The rain hurt my face at the beginning of my ride home. I was wondering if I should be riding my bike to work when conditions called for flash floods in the area. I thought it was ok when I started my ride, but the rain progressed, then stopped, mostly turning into an inconvenience at the end. I wondered if this is how people in Seattle feel most the time, dressed like a snowball in rain gear on their bike. I feel confident biking in the rain but I feel less confident about those around me, mostly I am only concerned about the darkness of the night. I wear my bright high visibility neon yellow helmet, a birch white rain jacket, my stormtrooper white backpack and I use standard bike lights. I do my best to be seen, staying in the predictable bike lanes but sometimes I am anxious by cars. If they don’t see me, not much will happen to their car but I’d been much worse off.
I met a Muni bus driver the other day and she said she has a love hate relationship with bikers. She drives the 38x on Geary street, the busiest bus line in the city. She said she hates it when bikers try to squeeze through traffic, between cars and buses. She said very plainly, it’s hard to see them, and I don’t want to hit them because that’s bad and I would lose my job. Great incentive. I countered and said, I too would love to avoid buses but riding down market street, when the lane becomes one, there is not enough room for bikes, cars, and buses. She said it is impossible to keep the 4 ft. away/distance rule. I loved that she knew that rule. I would love to avoid biking down market street but it saves me 5-10 minutes on my commute, either risk getting squished or get to work on time.
In other news, I am having trouble adjusting to the idea of potentially moving by the summer for school. I feel comfortable living here and moving would be more than an inconvenience. To avoid reality, I am going on vacation. I am very excited to go to the desert for winter camping in Death Valley and Joshua Tree national parks during xmas break. Then, in the first week of January, I am meeting my college roommie in Denver on the slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Pretty excited to get outside.
withoutapillow 