Friday Profile: The Cricket

It is perhaps even a bit of an understatement to say the Cricket is not a man of many words. But every once in a while he chirps. This usually takes the form of an "I'm in" posted in response to a Tuesday Night Ride announcement. Concise, to the point, and effective, the Cricket's manner of speech is nothing if not sparse. If it weren't for his perpetual smile and easygoing demeanor, one might think he walked off the page of a Cormac McCarthy novel. His unwavering insouciance, in fact, works nicely to help correct for the occasional skittishness exhibited by certain other FGBC members.

A nocturnal animal, The Cricket has been one of the more consistent Tuesday Night Riders over the past few years. Indeed, there was many a cold night this past winter when the Cricket and the Impaler, unlikely pair that they may be, were the only people in all of Winnipeg out riding their bikes. So regular is the Cricket with his TNR participation, in fact, that one might say that he is to the FGBC what bran is to the BM. Without him, our weekly night time riding routine would no doubt occasionally become all out of sync.

To draw attention to his relative silence, however, is by no means to point out a vice. Rather, his taciturnity might be counted as his greatest virtue. One of the nicest things about riding with The Cricket is that you know he will not talk your ears off. As Jonny G can attest, it is not much fun riding with someone who blathers on and on about such insignificant trivialities as new eyewear purchases. But perhaps more than any other FGBC'er the Cricket knows how to appreciate the properly meditative moments of a bike ride.

Like his namesake, he is known for the way he darts around when the finish line is near. Unlike he namesake, however, his darting has been known to take him in a direction away from the finish line. But once he gets his bearings figured out, we expect the Cricket to deliver many a fine result for the FGBC. And yet it is not just the promise of results that makes us so excited to welcome him into the FGBC family. In addition to his racing exploits, the Cricket serves many other useful functions within the larger orbit of Team FGBC. The youngest member of the team by far, he brings down the average age of the team so that we can expect firmly to remain a group of thirty-somethings for some time. And he has also taken it upon himself to oversee our post-race rehydration program. The Cricket can always be spotted wandering around the finishing area with a portable cooler stocked with FGD hanging from his shoulder. For this we are most grateful.