Pride

You know that scene in Pulp Fiction where Marcellus is talking Butch through the dive he'll take in the fifth round?* (I would link it, but it appears Mirimax takes their copyright seriously.)

"you may feel a slight sting. That's pride f__ing with you. F__ pride. Pride only hurts, it never helps."

Maybe pride hurts when you're taking a bribe to fix a fight, but when you're on your morning commute?

The pain drives you.

When "that guy" passes you -- or you pass him -- it's time to dig deep. You can't let him get the better of you, right? Drive the legs, keep the rpms up, stay strong.

The other day I passed "that guy" on Terry Francois. He was moving along ok, but I was a little faster. Now, I played hockey the night before, so my legs weren't in tip-top shape to scream the rest of the way to work (or they would really scream at me), but I was doing alright. It wounded his pride though, and he hopped on my wheel. No time for mercy . . . or tired legs.

On the turn to the Embarcadero I observed traffic laws and followed the cars in front of me turning right. That was his opportunity as he bolted around them on the left, then weaved back through them back to the bike lane on the right. But it only gained him one car length and I made it up quickly as we approached the light at 2nd. Then he did something strange: he slowed to a stop.

Why is that strange? 2nd terminates at the Embarcadero, so there's no cross traffic. I've literally never seen a cyclist stop there without pedestrians in the cross walk.

He made a complete stop and I told him, "I'm a bad person, I run this one." He smiled, chuckled, and replied, "Got ticketed for it just a little while back." Ouch. He might have been this guy (same place, pretty close to the same time).

To his credit, he learned his lesson from that ticket. Not me; on I went, and thus ended the race. Though I kept motoring just to make sure. Plus, the sprint down the Embarcadero in the morning is a fun one.

Light or no light, he didn't stand a chance.

And, yes, I realize this is further evidence I'm becoming "that guy." Still no lycra pants or team jersey on the commute, though. That's where I'm drawing the line. For now.

* For you non-Tarantino fans, Marcellus is an organized crime boss, and Butch is the boxer he's paid to rig a fight.

Why Did The Pedestrian Cross The Road . . . Against A Red Light?

Grrr. That karma I thought I had yesterday didn't last long.

On my way home to the train station I ride down the Embarcadero past the Ferry Building. Sometimes there are a great many people waiting to cross the Embarcadero to catch their ferry. They use the crosswalk pictured here:

See, but in the picture traffic is stopped and the pedestrians are crossing with their walk light.

Last night I approached the crosswalk and had a green light. Now, I was moving right along, not at a scorching pace, but probably around 20 mph, after all I was in a protected bike lane and had a green light.

Huddled in a large mass waiting for the light to change, two pedestrians waiting at the crosswalk lost their patience -- and their minds -- and stepped off the curb right in front of me. Right where that "don't" sign is. Too bad the sign isn't really there.

I gave a shout ("NO!"), slammed on the breaks, and hoped. But hope is not a method. The first one off the curb, a man, was a step ahead of me and leaped forward, out of the way (good thing for him my reaction was stopping, not swerving as many people would do). The second off the curb, a woman, tried to get back to the curb, and very nearly did. As my bike pulled to a halt, my handlebars glanced off what I think was her purse.

As my bike came to a sudden stop and a bump at the same time, I more or less folded over and crumpled down. Not bad -- basically like the kind of fall you have when you first get clipless pedals and you practice getting out of them -- but not fun, either.

I immediately jumped up and asked if she was ok, which she was. Then I picked up my bike, and more than a little shaken, looked it over to make sure it was ok.

The guy? He literally ran away.

Several people, including a bicyclist who had been pretty far behind me, immediately came to my defense and said quite aloud that it was clearly their (his and her) fault, and that I should get the offenders' contact info. I was rattled. I could tell I was ok, a quick assessment of my bike told me it was more or less ok, and I looked over my work clothes (which I rarely wear on my way home, but I was on my way to a meeting) and they were fine, notwithstanding a little grease here or there (that's what stain removers are for). Basically I was grateful that everyone and everything was ok, I was in a hurry, and I was definitely still rattled, so I dismissed the need for her contact info.

In hindsight I should have taken it. While I don't think I would ask her to pay for anything, the stains should come out, and there isn't much more than superficial scratching here or there on the bike, I might have discovered something later (a tear in my clothes, a dent in the bike, the scrape on my arm that I did discover later, etc.).

Stuff like that shakes you up. It took quite a while last night to clear my head.

But all's well that end's well, right? She (and he) was lucky, had she stepped out a second later I would have really run her over, rather than just bumped her bag. Someone would have broken something.

Should our friends at the City's transportation department consider signs warning people to look for cyclists? (hint, hint . . .)

It's just another reminder: crime doesn't pay (even if it's only jaywalking).

Well, shoot, I'll keep jaywalking, too; just check the bike lane, before stepping out in the street against a light, ok?

PS. I also got a flat on the way in this morning. What happened to that good karma!?!

