I happen to be a bicycle commuter. Not all of the time, typically from spring through fall and between 2 and 4 days a week. I know some people who ride year long cold or hot and rain or shine. Not me, every morning getting ready for the day I attempt to catch the weather channel at eight minutes past whatever to get the local forecast and gauge whether or not it’s worth it or if I want the comfort of steel and glass to surround me. The reason I commute is because I prefer two wheels to four in almost all short travel distances not requiring carrying anything or including anyone else and it’s kind of reassuring fitness wise, in my mind covering for my evening beverage preferences. There’s no altruism to my riding, I don’t believe I’m saving the planet or anything as a result and I don’t go very far and the mileage on my oil reliant transportation options reflects that.
There’s a relatively lightly traveled, low speed limit road with a generous riding shoulder that I prefer to take home on afternoons that I ride because it runs parallel to a main road that takes me past my housing development and down back through trails adding a few miles. This road also happens to be home to a high school. Last Friday I was riding home and apparently school got out the same time that I happened to pass through. It turned out to be a life lesson in location avoidance. I probably should have known better but I have no idea or any desire to understand the schedule of neither this or any high school nor the logistics of the student parking lot. Apparently the parking lot in question has half a dozen exits onto the normally serene street perpendicular to the lane I ride home on. Every one of those exits last Friday had some car in it populated with a teenager’s blank stare foretelling the doom of a premature and ill-advised rush into traffic.
Perhaps I’m obtuse for bringing it up or for making broad judgments about teenage drivers but I’ve got some slightly soiled undergarments in support of my point. It’s highly probable that there exist teenage drivers that pay attention all the time but I’m not going to put myself in a compromising situation on benefit of the doubt alone. It’s all about risk and sometimes it’s not just worth it and I’ll take being a bit prejudiced against teenager on this one. A friend of mine reminded me that last Friday also had the dubious distinction of being a holiday of sorts for pot heads, perhaps which had something to do with the preponderance of blank stares and impending fear of me becoming a hood ornament.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
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That sounds intense. I am a pretty regular bike commuter myself - I started a couple years ago when I made the plunge and got myself a new commuter bike. If I leave early enough, or if I stay late, I don't have to worry too much about which route I take. But certain times of day, I've learned to choose my route very carefully.
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