I should first note that I have not ridden my bicycle for exactly a week since its chain snapped at the top of the hill between Nepenthe and Big Sur. A spoke also snapped and it should be fixed within the week. I have since come into control of a car that I borrowed a few days later that I needed for a commute to Salinas. Its owner is legally not allowed to drive so it is indefinitely in front of my house. A few days later I began my one month borrowing of my father's Prius while he is on vacation with my mom.
I am sharing this information to show that I am not sanctimonious nor completely averse to driving cars.
That said, I get a greater understanding of car drivers when I am driving a car, which brings me to the first issue I would like to address in this PSA:
1. When you accelerate into a red light it triples the number of times that I have to ride my bike with a death machine inches to my left. You pass me as you accelerate into a red light, I pass you as you stop at the red light, and then you pass me again as you accelerate into the next red light.
Last night I remember thinking while watching the Beatles Anthology 1 that I had an important thought for an essay that I wanted to write, but that it was such a big breakthrough I would remember it when I sat down to write the essay. Today I tried to remember what it was.
I decided it was one of two possibilities:
Possibility a (for an essay on the Beatles)—That the Beatles embody a positive interpretation of the Metamorphosis, that Gregor Samsa flies in the end from his room and becomes an existentialist beat hero, joins with the man on the flying pie who tells John that they should become the Beatles with an A. I had listened to the David Rakoff tribute This American Life 3 times over the weekend and had been thinking of the Dr. Seuss/Gregor Samsa piece.
Possibility b (for this essay)—That the one time that I bussed a table that had 5 full water glasses and brought them back to the kitchen and said "¿Porque piden más aqua si lo quieren?" frustrated that not only was water wasted, but that I had to carry 5 full glasses of water on a tray, and Carlos said, in slight jest, "hay que proteger el medio ambiente," and I asked if that's why he rides a bike. Obviously, he has no driver's license and can't afford a car if he did.
The second possibility reached greater development as I went to sleep and formed it into a metaphor for the entitled mindset that goes into not refusing water you will not drink and also accelerating into red lights: you are not responsible for what goes on around you: you are not responsible for the energy that makes your car go: you do not pour or bus the water: you can go days without serving yourself anything or using your own energy for locomotion, so why take responsibility for it?
I am sure I am very frustrating to other cars, especially to all of the sports car-driving tourists who have been in town for Concourse d'elegance this week because I do not accelerate into red lights while driving my father's Prius. I can see the consumption in the car's control panel so I know if I go 0-60 on a slight hill in 5 seconds I will get 30 miles to the gallon. However, if I do it in 15 seconds and accelerate using the hill I will get 100 miles to the gallon. So I do that latter, the Porsche passes me, merges in front of me, and I meet it at the stop light 10 seconds later.
Accelerating into red lights is a metaphor for the mass dependence upon machines that I witness on the roads; it is also bothersome to myself as a bicyclist concerned for his saftey.
2. When you arrive at a stop sign before I do please go first. I don't want to come to a full stop at a stop sign, but I have to if a car is there. You are not doing me a favor by letting me go first. You are forcing me to lose all my momentum, put my foot down, and start from a stop with you, the good fucking samaritan spectating.
3. When you, I hope, check to see if a car is coming before opening your door, consider that a bicycle is another possible object traveling 25 miles an hour a foot from your car.
4. Please don't shout out your window "get a car." I do not want a car.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As a bicycle commuter my biggest philosophy so far has been to slow down enough to break if the driver is a complete idiot but I always go with my momentum. While doing this I will say to myself "c'mon, hit me, hit me, hit me!," reciting The Jokers words in The Dark Knight. I'm tempting to have them hit me but it usually doesn't happen.
ReplyDeleteI've been in two bicycle accidents, one was the first day I ever bought and wore a helmet. I think I got Superman syndrome and thought well if I have this helmet on I'm invincible. Of course I rode through an intersection and had the right-of-way and the car didn't stop, it managed to not hit me by about an inch but I panicked and flew three feet forward as my bike tumbled away. I injured my hip and scratched up my bike pretty well. The stupid driver, drove up about 10 feet from me and stood there idle for a few minutes, I think flipped him off and he drove away. I always wonder why he hesitated and stayed there for a few minutes just watching me suffer.
The second time as partially my fault but it could have been prevented if the driver actually followed the laws. I was in an intersection and I was going to use the crosswalk to cross the street on my bike (which is illegal). I was on the sidewalk riding to the intersection and the light was red, but the moment I got to the crosswalk the light turned green so I was thinking man I can just go straight thru without slowing down but the car at the intersection didn't even look to his right and continued to look to his left the entire time. Who the fuck makes a right hand turn but only looks to his left the entire time? This idiot. I tried to speed up to get past him cause I knew he would hit me but unfortunately he clipped my back wheel. At least I wasn't hurt but this time my bike was pretty beat up. The best part was I didn't even fall down when he hit me, so I just stood there staring him down like a Gladiator ready for battle.
The biggest rule to follow is never trust an automobile, ever!