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Things I learned riding the 10th Avenue bike route today
The 10th Avenue bike route looks like this, but with 100 percent less filtering and 1,000 percent more bicycles.
What did I learn about cycling this morning? More than I thought.
For example...
There are a lot of cyclists in this city.
Most of you wear helmets, which makes you better people than me.
(I have no excuse for being horrible. My helmet's sitting on my kitchen table.)
People still rollerblade!
I am faster than a rollerblader on my bike, but only if said rollerblader is under 12 years old.
That being said, my bicycle does not like to go fast. Also, my tires have slow leaks and my brakes suck.
Riding a bike is just like riding a bike. Despite the fact that I have barely ridden in the last year, my body still knows how to do it.
That stretch between Ontario and Oak looks flat but it is not. Oh god, it's not.
There is pretty much no bike traffic west of Oak Street. At least not at 9:15 a.m.
People will look at you like you are crazy if you smoke a cigarette while riding your bike. However, they will invariably be wearing spandex shorts, so they look just as silly as you do.
Very few cyclists seem to understand how hand signals work. Even fewer use them correctly.
Being a cyclist is straight-up scary. When you're a pedestrian, you can pretty much ignore bicycles (unless they are on the sidewalk; cut that out, eh?) and vehicles (unless they are on the sidewalk, in which case you have a much bigger problem). When you're in a car, you are essentially invincible.
But cycling? You have to deal with pedestrians who jump out in front of you, cars cutting you off at every turn, and you have to deal with slightly insane cyclists who don't obey traffic signs. And can't signal.
It's fucking gorgeous out, go ride your bike.
Follow recalcitrant cyclist Miranda Nelson on Twitter.
Plus, it's much easier to smoke in a car and you don't need a helmet (yet).
I can only hope to educate and encourage more people to join me and abandon their vehicles as a costly luxury that is unnecessary for many.
-- Cyclists feel they don't need to wear helmets.
-- Cyclicsts both own the sidewalks and the roads and shouldn't have to compromise or stop for either pedestrians or cars. They always have the right of way.
-- Cyclists are not subject to road signs or traffic lights.
Really, it's the ideal form of transportation as apparently you need not be courteous or law-abiding -- ever.
Please cite the scientific studies you mention. I am a research scientist and think you are full of crap. I commute 25 km daily to work by bike, in a full-on neon yellow outfit with flashing lights, and after a car hit me last winter (driver found 100% at-fault), I was carried off in a stretcher in an ambulance to VGH. My injuries have still not healed. Nevertheless, all I've received in return is enough money to get another bike to replace my destroyed one. Unless you are selling a car for $500, that is not a "very cool insurance payment which [I] can then use to buy a car". Your insinuation is offensive. Even worse for you, with your lazy ass stuck in a car you'll never have the pleasure of admiring the "hot legs on that bike babe" (according to the cat-calls I received on tonight's ride home). Enjoy emptying your wallet at the gas pump and buying cigarettes.