Reflections on my Bike Ride to Work #4

Not really a reflection so much as a anecdote ah guess...

but ah did hit/git hit by a movin vehicle today.

ahm fine, we were both brakin n saw each otha w. enuff time that it was nawt really a crash. Scared tha shit outta me tho.

It wasn't anyones fault really - ah was bikin in a bike lane, n thar was a parked delivery van in tha car lane (ok, ah guess it was tha asshat who parked thar van in tha street's fault). As ah went past it, thar was a truck on tha otha side of tha van who was apparently gaein ta make a right turn when it gawt past tha van. Ah saw him turnin intae my path w. enuff time ta hit my brakes (altho nawt too hard cuz my mechanical brakes ken stop a lil too hard sometimes n tha back tire will skid). Ah wasn't able ta stop completely before ah gawt ta tha hood of tha truck, but ah more used it ta bounce back up n walk to a few feet w. my bike before hoppin back on. Here's the best picture ever for reference:



Tha driver stopped n asked if ah was okay n ah told him ah was fine. He apologized n said he couldn't see b/c of tha truck, which ah unnerstood. Howevah, ah think thar was some asshat old man who actually waved him intae tha intersection - ah saw him givin someone tha okay, but assumed they were across tha street. Now ahm nawt so sure.

Anyway, as far as collisions gae it wasn't very dangerous er threatenin, so hopefully ahve filled my quota fer bike-related accidents this year.

Oh, so my loser friend Danny has decided my original picture wasn't awesome enuff, so he's updated it for all of you 3 year olds reading my blog:

Runnin a stop sign in El Cerrito

Costs $93.

WTF???

Ah was runnin a few minutes late today - n tha way ah dae thangs is a few minutes ken make all tha difference. Ah have a pretty tight routine down in tha mornin that doesn't allow fer much more then 7 minutes between leavin my house n bein upstairs at tha BART stop fer my train. If ah miss that one, anutha train comes in 8 minutes - but requires a transfer. Tha next direct train isn't fer 15 minutes, which is pretty anticlimactic aftah a fast n furious bike ride.

Generally ah pay relatively good attention to traffic signs, etc. But when ahm late, n approachin a cross street w. nawt a car in sight, ahll usually gae right past it. Today, this led to me gittin stopped by a cop, who wrote me a ticket fer failin ta yield to a stop sign. Ah was hopin by playin tha complacent offendee, ah mite git off w. a warnin (hey, it werked when ah bought underage youth alcohol!), but nae such luck.

Aftahwerds, ah wish ahd been at least a touch more rebellious - nawt ta fight tha ticket, but when he mentioned that if a car had broken tha law ah just ignored, it would be big trouble ah wish ahd pointed out that ahm nawt a two ton vehicle in motion powered by dinosaur debris - ahma dude on a bike n combined we don't total 175 pounds (ahm skinny, ah know). Also, ah really should've mentioned that while ah wasn't arguin that ahd broken tha law, as someone who gawt mugged by uncaught (n apparently somewhat notoroius) thugs just three blocks away, ah didn't support spendin so much person-power on finin cyclists who breezed through a stop sign. Especially when he told me thar were cops all along tha path today. Ah hate bein caught off guard!

Tha biggest kickah is ah totally read an article in tha SF Weekly just tha aftahnoon before that mentioned how cops were crackin down on cyclists - n nawt those who drive automobiles b/c "studies" have started indicatin that cylcists are more likely ta disobey tha traffic rules then cars are. Tha slant was that more education/awareness could potentially fix tha amount of accidents n help folx share tha road bettah (as an initiative in Marin is startin ta prove), but ah really should've taken somethang more then that away from it. Considerin tha amount of stop signs ah have nae problem runnin so long as thars nae one drivin on tha road, ah ken almost assume tha cops read tha same fricken article ah did ta git tha idea.

When asked how much it mite run me (why dae ah dae this? Cops nevah know - er if they don't they don't say what tha consequences are EVAH), ah was told that tha verdict was usually about half what a car violation was. While ah git this in concept, if we want ta gae by weight/impact/etc., a 1 to 10 ratio is a lawt more accurate. Thus far findin what this translates to in American dollars has proved fruitless.

Worst part - this could (probably will) give me points on my license, which ah really hope doesn't increase my non-car-ownin insurance. How stupid is all this?