treehugger

I end up locking my bike to trees a lot. With the cable lock. U-lock won’t fit around most trees. Except those tiny little babies that get slammed into the sidewalk and neglected all to frequently and I’m usually worried about locking to them because I don’t want anyone to cut them down to get at my bike.

To lock your bike to a tree there’s really no other option but to become a treehugger. Partly because you’ve got to hold both ends of the lock and wrap your arms around the tree to connect them but also because you end up being pretty thankful that at least there’s enough trees around to lock a bike to even if there ain’t enough bike racks. So you like the tree for being there. And you like the tree for shading your bike. Bikes are tough, no doubt, but still no reason to leave it out in the sun baking the seat and cooking the odometer battery. You walk away from the treehugging exchange feeling better somehow – knowing that a tree is watching over your steed – and it’s always nice to get a hug – it makes you feel good – even if it’s from a tree – especially if it’s from a tree!

(Of note on the protecting the odometer battery: I’ve got a little reflective Velcro ankle strap that I never bother to wear anymore but I’ve still got it fastened to my bike (Le Mule) right up on the stem. I figure it occasionally still performs its duty there of flashing some light in some unsuspecting motorists eye. But on a hot sunny day when I’m parking the bike without the benefit of a huggable tree I just push that little anklet right up the stem and over the odometer to provide a little quick easy shade and hopefully prolong it’s life expectancy.)

Somewhere in my head I have the crazy idea that locking to a tree is illegal. And parking meters, too. I don’t know where I got this or if it’s true – it probably depends on the city but I tend to avoid the parking meters anyway because they’re generally not great to lock to unless you’ve got a really narrow u-lock that can’t lift over the meter indicator dome pay point thingy.

But I lock to trees. Arrest me if you must. I’m a treehugger. And I like it.