Tag Archive for 'bike'

• There are an alarming number of cars with missing windshield wipers. You never notice rogue wiper blades until you run over them with 2-inch wide tires.
• Everyone is concerned about me catching a cold or pneumonia if I bike in cold rain. Or in the cold. Or in the rain. I didn’t know people still believed that old wife’s tale. Especially since I work at a company that grows viruses.
• Some people, particularly suburbanites, would rather honk at me than slide over to the empty lane on their left.

I’ve learned a lot since I started using a bicycle as my primary transportation, particularly when it’s a folding bike:

• People talk to you. A lot. Most questions are either about the specifics of a folding bike: how much I paid for it, where I purchased it, etc. Some people even ask me random bike questions, like where the closest bike shop is.
• People stare. It can be awkward.
• The further into the suburbs I am the more oblivious drivers seem to be to my sharing a road with them. Suburbanites are angered and confused by the concept of their Tahoes and Escalades having to share the road with a 24 pound vehicle.
• Biking burns a lot of calories. Even in temperatures well below freezing I keep plenty warm with just a jacket and gloves. Pants and shoes were not mentioned because they are assumed.
• Everyone thinks I should install an electric motor.