Friday, August 3, 2007

Seriously, is it just me?


I just got back from a bike ride running some errands on a hot day. Uneventful, that is, no blood was shed this time, but it's always risky even in a bike friendly (?) place like Toronto.

Understand this: I'm not an avid cyclist, it's just transportation. I live downtown, and I ride a lot; I even wear a dorky helmet, the kind that was inspired by Ridley Scott.
Maybe I should be like the guys who just dangle their helmets from their handlebars. Not that the helmet will do a whole lot, but I'd be a fool not to. And besides, I bought it at a yard sale for a buck and it'll have to do until something better comes along.

I also don't have any hair left for the wind to blow through.

I try to behave myself, I use my mandatory bell a lot to keep from getting doored. I'm just a mad bellin' fool.

And get this: I stop at red lights; I stop at stop signs. I signal. Am I the only one?

Apparently so. Apparently I'm surrounded by the folly of youth, and sometimes oldth. These cyclists just weave in and out of traffic, through red lights, on sidewalks. They ride wide. They have invisible friends on bikes. They take their dogs for a walk drag.






They are invincible, hear them roar.

And then when one of them gets popped, they start whining about the cars and traffic and lack of respect, and "share the road, man!"

I think that it's a sense of entitlement they feel: they are noble; they do not pollute; they leave no footprint.

Hah! A bully by any other name.

And that's today: 'nother day in paradise.


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