So I know this probably makes me insane, but I hate having a car. I would one million times prefer to take public transportation. I understand that this is dumb and crazy, because don't all red-blooded American children wait those arduous sixteen years before they can get behind the wheel of a chunk of rolling metal/plastic?! Well, I did. But now I don't like it anymore.
What I like even more than the T is biking to places. Now, there is a difference between biking TO places and biking just because you're biking. When I'm biking just cuz, some part of my brain that I cannot shut up is always like "why are you doing this?" and then I go up a hill and my brain starts in with the "maybe you should quit." Then, since it's me, I get dehydrated/hungry, and descend into the depths of crankiness from which not even my man-friend can pull me. And I get so cranky that I refuse to eat or drink anything to make me less cranky. So I just kind of pedal along with my brain taunting me on my useless bike ride and my stomach growling and my kidneys failing.
No, commuter biking is where my heart truly lies. It has a purpose! It has lots of purposes! Here are some:
- You can get where you're going.
- You can't quit because you HAVE TO GET THERE.
- It's good exercise.
- If you're in Boston, biking is just as fast as driving.
- IT'S GOOD FOR THE PLANET YOU GUYS.
- You get all endorphiney when you're done.
- You can rock the horizontal line across your forehead from the helmet and when people comment, you can be all "I biked in today. Yeah, it was like seven miles, not too bad" when what you really mean is "I am basically a rock star because I drove here with my body."
For me, commuter biking is the difference between lifting weights at the gym, and lifting logs to stack them in your garage. If I pick things up and put them down at the gym, I just keep thinking "why am I doing this?" and also "I wish I was into this like that guy over there. He is really good at picking things up and putting them down." But if I'm stacking firewood, it's like "I am going to stay warm this winter because of what I am doing. It does not matter if I pick up very heavy ones and put them down, as long as I keep going. Without this firewood, my family and friends would surely perish. I am literally SAVING MY OWN LIFE right now." So you can see how my brain lends extra weight (da-dum CHA!) to exercise that is also functional.
So, I love it. But it has downsides. Here is one:
Today, I wanted to go straight through an intersection on a back street in Cambridgeport. I pulled to the right-hand side to wait for traffic to clear. Someone made a left turn onto the street where I was waiting, and at the same time, another car came up behind me wanting to turn right. After waiting for maybe fifteen seconds for me to, you know, not die in this intersection, the driver of the right-turning car honked. This was not a friendly little "beep beep!" It was an angry "BEEEEEEEEP!!!" When I turned around, the woman screamed out the window, "Some of us f*#(*$g have places to go!"
Now, my normal response would be to give her a hearty dose of my longest finger and some of my own choice words, but I'm trying to be all namaste lately, especially in traffic. So I rolled my eyes and biked away (safely, not in front of cars).
But later, I was like, why would anyone think that that behavior is okay?! It's not okay to honk at a biker! It's not okay to swear at them when they're being safe! Bikes have to use the roads, because it's not like ninety-nine percent of the greater Boston area is bike-pathed, or bike-friendly at all. So here is a checklist for motorists who think they might encounter a bike on the road. It's chock-full of stuff not to do.
STUFF NOT TO DO IF YOU'RE IN A CAR
- Open your door without looking when the bike lane is to the left of parked cars.
- Swerve into a parking spot through the bike lane without signalling.
- Park in the bike lane.
- Turn right without signalling.
- Ever do anything without signalling.
- Merge without checking your blindspot.
- Honk at bikers.
- Use profanity. Aw heck, let's just say use negative language at all.
- Drive badly.
And because no argument is totally one-sided, here's another list.
STUFF NOT TO DO IF YOU'RE ON A BIKE
- Weave yourself through cars at a stoplight. You are not a macrame plant hanger.
- Run through red lights without looking.
- Bike without a helmet. Ever.
- Bike at night without lights. Or wearing all black.
- Go faster than traffic (I owe my office-mate for this one. She says going at the speed of traffic makes you more visible to cars, and less likely to be tapped by a merging or parking car).
- Ride against traffic (This one was huge in Rochester- people would ride in the middle of the lane, right into oncoming traffic. Why.).
- Ride badly.
Combine these two lists, multiply the number of points by about five, and that's how many things I could say to city planners who want to make things more bike-friendly. My university is on a street where three (THREE.) bikers got killed last year, and it's no surprise when you see the road. The bike lane, although it's painted green, gets cut through by parking cars, busses, cars turning right, and open driver-side doors. The cars go down the road at forty to fifty miles per hour, and the bikers are left to race against this and hope that the cars are watching.
