This week there's a large street festival near where I work, which means that when I go over there for each of my four shifts I have to bike instead of drive. Normally I'd bike to the first shift, then maybe walk to the second, and drive for the last two. Since my last shift is at 11 PM I was especially eager to drive since I didn't feel safe walking or biking.
With the festival, though, there are so many people around that parking is almost nonexistent and biking is pretty safe. Also, this morning I got yelled at by an old lady for riding on the sidewalk, so I've started biking in the street with traffic. It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be...during the day I take relatively quiet side streets, and tonight I took the more major streets since there were fewer cars around. One thing I have noticed, though, is an increase in commentary.
This afternoon when I was biking home I sped past a car on the cross street of an intersection, and the driver shouted, "Hey, hubba hubba!" Seeing as how we were the only two vehicles in the vicinity I assumed he was commenting on me. Also, tonight, when I was sporting the ever-stylish reflective ankle band and flashing bike light that Mike loaned me, a group of guys in a Camry shouted, "Ooooh, yeah!" as they passed me. Both times I was tempted to let fly with a healthy, "Hey, FUCK YOU!" but it seemed unwise to antagonize men with vehicles a few hundred times bigger and heavier than mine.
Not everyone in the city thinks that biking is for dorks, though. This evening another biker pulled up next to me at an intersection while we waited for the light to change, and we exchanged pleasant, "Hey's." As I was pulling up to my apartment building a guy I passed called out, "Hey, you missed the five!" I turned around and he was standing with his arm extended. I laughed and backed up and slapped his hand and he said, "Yeah, we're all bikers here." His friends called out, "Ride safe!" and "Have a nice night!" as I rode to my building. They were sort of drunk, but seemed genial nonetheless.
For better or worse, I've never had as much interaction with other people on the roads when I was driving as I do while riding my bike. It's interesting, and I kind of like it. When the fall comes I'll be pretty sad to go back to my car full-time.
Also, to
Jen - It turns out that it wasn't Juneau's turn for the carrier. I do have a patented technique to get the cats in there, though. After five cats, I'm a pro!
