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I got up this morning and realized I don't intend to ride my bicycle to school in the mornings any more. It's not scary. It's terrifying.
People honk at me because I'm in their way.
They honk at me from the next lane so I won't suddenly swerve in front of them.
They honk at me to let me know they see me or to give me an attaboy.
People try to squeeze past me without getting out of their lane . . . even when there's no traffice in the next lane.
People cut in front of me when they pass - I guess to let me know I shouldn't be taking up road space.
As scary as it is on the street, the sidewalk is worse . . .
g the little loopies where the walk meanders around utility poles . . .
g the branches of trees down at eye level . . .
g the ledges where the subsoil has heaved the sidewalk up four inches . . .
g the guy wires that stay the utility poles where they anchor through the sidewalk . . .
g where the sidewalk goes away altogether for shopping center landscaping, forcing me into the roadway when the motorist isn't expecting me . . .
gthe 90-degree bends in the sidewalk that pedestrians have no problem with . . .
I'm too young and pretty to become a traffic statistic. I don't get to contribute to reducing my carbon footprint this way. I don't get to reduce my country's dependence on foreign petroleum.
I wonder how long it takes to walk the three miles?
For now, I'll just burn the oil, I guess.
But I am going to petition the City Council for a bike lane.
Pax
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3 comments:
You MUST, you MUST, you MUST move to Denmark, right now. Do not pass go, do not collect $200...it is for your own safety! And that of your Schwinn!!
I'm scoping out alternate routes. It'll at least double the distance, but I DO want to cyclocommute. Right now I'm just fording the traffic streams in the as The White Ranger, secure in my own anonymity.
And thank you for your concern; we haven't bought tickets yet, but we are planning to mooch a couple of nights in your guestroom.
Golly Moses, I don't like the thought of you being honked at or plowed down. Maybe you should take one of the city council members on a bike ride to show them how scary it is.
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