Sometimes, even the therapy
of getting out on the bike turns into a series of unexpected close calls.
That happened on my April
Fools Day ride. When it ended and I happily made it back home unscathed, I
concluded the day had seemed much more like Halloween, or a Friday the 13th on a full moon. But April Fools Day was
still pretty fitting.
My first close encounter was
on a curving bike trail ramp up to a bridge that goes over a road. I always
look ahead to see if anybody’s coming the other way. If they are, I try to get
a feel for how fast, and yes, if they’re in the right lane.
Near the top there’s a blind
right turn and as I ride up, a college kid on a small bike barrels around the
corner, in my lane, straight at me.
“Get outta the way!” I yell. He
veers crazily out into his own lane and keeps on going. I take a deep breath
and ride on. I have a thought: Clowns like this kid need to have their bikes
sawed in half and put into a recycling bin.
Little do I know there is
plenty more crazy to come. And, just for added adventure, it’s windy! Oh, love
that wind. And my legs are tired from the long ride the day before. I resign
myself to the fact that this is going to be a 51-mile slog. And, it is, pretty
much. But several monkey wrenches pop up along the way. Such as:
• A toddler runs loose on a
downhill part of the trail where riders routinely fly down at 20 mph. The kid’s
mom walks behind him along the trail, completely oblivious to the danger her
kid/riders are in because of a possible hit and crash. I brake and call out to the
daydreaming mom, “Better pick him up!”
Gladly, she isn’t deaf, and
looks to have been jostled awake by what she just heard.
“Thank you,” she calls, as
she runs ahead and scoops up the kid.
Really? Sure, it’s just fine
if I let the little guy run free on the well-traveled bike trail. It’s such a
beautiful day!
I remember another time I had
a much closer call with a little kid. He and his mom were at the side of the
bike trail, where it’s flat and riders often try out their speed skills. I saw
the two ahead. Just as I was about to ride by, the mom let go of the kid to put
her hair up in a beret or ponytail, with both hands. In that split second, the
kid darted out onto the trail. I swerved and just missed hitting the little guy. After almost swallowing my
heart, I was speechless as I rode on.
• Riding down the end of a
fast descent off of a bridge, I look ahead. Here, cyclists have a good burst of
speed as they cross a street where they have the right of way. Three teenage
girls are about to cross the entrance to the bike path, which resumes off the
street. The first crosses, sees me coming fast and scoots across. The other two
are about cross in front of me. They look up at the last second, see me, and
beat a hasty retreat as I ride by.
What? Look before crossing a
bike path? Why would we need to do that?
Same thing happens on the way
home. A fast walking coed doesn’t look before she’s about to stride off the
sidewalk to cross the street, right in my path.
“HeyHeyHEY!” I yell as I veer
away. She stops herself just in time. Again, near heart attack.
• A shirtless, barrel chested
young guy runs the opposite way on the bike trail, as his pit bull runs behind
him in the bike lane, dragging his leash. Tough Guy has a smirk on his face
like he thinks it’s cute to make cyclists avoid hitting his free running dog.
• As if avoiding suicidal
squirrels and unleashed dogs isn’t enough, a black cat appears very close to
the trail at the end of a fast descent. What? A cat?
I slow down hoping it doesn’t
dart onto the trail. Relieved when it doesn’t. Not really ready to run over and
kill a house cat.
• I ride around a few cases
of walkers positioned on the bike trail shoulder to shoulder. They’re blithely
indifferent to the fact that they are blocking lanes of the bike trail where,
yes, cyclists come through, both ways, and sometimes at the same time. That
means the whole trail, for their safety and for the safety of cyclists, should
be kept clear. There is often a dirt footpath along both sides of the bike
trail. But many walkers shun the idea of walking single file on the paths. They
walk next to each other on the bike trail so they can talk. Some walkers are
comical in their steadfast refusal to give up their lane space. They stare down
approaching riders with a ridiculous display of “Don’t care if I’m in your lane, I’m not
giving ground, deal with it.”
• And of course, what ride
would be complete without adults riding with children, the children wearing
helmets, and the adults not wearing them. These adults seem to think they’ll never
crash, so why should they wear a helmet? Well, what if they do crash, for some unpredictable reason,
and crack their heads on the pavement? And suffer a serious brain injury. Won’t
be much of a parent to the kids then. I see this all the time.
I was a little jumpy after
all the close calls. Still, the ride had some great parts. Chortled at three
wild turkeys alongside the bike trail, and all
three gave a call-back chortle! Tough to get those, great victory when it
happens! Just the day before I set a personal record with a five-turkey group chortle-back.
On a roll. Need to get this on video.
What was the best part of
this harrowing ride? Easy. I made it back home without having a mechanical, crash,
getting hurt, or hitting and/or injuring anybody. Hey, if every ride ends like
that, no matter how tough it was to endure mentally or physically, I’m good, more
than thankful.
Cruisin’ the neighborhood
I have a cruiser bike that I
rarely ride, but last weekend I decided, hey, time to air up its tires, and take
a wandering cruise. This friggin’ bike feels like it’s made out of lead next to
my feather light road bike. It has an aluminum frame, three speeds, with a hand
brake for the front wheel and an annoying rear wheel coaster brake that’s easy
to lock up by mistake. No worries, I rode the neighborhood streets, thinking of
nothing, and checked back with streets I hadn’t ridden for years. I saw some
alleys and remembered I used to ride down any alleys I could find, just for fun.
Most times they were dirt and rutted, where scruffy tomcats stalked their
territory, and odd-looking people would appear out of nowhere. The alley rides never
lacked for interesting sights. Gotta do another alley tour on the cruiser!
‘Til next time, remember to
put on a helmet every time you get on the bike. Then make sure to keep the
rubber side down, ride safely, and most of all, have a blast.
-- Mark Eric Larson
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