5/8/12

Ride In 5/8: Prague is full of urban bohemians

I saw Dave on East Capitol. I believe he was biking with his daughter to school. My side of our conversation consisted of "Are you wearing socks?" and "I'M NOT WEARING ANY SOCKS, DAVE." He was wearing socks. I could even see them before I even asked. I was making a joke referencing a conversation on twitter yesterday about the relative benefits of helmets and socks or both or neither. I wasn't wearing socks. I'm still not wearing socks.
The Supreme Court hates freedom. Or at least the freedom that keeps its sidewalk open during construction or provides some kind of facsimile sidewalk that gives pedestrians somewhere to walk other than the bike lane. But as a bicyclist, do I have standing to pursue legal action? Am I an aggrieved party (since the repercussions affect me) or do we need a pedestrian for this test case? I'll let the lawyers fight it out in the comments.
When given an opportunity, a group of people will spread out as much as conceivably possible to take up an entire path. I do not know why this is. People 8th graders on vacation are not diligent about showering and they smell. Or maybe Americans (except for the Supreme Court).  love freedom and individualism and wide open spaces. Or maybe spreading out on a path provides some sort of evolutionary advantage and its hardwired into our DNA. You know, just in case some lions show up. This happens a lot by the Capitol, where the other two animals you're likely to encounter are RINOs and Blue Dogs, two of nature's more ridiculous creatures.
On Penn, I rode behind a guy on a single speed cyclocross bike. I'm just going to assume that he's badass.
It's Bike to School Day tomorrow. That's really great and I'm participating (mostly because I work at a school). But I might also stop by Lincoln Park, where there'll be a pit stop, so described:
In Southeast, Lincoln Park has been designated as a morning “pit stop” where parents can park, unload the bikes and let their kids pedal to area schools.
Excuse me while I rip my face off.
Though this is interesting:
At Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School in Northeast, school officials plan to levy a one-day car tax. All parents who drive to the school will be asked to pay $1. To avoid it, parents can drop kids at the Franciscan Monastery parking lot, where parent volunteers will walk or bike with them to school. (Students who walk or ride bikes on this day will also have an excused tardy.)
So, let me get this straight. Some unionized bureaucrats are going to charge a commuter tax unless parents take their kids to a religious institution? Some conservatives will probably be torn on this one. Anyway, where's the money going to go? Also, what happens if someone refuses to pay? And why hasn't Lon Anderson issued a press release that denounces this scheme?
I rode up 15th. Some people elected to walk in the bike lane. I respect their decision, though I hope they respect mine to glare at them. Here's the thing: I don't think that they're walking in the bike lane out of some kind of ignorance. It was prime morning commute time and the people I saw looked like people heading to work and since presumably they don't work on a dirigible that moves from place to place, they're probably well-acquainted with the area and its cycle track. They were walking in the bike lane because that's what they wanted to do. That's fine. It's just not right.
Sort of muggy for the slow parts of the trip. More sweat than I preferred. I was in regular people clothes, so I dealt with the consequences of that, which is namely feeling a little bit gross for a while.
There's something deeply ironic about a bus with the word FRIENDSHIP flashing across its front screen careening at you and passing you within feet. Or maybe that's not irony at all. Scary though.

2 comments:

  1. Yes, parents, be sure you don't show your kids that you, too, could bike to get somewhere instead of driving!

    Have you ever considered the bus may have a typo in its destination sign? I think there's an errant "R" in there.

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  2. Every day is bike to school day in many households. The Lincoln Park pit stop is a scant three blocks from where I first encountered the anti-bike parent whose animosity and ignorance led to my arrest for assault, so if we can get some kids to ride from there to school it's a great start for the first-ever Bike to School day.

    And I'll out myself: I did have socks on (peace sign designs) but my daughter misplaced her helmet somewhere so we BOTH were naked on the other end.

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