The Right Way

Posted on November 11, 2011 by admin

The Right Way

I’m so angry, I’m shaking. This isn’t what I want to write about it. I want to write all kinds of good things about Monday night’s panel (which I will), but I’m just so over it. As seems to be the case so very often, some mundane task has to end in conflict simply because I’m on a bike. This is getting old. One of the things I said at the panel on Monday night was that you have to be thick-skinned to ride around here. I’m realizing now I’m not as thick-skinned as I thought.

I just got back from a short ride to the grocery store, which is about a mile away. My route is nothing but very quiet back streets and leads me directly to the grocery store parking lot. I was on my way back, riding with a smile, when I hear an obnoxiously loud honk and then some [exercising every ounce of restraint here] person revs her engine and passes me super fast to get to the light that is maybe 10 feet away.

I’m embarrassed to admit that I gave her a single finger wave–I’m usually very good about that, but it really pissed me off. Then I rode up next to her and waved at her to roll down her window. She ignored me for a bit but finally rolled it down. We had an exchange that went something like this:

M: “You know this is a residential street, right?

B: “Well you’re riding right in the middle of the lane! Why don’t you get out of the road?”

M “Because it’s the law. You should learn the law. And this is a 25 mile per hour residential street!”

B: “Well if you don’t want to get hit, I wouldn’t ride like that.”

M: “Is that a threat?”

B: “I wouldn’t tell my children to ride here. You should get out of the road.”

M: “Then that’s a problem that you should work on changing. This is a residential road. And you should learn the law.”

At that point, she shook her head and rolled up the window. I gave her the peace sign and just yelled, “Peace to you, lady.” Nothing conveys peace more than angrily shaking the peace sign at someone, I’m sure.

Then I cried the whole way home. It’s so lame. To be fair, my entire family (including me) has had the stomach flu since Monday night, so I’m not exactly mentally stable at this point. But I’m just so frustrated. I wish I knew The Right Way to handle conflicts like this. Or even better, I wish they would stop happening so much. Conflict like this just wears me out. I defuse enough fights with two kids that I simply don’t want this risk hanging over my head every time I make a run to the grocery store. To be honest, this plays a significant part in why I dread my ride to work–I feel like I am always on edge, waiting for that honk. I JUST WANT TO RIDE MY BIKE, PEOPLE!

Is there a right way? Should I write a script so I can calmly convey all the points I want to get across next time? Is it possible to handle these situations in a way that leaves you at least feeling like you made some headway?

Happiness by bike

Posted on September 27, 2011 by admin

I’m in the Gator Club!

Considering how much I love being in the bunny club, I’m not sure if this qualifies as good or bad news. Either way, I’m now officially in the Gator Club. I was cruising along the Little Econ, looking for bunnies, when I saw a gator just cruising around in the water. I tried to get a picture, but I was too scared to get close to the bank. I also heard a lot of gator activity at different points on the trail–I wonder what it will be like in mating season!

My commutes were wonderful this week. The ride itself has become much easier and, at the same time, I feel like I am getting faster. I tried a different strategy this week and drove twice and rode twice. Jumping in full-force the first week was a bit overwhelming and I need this to be sustainable. Next week, I plan to ride three times, drive once, and work from home one day. I’m feeling far less pressure, which is really allowing me to fully enjoy the ride. I’m tacking on a few unnecessary miles but, in true Scarlett O’Hara fashion, I’m just going to have to think about that tomorrow.

This should be interesting

So you know how I like to jump in headfirst? Well, back before my Radish even got here I booked us a campsite to go camping–by bike. Yep.

We did a test pack tonight and I’m quite pleased to see that it looks like I will be able to carry all of our camping gear on my bike without the trailer! I’m really happy that I don’t have to worry about pulling the trailer and adding to the length of my bike. Jesse will carry the kids, the dog (yep), clothes, and the food. I’ll carry the 8-person tent, two adult camping chairs, the stove, air mattress, sleeping bags, and the kitchen gear.

My Radish is like the Volvo of Bikes

It’s official–I learned how to ride a bike this week! Yesterday, I finished up Part II of the “Confident Cycling” class. This was a pilot class for the Florida Bicycle Association; Part I was a three-hour lecture-style class and Part II was a six-hour road class. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the thought of adding on one more thing to my already crazy week (especially 30+ miles for the class on Saturday!), but I am really glad I went.

Wonderful weekend followed by a slight case of the Mondays

Another lovely weekend by bike. Saturday a friend called and invited us out to Lake Eola (downtown) for the Fall Fiesta in the Park. My first thought hovered somewhere around the idea of “don’t you know we have to bike everywhere now?!?” However, one of the most important rules we made about this challenge was that we would never turn something down because of biking. If we didn’t want to go, fine – but not going because it was too many miles out of our total or too hard to bike to was not an option. Otherwise, what’s the point? Anyone can live on 4,000 miles if they stay inside all day!

I can’t believe I almost missed it.

It was so chilly in the house this morning and the fan was doing it’s lovely white-noise thing and I just didn’t want to get up. I kept thinking about how long 17 miles sounded and how tired I was. Instead of an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, I think it was more like a cat and a puppy:

Keeping the faith

Sometimes it’s hard to keep the faith. I avoid sensational news for this very reason – seeing all that ugly gets depressing, especially when you’re trying to shepherd kids through the world. Unfortunately, sometimes riding your bike brings you face-to-face with the anger and tension other people are carrying around. This morning, I was using a relatively busy street to cross a major highway. I was first at the light and as soon as it turned green, I heard “HOOOONK!” The driver behind me laid on the horn the entire time we were crossing. I’m finding it all very humorous at this point, because really—it’s been all of 10 seconds. Normally, when I’m behind other cars, I experience the same delay trying to cross and I’ve never thought of ringing my bell like a maniac. As soon as we get to the other side, she pulls into a left turn lane next to me (I was controlling the lane, as I always do) and screams at me through the passenger window, “I AM IN A CAR!! GET OUT OF THE ROAD!!!!” I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I just smiled really big, waved, and gave her the peace sign. I’m sure this infuriated her even more, but I was truly at a loss. As soon as she sped off, I wished I had said, “This is a vehicle, learn the law” or “Nice role-modeling” considering she had to lean over her kid to scream at me (a child that looked way too young to legally be in the front seat, I just can’t help but add). And I don’t know why, but it made me terribly depressed. The thought of someone being so incredibly angry over a 15 second “delay,” the thought of someone acting like that in front of their kid, the thought of someone screaming at a stranger – it left me overwhelmed.

The best laid plans

My lovely new Xtracycle Radish came just in time to take it out for the Pedal 4 Pride community bike ride that Jesse and I were set to volunteer for on Saturday. Friday night before the ride, Jesse and I stayed up super late (well, what passes for late in these parenting days) working on our bikes to ensure they were ready for the ride. The ride required that we ride down to the Parramore District and then lead a bike bus over to the VegFest and then drive the bike bus back to Parramore and head home. This was no small feat for our family of four, so we wanted to be prepared! Finally, after adjusting seats, filling tires, attaching lights, we were good to go. I was rotating my pedals when we heard a slight “swoosh” sound.

Reviews

Posted on July 18, 2011 by admin

I’m always extremely curious about other people’s bike set-ups; I like to see what works for other people, particularly stuff tested out by other biking families. When Jesse and I first considered diving into the world of kids-on-bikes, I went into an internet-searching frenzy. Unfortunately, we don’t have any bike shops that carry cargo bikes and there’s no Consumer Reports for cargo biking. Along this mode of thinking, I thought I’d post about our bikes. First up is the Radish! (more…)