Drizzly day in the neighborhood

My new green jacket is close enough to water resistant for me.  Probably not going to last for too many washings ’cause I think it’s a regular soft fabric with a coating, but I was toasty in the 40 and raining stuff going out to Walgreens for batteries and their version of Emergen-C ’cause those go with the presents for tomorrow.

Saw Bill Gray at the store, and he inquired about the guy in the pickup truck at Anderson and Florida, yea, that guy who just started pulling out on me when I was in the middle of hte intersection, then stopped.  But yes, he agreed when I said I thought the guy just didn’t see me at all (as opposed to his wife having just yelled at him or something).

Those are “the more of us who are out here, the safer we are” situations.  I’ve made a cognitive imprint on him and if he’s wired normally, he’s more likely to see the next riders at intersections.  It’s a big ol’ clear intersection — this was definitely a “not in my search image repertoire” blindness.  Yea, I’d probably have been seen if it were night, with the CHristmas lights.  So, hopefully his “search image” gallery has increased…

Okay, the teapot I went off and left to boil dry is still making noise out there, but it might have cooled enough to be dealt with…

… wow.  that copper plating on the bottom … I guess that’s what the black, charred stuff is sitting on the burner…

Educability

Remember the “sustainable” burger joint that got flame-broiled on Twitter because it denied a cyclist at teh drive-through?

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/success-as-burgeville-allows-bikes-in-drive-thru.php indicates that they’re doing a tad better than greenwashing.  Check out the signage

Who am I?

There was a weird rash of drivers ignoring my right-of-way day before yesterday … the second and third at the same four-way stop (Vine and Washington — yes, a four-way that I see more folks “being bad” at than others).  I pulled up just barely after car 1 gets to Southbound stop, and he proceeds – and the guy behind him *right* after ward, so quickly, it would seem, to make sure I didn’t get a chance to start (hmmm… should I thank him?)  and in the meantime, as I laid on the horn,  and my big fat light did a good job of illuminating his face (which seemed mildly surprised and young and male- wasn’t direct illumination) a third, even later dude pulls up Northbound.  So I proceed and Mr. North simply starts proceeding.  I was so surprised that I played chicken and won… and cursed boldly, as if from the voice of that young male and figured I was being too easily impressed and that I should contemplate nonviolent reactions more regularly   Next day I peeked at Boing Boing  and the description of a YouTube video of a man who was arrested and taken down by police, for charges unmentioned, who complained vociferously but politely (“I am at peace with all”) and was tased and prayed harder and then escaped.  Hmmm….(I wonder if he turned himself in later or what…)

I’m wondering what the hidden factor behind the driving issues is — a:  I looked different (but I wasn’t on the fast bike, which sometimes has that effect), b:  hey, I wasn’t *here* for a week, and therefore people forgot how to drive around bicycles (um, yea, that’s logical!)  or c:  less traffic (it’s summer) = less willingness to wait?

Also definitely not liking the coaster brakes, but thinking the odds of it being quiet enough to get the Xtra hub fixed tomorrow at the co-op are nil.

Press Progress

So… I applauded, then took some issue with Michael Dresser in the Baltimore Sun and his column approving a 3-foot law.  I really like his approach… which is to say that a buffer zone is a good idea, period, no matter how obnoxious cyclists can be, and he describes us amusingly as clad in spandex and “dweeby” helmets.

However, he then discussed being “as far to the right as possible”… and his cyclist source bemoaned the fact that even though he hugs that white line, people buzz  him, “on purpose.”

My issue?  As long as people think that proper lane position is hugging the lane, then drivers will think I”m riding further out “on purpose.”  And as long as cyclists don’t realize that it’s normal behavior based on our human perceptions to try to stay in the lane if it looks like there’s room because you’re not in the road, you’re on the side, then cyclists will think drivers are buzzing them “on purpose.”   Antipathy and hostilities escalate.

First response from him was that the difference between possible and practical was “splitting hairs,” because he figured *anybody* recognized that if there was glass on the road, you had to move out, and the suggestion that this was sort of a “theological debate.”  When I explained that a perfectly clear pavement could still be “impracticable,” but far from impossible, and that in fact a whole lot of hairs could be lined up in that area of pavement, he replied thoughtfully, demonstrating that he at least knew what I was talking about now.

I believe it, too, because I’d ridden home trying to figure out how to explain that counterintuitive didn’t mean wrong; that sometimes there really was a right answer… and tried to figure out an example of something … spontaneous generation?  The masses fervently believed in that, even though we are pretty darned sure it’s wrong. Ah…  “bike paths are safer than the streets.”  It then occurred to me that the article didn’t say word one about bike paths.  Amazing.  I came in and looked again and did a “search” for “path.”  It can be found in the word “sympathize.”

Amazing, indeed. A discussion of “appropriate cycling” alternatives that doesn’t relegate me to a bike path.  I wrote and thanked the man.

Chilly today – 34 degrees or so.

Almost There

… they’ve clocked into the penultimate check in that’s only 15 miles from the finish line.

I’m all kinds of inspired to go out and ride and ride and ride … maybe tomorrow…

The rain kindly abated entirely for most of my trip to church, and was just drizzle for the trip back. Pouring in between, of course! Now it’s just high humidity – enough to send the paint from my living room ceiling crashing to the floor from whne the roof leaked before.  Glad that I invested in a new roof and a dehumidifier Gotta redd up enough to have a second opinion on humidity bringing paint down.

The other odd physical phenomenon is that there’s water beaded up on the cardboard boxes outside, but *only* on the cellphane tape.  Rain or condensation? It’s on all directions and surfaces.  Fortunately the boxes have plastic water bottles in ‘em so I don’t think it matters.