Ride Home 6/19: Snuffbox Derby

Remember to protect yourself from the harmful radiation of the sun. Not all radiation gives you superpowers. If you need motivation, think of SPF as an acronym for Super Powers of Fun (!), though that makes little sense. Just wear sunscreen.

It's not always the BMWs, but it's always the BMWs. You know?

Shoaling is bad, but nonchalantly passing a shoaler and casually and effortlessly leaving them well behind you can sometimes be a good feeling. Assuming you don't get shoaled at the night light.

I saw this truck on Q Street. It was transporting Canada Dry, which I believe is a kind of moose product. Commercial vehicles sometimes have decals on them that allow passersby to narc on bad drivers. This one did as well.

You can really taste the moose. 

Per usual, the picture is terrible, but the phone number is something like 1-888-AM-I-SAFE. There's no question mark. But should the phone number even be an interrogative? This is some some soft (moose fur soft) bigotry of low expectations right here. It shouldn't be a question that their drivers are safe, should it?

I saw a driver flip off another driver and call him a fucking asshole. I have no idea why. Any of the behavior I saw seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary, which is to say selfish, imprudent and somewhat dangerous. In any case, what if drivers were tarred with the same "One time, I saw this biker and he did this thing so NOW I HATE BIKES AND GAS TAX AND AHHHHH?" If we held drivers to the same standards of road morality to which some people would like to hold bicyclists, perhaps it would help keep things in perspective. Or maybe it would just make us all look bad.

Here's another question: how much better would car traffic be if all bicyclists just stayed home one day? Like, not if they drove to work and made more, but if they just didn't ride their bikes that day. I suspect it wouldn't be much better.

Here's another another question: how awesome would it be if you taught your left-handed child to throw a knuckleball? Parents: do this. I only have a poodle and I can barely get her to master the slider.

Some guy totally smoked me on Penn. Just flew right by and I tried to keep up, but I had no chance. He was moving. I don't know where he went by the time we got closer to the Capitol, but if it was up the same side of the hill where I went, he was long gone before I made it to the top. Good for you, mystery fast guy who was just wearing khaki shorts and a blue shirt.

Stopped at the store. Actually purchased corn chips. As I pulled out of the parking lot, a lady rode her trike in. I said "cool trike," but she either didn't hear me or didn't care to acknowledge. Rare to see a tricycle in these parts, especially not one piloted by a small child.