrow a chain tool from Cycle Corner, but my guess was that the shop was closed, being that it's the middle of January.

Then I remembered an article that said you could make temporary fixes that would get you home. A broken chain could be wired together and while you can't make a complete pedal stroke, you can "ratchet pedal" to get yourself rolling, which is still a lot faster than walking or waiting for a ride. OK, all I needed was a piece of wire or a heavy paper clip, right? Never mind that in a rural area of Frenchtown the side of the road is not exactly littered with paperclips or metal wire. It was then I noticed the house on the corner that had about 50 little flags around the perimeter of the property. The flags are used to train a dog to an electric fence and each flag is held by a nice piece of strong metal wire. I snatched up a flag, folded it appropriately and tied the 2 open ends of the chain together. Note, because I ride a flip-flop hub that was possible, I switched from the fixed gear to the freewheel sprocket (You can't ratched pedal a fixed gear).

Armed with my "repaired" chain, I was able to pedal a half stroke back and forth. Probably looked ridiculous, but this did get me the last 3 miles back to my garage.

Do you have a quick improvised fix? Email your stories to me and I will incorporate into my next post!

When progress fails

What is progress? You would think that progress is moving from some unwanted to state to an improved state or state of perfection. Is that really the case with mountain bikes? When the mountain bike first appeared in the late 1980s, it offered an alternative to a skinny tire road bike. With its upright position, smaller wheels and wide knobby tires a fun machine was created. Adults could feel like kids again, riding on grass, trails or dirt, jumping rocks or branches along the way. But as the years passed, something very strange happened. The basic design of the mountain bike changed to incorporate suspension and with that the bikes became heavier and more complicated. Bikes first appeared with front suspension, which did not change the look that much, but when rear suspension appeared, suddenly the bikes appeared in all kinds of configurations. You could hardly find these mutant bikes attractive.

The early mountain bikes are now sought after, especially the higher end machines. I put a GT Karokoram Elite on Craiglist and within an hour or two several people wanted to come buy it. I had no idea. Could an old mountain bike be better than a newer one?

I currently have two mountain bikes- the first is the GT from 1992 or so, it has a 7-speed freewheel and early shifters that have a single knob. It has uncomplicated cantilever brakes and a U-brake booster on the rear wheel. Lots of stopping power. My newer mountain bike is a specialized FSR XC, full suspension. I bought that one in 1999 or so. I cannot ride the Specialized because the rear shock won't hold gas any longer and I didn't want to spend $200 to replace the FOX vanilla shock. Additionally, the Specialized has rapid fire shifters, where each shifter has two buttons and up and a down. These shifters don't work any more, they only shift through half of the gear range. I am sure the shop will tell me that these can't be serviced. So maybe the newer mountain bike needs $350 of work. Meanwhile the older GT still rides!

It is interesting to go to Walmart, Costco or other mega stores where they sell bikes and see the cheaper mountain bikes... 24 or 27 speeds, full suspension and all junk. The average customer at Walmart, who does not know bikes, would think that more gears is better, and more suspension is better. But the bike industry is doing the value minded customer a disservice, by not offering a stripped down bike, much like my early 1990s GT- for a lower price. Now that would be progress.