When biking down the street with parked cars, I always try to look ahead and see if there is a human in the car. If there is a human, I try to always make sure that I can clear their door.
I saw a human in a parked car the other day while riding, and cleared the car right when the woman swung the door open (which, if I had been riding closer to the right, would have nailed me). Right as I wizzed by, she went ‘oops!’.
OOPS? LADY YOU COULD HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY HURT ME. How about checking for oncoming traffic before swooping your door open?
But hey – as a cyclist, we need to be the observant ones.
So this sign is to remind :
1. Drivers to glance in their rear view before kicking open the door
2. Cyclists that riding too close to parked cars is dangerous
But what I really like about this sign is the exclamation mark. I mean really? We all know that means the cyclist is swearing at the driver.
Oops, my a$$.
Or could that exclamation point mean something else? What do you translate it as?
By the way, this sign is part of an awareness campaign in Seattle. woot!
(Sung to the tune of Are you Lonesome Tonight by Elvis
Are you social tonight
When you ride on tonight
Are you sorry they dropped you on the ride
Does your memory stray to a bright sunny day
When we all biked down the street
Does the bike seat seem hard and cruel
Do you gaze at the road and picture me there
Is your heart filled with pain, shall I come back again
Tell me dear, are you social tonight
My bolo tie. One of the cow horns snagged in my nose and it hurt.
So last night I worked up enough nerve to go hang out with a local social cycling group. The theme was ‘Western’, so I dug out a bolo tie and cowboy shirt (both bought in Texas so they are .. gen-u-wine), locked myself out of the house without my helmet, and was on my way! (I used the commuter bike, not my touring bike).
Now, there are many different types of GROUPS out there, for each sport. For cycling you have:
1. Road racers: Usually skinny hipped doods in nice spandex doing 26 MPH and too elite to say ‘on your left’
2. Road bikers: I clump myself in this group. Not so skinny hipped, doing about 18-22 MPH, polite enough to say ‘on your left‘. Spandex may or may not match
3. Bikers: There are many subdivisions here. “Fixies”*, beach cruiser type people, social cyclists (usually activists)
4. MTB: Mountain / trail bikers. Something I know very little about and hope to learn more about this summer
5. Commuters: The brave and bold that bike to work
I learned a few things on this ride:
1. Non cycling clothes suck to bike in. soggy cotton eww
2. I don’t like biking 5-7 MPH in a large group
3. It is fun having a boombox blaring out music
4. I seemed to be the only person with a well packed bike bag
5. I thought people would be more.. social. No one really talked to me but I DID see a dood effectively pick up a chick. You go, dood.
I know a few runners read this blog. Are there “runner” sub-groups out there? Do you get judged if you are wearing like.. Nike vs. Adidas?
Cyclists – did I miss a subgroup? Do you ride often with any ‘social’ group?
*Will have a separate post to deal with the ‘fixie’ issue.