Alas, despite all these things, I love riding my bike. Even around swearing, crappy drivers. Even on broken, uneven pavement. Why? I dunno. Maybe because when I'm riding down a hill and get the wind in my face it reminds me of how awesome it was to ride my bike when I was a kid. Maybe because racing cars on Comm Ave makes me feel like I'm riding the Tour de France. Maybe it's both. But I know in my heart that it also has a little something to do with all the adrenalin rushes from multiple, close-range brushes with disaster. And there's nothing better than that.
.
What I like even more than the T is biking to places. Now, there is a difference between biking TO places and biking just because you're biking. When I'm biking just cuz, some part of my brain that I cannot shut up is always like "why are you doing this?" and then I go up a hill and my brain starts in with the "maybe you should quit." Then, since it's me, I get dehydrated/hungry, and descend into the depths of crankiness from which not even my man-friend can pull me. And I get so cranky that I refuse to eat or drink anything to make me less cranky. So I just kind of pedal along with my brain taunting me on my useless bike ride and my stomach growling and my kidneys failing.
No, commuter biking is where my heart truly lies. It has a purpose! It has lots of purposes! Here are some:
- You can get where you're going.
- You can't quit because you HAVE TO GET THERE.
- It's good exercise.
- If you're in Boston, biking is just as fast as driving.
- IT'S GOOD FOR THE PLANET YOU GUYS.
- You get all endorphiney when you're done.
- You can rock the horizontal line across your forehead from the helmet and when people comment, you can be all "I biked in today. Yeah, it was like seven miles, not too bad" when what you really mean is "I am basically a rock star because I drove here with my body."
 |
| This is one of Boston's more awesome bike trails. The best part? |
So, I love it. But it has downsides. Here is one:
Today, I wanted to go straight through an intersection on a back street in Cambridgeport. I pulled to the right-hand side to wait for traffic to clear. Someone made a left turn onto the street where I was waiting, and at the same time, another car came up behind me wanting to turn right. After waiting for maybe fifteen seconds for me to, you know, not die in this intersection, the driver of the right-turning car honked. This was not a friendly little "beep beep!" It was an angry "BEEEEEEEEP!!!" When I turned around, the woman screamed out the window, "Some of us f*#(*$g have places to go!"
Now, my normal response would be to give her a hearty dose of my longest finger and some of my own choice words, but I'm trying to be all namaste lately, especially in traffic. So I rolled my eyes and biked away (safely, not in front of cars).
But later, I was like, why would anyone think that that behavior is okay?! It's not okay to honk at a biker! It's not okay to swear at them when they're being safe! Bikes have to use the roads, because it's not like ninety-nine percent of the greater Boston area is bike-pathed, or bike-friendly at all. So here is a checklist for motorists who think they might encounter a bike on the road. It's chock-full of stuff not to do.
 |
| This is what the Comm ave bike lanes look like, a little farther down from the College of Fine Arts. Photo: bostonbiker.org |
- Open your door without looking when the bike lane is to the left of parked cars.
- Swerve into a parking spot through the bike lane without signalling.
- Park in the bike lane.
- Turn right without signalling.
- Ever do anything without signalling.
- Merge without checking your blindspot.
- Honk at bikers.
- Use profanity. Aw heck, let's just say use negative language at all.
- Drive badly.
And because no argument is totally one-sided, here's another list.
STUFF NOT TO DO IF YOU'RE ON A BIKE
- Weave yourself through cars at a stoplight. You are not a macrame plant hanger.
- Run through red lights without looking.
- Bike without a helmet. Ever.
- Bike at night without lights. Or wearing all black.
- Go faster than traffic (I owe my office-mate for this one. She says going at the speed of traffic makes you more visible to cars, and less likely to be tapped by a merging or parking car).
- Ride against traffic (This one was huge in Rochester- people would ride in the middle of the lane, right into oncoming traffic. Why.).
- Ride badly.
 |
| This is what all bike lanes everywhere should look like. Photo credit: change.org. |
Alas, despite all these things, I love riding my bike. Even around swearing, crappy drivers. Even on broken, uneven pavement. Why? I dunno. Maybe because when I'm riding down a hill and get the wind in my face it reminds me of how awesome it was to ride my bike when I was a kid. Maybe because racing cars on Comm Ave makes me feel like I'm riding the Tour de France. Maybe it's both. But I know in my heart that it also has a little something to do with all the adrenalin rushes from multiple, close-range brushes with disaster. And there's nothing better than that.
.
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