Cyclists are a Pain in the Neck

A friend sent me a list of random thoughts some comedian or another put together. Among them was this:

As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

You know, I basically agree. In my commute I see more cyclists do stupid things on the road than anyone else. And it's not just doing things wrong -- we all do that -- it's flagrant disregard for the rules of the road and even the cyclists' own safety.

I can understand blowing the occasional stop sign, but just Wednesday I saw a guy blow a light and pick his way through heavy traffic like he was playing Frogger. Seriously, that guy is a problem. Remember my discussion about the lack of cross traffic along the Embarcadero? Also this week I was crossing the Embarcadero and was nearly run down by a cyclist who didn't think the red light applied to him. This morning I saw a woman riding on the sidewalk (also discussed in that link) blowing right throw a parking lot entrance -- against a light -- while cars (with the light) were trying to enter it.

Last week I saw a guy blow a stop sign without any regard for the car that was already in the intersection (legally) and then got upset at the car for not giving him more room. It was ridiculous. I mean I get things wrong every now and again (just the other day I misread the pattern on a light and took off before it was my turn), but when I do I don't blame the drivers who aren't doing anything wrong for my mistake.

All this results in drivers not trusting us. Today I pull up to a stop sign, clearly the last one there, and wait for the car to my right to drive through. He refuses to do so and just kept waiting for me to go, sure that I had no regard for the stop sign. He didn't even waive me on, he just sat there and stared. Eventually I got the hint and went, but neither he nor I was happy with the situation: I was frustrated waiting for him, and he for me.

We, the cyclists of the world, could do ourselves a big favor by being just a little more respectful of the rules. In the mean time, I too distrust my fellow riders more than the drivers in cars around me (who also leave plenty to be desired).

Breakin' the Law!

The motorcylce cop was writing a cyclist a ticket. That's not something you see every day. Moreover, the cyclist wasn't some fixie-riding, hipster bike messenger taking hits on, well, you know. Nope, just a guy commuting to work. In the five years or so that I've been at this, it was the first time I'd seen it.

Not that cyclists aren't constantly breaking the traffic laws (most often not stopping when a sign or a light indicates they should). Of course they (who am I kidding -- "we") are. But what did that guy do to get a ticket? A friend of mine was stopped once, but let go with a warning. He rolled a stop sign right next to a cop. Not smart, but still not enough for the officer to take the time to write the citation. So what's it take to get a ticket (or was the cop just in the mood?).

The thing that's frustrating about all of this is that I want to do the right thing, but I'm torn by two other influences; first, I don't want to stop when I don't have to; and second, the folks driving the cars apparently don't want me to follow the law, either. You know the situation: you roll up to a stop sign, see an approaching car and do the right thing: you stop. The driver looks at you like you're crazy, waves you on, and throws her hands up in disgust that you wasted her time like that (she's in a hurry, too). Even if the driver gets there before you, the pattern is often the same. What's a guy to do?

Well, here's what I do: I break the law, but I try not to get killed. If there's cross traffic, I stop, at least long enough to get a signal from the driver (I don't care if that guy's in a hurry, I want to make it home tonight in one piece). The biggest conundrum for me is riding on San Francisco's Embarcadero in the morning. I'm headed North from the train station, with the Bay to my right. That means even at the lights there is no cross traffic, because the roads T into Embarcadero. Well, there's almost no cross traffic: there are sometimes pedestrians. The commuters I ride with (and I) constantly blow those red lights. Poor cars are stacked up at them, we go right through. Now, I slow down and take a hard look for those pedestrians, but rarely do they appear, so away I go.

Is it the right thing to do? No. But (I rationalize), if I were on the sidewalk to my right (as many of my fellow bike commuters are), I wouldn't stop. What difference does the curb make? Moreover, I think I'm safer and far less likely to mow down a pedestrian than those guys up on the sidewalk, so why should they get to burn through, but not me? On top of that, at Bryant, where there actually is cross traffic entering the parking lot on the pier, I stop . . . or at least slow to a near stop to make sure there isn't any tracffic. Those guys up on the sidewalk barrel right through, and I've seen several close calls from that. So you see, I'm in the right . . . right!?!

That's what I tell myself, anyway.

Look, I want to live to see tomorrow as next as the next guy. From what I've seen from a lot of cyclists (commuters and otherwise), I'd say more than the next guy. But at the end of the day, we're not all great drivers all of the time. I get annoyed at cars and other cyclists that do dumb things, but the reality is I do them sometimes, too. I've had a close-ish call with a pedestrian or two that was my fault. I've misread a light change and taken off when it wasn't my turn. I've thought an intersection was clear when it really wasn't. You probably have, too. So patience with those who trespass against you . . . and caution, my friends.

My brother once wanted a speeding ticket on his bike. That was a traffic law he was more than willing to break. Alas, to my knowledge he never got one. That would be a neat trick.

It being my generation, I guess I'll leave on this note: