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Wednesday, February 06, 2008
It's Ash Wednesday, time to revisit Bicycling as a Lenten Practice for a why and Friends don't let Friends Drive for how...
Very wet - though I didn't have to pedal through pedal-deep ponds like last night. Oh, and I got hit in the parking lot... but at such a near-stop that though it knocked that little plastic piece off the back of the Gazelle, it didn't even nudge me. The driver did stop and I made a point of leaning over to make it really, really obvious that I was getting his license plate - even though I had already memorized it ten minutes before when the same guy had passed unnecessarily close at the entrance to the college. THere's a two lane entrance and most folks, him included, make an almost immediate left turn. (Google doesn't have an aero shot of these boonies ) So it struck me as notable when this guy hugged close to me and *then* cut over to make his left... so I snagged his lice3nse and considered getting one of our "warning" fliers (it's a pdf linked partway down the page) and filling it out and I was making up wording to add like "two of these warnings will mean your license information is added to the KNown Aggressive Drivers list" - and it would, it would be *my* personal known aggressive drivers list... and I pulled into my parking lot where because it was five *after* nine people were frantically groping for the parking spaces and there he is... and oops I was a digit off on that license, it was X85 not X75 7323... and I'm cruising through and he clips me!
So... after I've made that obvious mental snapshot, window rolls down, "you okay?" "Yes, I'm fine but you need to stop driving so closely to bicyclists! What were you trying to do?"
"What flew off?"
(I locate the plastic thing which I'm thinking prob'ly didn't fly off my bike... but it's the only debris right there and it turns out it did).
"I had already gotten your license plate out there coming in... I couldn't understand you driving so close to me when you were making a left turn anyway. I was thinking you didn't like bicyclists!"
"I'm just trying to get a parking spot. I"m sorry."
"I know how that is. Have yourself a reasonable day and don't drive so close to people!"
(Then I described this to my office mate who at 9:15 had begun to get concerned... and I noted that he prob'ly assumes I'm a student... and she noted that he might get a big surprise if he mentioned in a class, say a Math class that he had hit a bicyclist, 'cause there might be five people rising up saying "You hit SIOUX ?!?!?!?" ... snork...)
But what I was *going* to say about this a.m.'s ride was that like last night I was wafting in acute doldrums (hey, they're my doldrums so even if that's an oxymoron I'm allowed) and... the sensation of the 35-degree rain starting to leak through the assorted places just leaked happiness into my being. Maybe great-grandma really *was* a penguin.
And I still might stick a warning on that car.
Very wet - though I didn't have to pedal through pedal-deep ponds like last night. Oh, and I got hit in the parking lot... but at such a near-stop that though it knocked that little plastic piece off the back of the Gazelle, it didn't even nudge me. The driver did stop and I made a point of leaning over to make it really, really obvious that I was getting his license plate - even though I had already memorized it ten minutes before when the same guy had passed unnecessarily close at the entrance to the college. THere's a two lane entrance and most folks, him included, make an almost immediate left turn. (Google doesn't have an aero shot of these boonies ) So it struck me as notable when this guy hugged close to me and *then* cut over to make his left... so I snagged his lice3nse and considered getting one of our "warning" fliers (it's a pdf linked partway down the page) and filling it out and I was making up wording to add like "two of these warnings will mean your license information is added to the KNown Aggressive Drivers list" - and it would, it would be *my* personal known aggressive drivers list... and I pulled into my parking lot where because it was five *after* nine people were frantically groping for the parking spaces and there he is... and oops I was a digit off on that license, it was X85 not X75 7323... and I'm cruising through and he clips me!
So... after I've made that obvious mental snapshot, window rolls down, "you okay?" "Yes, I'm fine but you need to stop driving so closely to bicyclists! What were you trying to do?"
"What flew off?"
(I locate the plastic thing which I'm thinking prob'ly didn't fly off my bike... but it's the only debris right there and it turns out it did).
"I had already gotten your license plate out there coming in... I couldn't understand you driving so close to me when you were making a left turn anyway. I was thinking you didn't like bicyclists!"
"I'm just trying to get a parking spot. I"m sorry."
"I know how that is. Have yourself a reasonable day and don't drive so close to people!"
(Then I described this to my office mate who at 9:15 had begun to get concerned... and I noted that he prob'ly assumes I'm a student... and she noted that he might get a big surprise if he mentioned in a class, say a Math class that he had hit a bicyclist, 'cause there might be five people rising up saying "You hit SIOUX ?!?!?!?" ... snork...)
But what I was *going* to say about this a.m.'s ride was that like last night I was wafting in acute doldrums (hey, they're my doldrums so even if that's an oxymoron I'm allowed) and... the sensation of the 35-degree rain starting to leak through the assorted places just leaked happiness into my being. Maybe great-grandma really *was* a penguin.
And I still might stick a warning on that car.
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Tell the guy that if you had ended up in the hospital that it would have been one mighty expensive parking space!
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