Well, this is your bike post, the one I alluded to last time. Actually, this is kind of a postscript to my skateboard post. If you remember, or feel like going back and looking at it, I decided that I couldn't very well skateboard to work with the sidewalks being as bad as they are. And I ended with the question, "Now where'd my bike go?" The answer is: Nowhere, it's right at home, hanging up in my parents' garage, right where I left it... um... gotta be over 10 years ago now. Or rather, that was the answer. Today the answer is:
Chained to the railing in the entryway of the church.
That's right, I've been riding my bike to work! Praise me! Considering that I hadn't been on the thing in over a decade, I think I've been doing pretty well.
Now, I know that some of you might be against it, but I've been riding on the sidewalks. Call me a coward, but I simply do not trust the way people drive on Main Street (or Stratford Ave. for that matter) enough to be in the road with them. Besides, if I take the sidewalks I don't have to cross Main Street to get to the church. I think the main argument for not riding on the sidewalks is that it's rude and/or dangerous to, you know, barrel down on pedestrians with your bike. And I agree with that, of course! But over half of my ride has a strip of grass between the sidewalk and the curb and lawns on the other side, so I can get around padestrians!
And the rest of my ride? Well, pretty frequently I end up walking my bike for at least part of it. I'm scared of corners. I know, I know, but I actually took a pretty bad turn into my parents' driveway one time, lost control, hit a driveway light, went over the handlebars onto my head... So I'm afraid that I might loose control when I'm turning, because I've done it so spectacularly before. Now, the turn out of the apartment's driveway is really safe, but the next turn is onto a really busy street, so I dismount and walk my bike instead of trying it. Cause if I did loose control, I'd end up on the hood of a BMW or something. And then I often walk it just a little bit further,
because the sidewalk gets really narrow right after that. All these pics are taken on the way to the church, by the way, but it was on the way home, in that narrow spot, that I earned my "road rash." I got a little too close to the fence side of that little gap, and, well... I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt! (Cool. I just discovered that sleaved is a real word, too!) So I didn't scrape myself on the road, per se, but I did do it biking... is that still road rash?
Major intersections that I have to cross, I do so walking my bike, with the walk light—there's no sense in taking stupid chances. Especially when you're on a bike and the other guy has an SUV. There is one last corner I walk, it's just at the church, and it's actually got a decent descent to it. (Try saying that three times fast!) I was biking downhill when I lost control all those years ago, and I don't want to repeat that, especially not when loosing control would probably mean ending up in the street—or running into the side of a car! I doubt if my insurance covers me running into a stationary car on my bicycle!
For what it's worth, I can make that turn coming from the other direction!
Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good about bicycling to work, and I'm going to keep it up as much as is safe. Thanks to my folks for helping me get the bike here, and giving me enough money to get it tuned up and safe. Thanks also to Dawn for staying on the cell phone with me and talking me to Tony's Bikes and Sports. I never would have gotten there without her!
Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
080707
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