When Blogs Collide

(photo thanks to Tarik's robotic camera)

Every now and then the universe likes to remind us that we live in a strange and wonderful world.

Last Friday at work my friend and colleague Mark Canizaro was asking me about folding bikes. I told him about the Bike Friday's and the Dahon that I'd owned and then added "the coolest folder I ever had was a BridgestonePicnica." Mark didn't know Bridgestone ever made a folding bike and he wanted to see a picture. His quick (misspelled) Google search came up empty. "My friend Tarik has one," I suggested. "Google 'Tarik Folding Bikes' and you'll find it." So Mark taps a few keys and a couple of seconds later he's browsing through the folding bike posts on Tarik's excellent blog.

After poking around the blog for a bit, Mark comments, "your buddy Tarik sure travels a lot." "Not really," I counter, "it just seems that way but you're looking at years worth of stuff. Mostly he hangs around Albuquerque these days." I go on to explain that Tarik works at Los Alamos now and that he does some kind of materials science work. "He's worked at various places with big particle accelerators." I also add that Tarik was the guy who took time off work to drive down to the Mexican border to and haul me and my stuff to the airport in Albuquerque at the end of my Great Divide Race in 2005.

About an hour after Mark and I have this conversation, Tarik and his Bike Friday fixed gear roll through the door of the Bikestation. I had no idea Tarik was in town but it was great to see him. My pal Brad Hawkins stopped by and we took advantage of a lull in the Bike Station action to retire to "conference room Z" for some refreshment and to solve the problems of the world.

Back at the office I had to admit to Mark that "OK, you were right. Tarik travels a lot!"