20/1/10

darkemeralds: Old French poster of bicycle with naked flame-haired woman. (Bike)
The first time I rode Clyde to and from work, back in September, it was a major triumph of will.

Now I have a fixed route whose traffic hazards and potholes I'm very familiar with. I know my bike better, too.

My ride in to work takes 27 minutes. Going home, about 30. It's not boring--far from it!--but it has become routine. So lately I've been listening to podfic and audiobooks as I ride. Only in one ear--it would be crazy to block out traffic noise. I'm of two minds about this, but so far, I feel perfectly safe.

There are these bike stereo speakers on the market now, which are cool but pose three significant problems: they aren't rainproof (lame!), I hate hearing other people's music so why would I subject people around me to mine?, and finally, um, porn. Hah! Can you imagine riding around with some story by [livejournal.com profile] fleshflutter or [livejournal.com profile] leonidaslion blaring out of your handlebars?

Yeah, me neither.

Sigh...

20/1/10 15:23
darkemeralds: Old French poster of bicycle with naked flame-haired woman. (Bike)
What is it about a person on a bike that gets so many people's back up?

I ran into an old friend at lunch. She asked "What's new with you?" so I told her about riding Clyde, and the first thing out of her mouth after that was, "Oh God! Are you all political about it now?"

A certain amount of (relatively mild) anti-bike sentiment ensued, but she soon enough introduced a civil change of subject.

Before I started riding a bike, I didn't love bikes. (I still don't--I just love Clyde. :D) I didn't think bike commuting was possible for me, and the people who did it seemed to be from a different, more physically-privileged species.

Driving behind cyclists made me nervous, and I felt alienated from the predominantly young, predominantly male bike culture. Bike-riders were, in short, annoying. But not in a Dr Thompson kind of way.

My old friend was just unthinkingly giving voice to that annoyance and alienation. I get that. But her views are along an unbroken continuum at the far end of which is a surprisingly popular notion that bike-riders deserve injury or death for a lack of "respect for motorists" (read the comments on that LA Times Blog post if you doubt me).

I just...I see it--with depressing frequency--but I don't understand it, you know?

Profile

darkemeralds: A round magical sigil of mysterious meaning, in bright colors with black outlines. A pen nib is suggested by the intersection of the cryptic forms. (Default)
darkemeralds

May 2024

S M T W T F S
   1234
567891011
121314151617 18
19 2021 222324 25
262728293031 

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Page generated 2/7/25 15:56

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags