This was the gracious morning platitiude I heard today on my way to work. My question for this apparently unhappy, minivan bound gentleman was, hey, buddy, how am I supposed to turn left from the curb lane? Instead, I continued my climb up the very slight hill and shouted at him "Share the Road, sir". I say that alot - share the road. I say it when people yell at me, I say it when people swear at me, I say it when somebody near cuts me off. So, about twice a week I say it. I bike to work daily.
Another thing I shout a lot is "A bike can hurt you as badly as a car can". I say this when pedestrians step off the curb right in front of me. Are they thinking, "she's on a bike, she'll go around me" (hey, my reflexes are only as good as someone driving a car, and probably less since I have to be so hyper aware of car traffic around me), or do they actually NOT SEE ME? I really think they don't see me. I think it's a subconscious thing - I sometimes see them look around me to see if there is a car coming, and then step right in front of me. When I slam on my brakes, and stop just short of hitting them (very dramatically with exaggerated motions and a gasp or two), they look surprised, and are usually apologetic. They really did not see me. On the other hand, there are the congressional staff who cross to get to Union Station at 5:30 (maybe the happy hour discounts end at 6). They see me, they just don't care. And they have strength in numbers. The individuals crossing in front of NPR, or at Thomas Circle, they are the apologetic ones. Crowd mentality in action.
This is my first entry in my blog. I am a 40-year old non-profit employee (aren't we all) who lives on Capitol Hill and bikes to Dupont Circle. I have two kids, two cats, a husband and a minivan. But every day I see wonderful and terrible things on my adventurous 4-mile ride to and from work. Mostly, I want to spread the word of bike commuting, find out what drivers, pedestrians, and other bikers are thinking, and bitch.
And about the title of the blog - there are A LOT of dead animals on urban streets. Most are completely flat. Many are rats (at least I think they are rats, sometimes you can only tell by the tail). I have inadvertently run over many of them, then I bring my bike in the house where I store it. Running those gore-encrusted tires over the floor on which my daughter plays. Ugh.
