We'd All Be Happier If We Rode Bikes

Sunny but cold morning for the commute to the office.

October and November have been busy for us here up in Interzone, Gentle Readers of This Blog--but I am still on the bike! I've been mostly car free since the move, and I'm happy to report that I have never driven a car to work since I began working at KU back in late March. I've had a few rides with Little Egypt and Son Rico giving me a lift--or picking me up--but that has been rarely. If need be I walk home.

It has been one-point-two miles to work and back home by bike every day! The secret? Packing the night before, and then giving yourself enough time in the morning so you don't have to rush. Even though its just over a mile, I have a huge hill to climb--and even with the cool weather now, I still have to change clothes and clean up a little in the men's room up top at my office.

It has also helped that all the streets going up to the top of campus on Mt. Oread have been repaved over that last few months with new black cake-icing-like asphalt. The streets are narrow, steep, and 100 years old. The original bricks were heaving through on many of the roads--which made going down-hill pretty dangerous. You could hit a spot and get flung over the handle bars real quick mes amis.

Still every morning I see the students who are running late, speeding up and down Mt. Oread--always in vain--for parking spots that do not exist. In a panic and on a cell phone, they're not paying attention and if you're a cyclist you have to be real careful not to get run over. Most kids simply take the bus--which is free for them--or they walk up the hill. If the buses did not run I think more people would have to ride bikes.

I did have to run errands today and I had to drive. I had to be on one of those streets where there's a lot of traffic because its a main artery, and things like grocery stores and stuff are there. Lots of lights and lots of speeders and rude cutting people off and shit. Every asshole on a fucking cell phone too. Even in the grocery store parking lot people on cell phones speeding though there not giving a fuck about almost running some old farmer and his wife over.

This store is about 3 miles away and probably the same for most people over where I live. What if we were all on bikes? Wow what a sight! It would be a happy time--and then those people that are too old to bike, well they could drive because they had too--and they might even feel safe.

Well come Spring I plan to make more of a leap with biking to the grocery store. They tore down our local grocery around the corner so they could re-model it--it was old and falling apart. Now people like me who used to live nearby have to drive so there's a bit more congestion. The store we have to go to now (same chain) is not safe for bikes--I still see a lot of the workers from the old store working at this other location--they still have to ride to work many of them and its not easy I know...

Rock and Roll mes amis!

Lastly, I got a set of rollers--used--and so there they are! On warm days I'll test out the new winter clothing I'm starting to collect!

Allure Libre! Bruce