Blogging My Life

When I was a bicycle messenger I saw it 5 times a day; old people driving huge, American made pollution machines dangerously. They were dangerous for several reasons: poor eyesight, slow reflexes, etc... So I am very happy to see that George R. Weller will probably spend the rest of his life behind bars for his part in killing several people when he drove his car into a pedestrian only farmer's market. I have long advocated for old people to either stop driving or have to pass more rigorous eye and reflex tests in order to keep their licenses. Perhaps this court case will force states to implement such laws.

So have you seen these white bikes locked up around the city where cyclists have been struck by vehicles? I love, love, love, this idea. I think it started in Pittsburgh or somewhere on the East Coast. I wonder what the criteria is for having a ghost cycle placed. It must have to do with the accident being reported, and perhaps an actual injury had to happen. I would think that, certainly, a ghost bike would be placed at the site of a fatality. There are so many rants I could go on here about cyclists being superior beings compared to pollution machine (auto) operators, but I will not, its too early in the morning. Anyway, here is a link to ghostcycle.org where you can check out what happened at sites where you see ghost bikes. In the picture above, you can see a number on the sign. Go to the ghost cycle web site and you can plug that number in to see what happened at that accident site.

Just a quick link to an excellent article about a bike messenger's favorite sport.

Thank heavens the holidays are almost over! This means no more dodging death at the hands of Eastside hicks who have no clue how to operate a pollution machine in the big city. Now it's back to dodging death at the hands of the regulars who drive in the city every day and still have no clue how to react when they see a person on a bike.

They blink too! They belong to a girl at work named Karli, who reminds me of Sprizee because she has a thing for pink.  

My highest endorsement. 

Me testing a bike for ABC's new fleet. 

I an so freaking tired of flat tires! I'm thinking very seriously about demanding a voucher or something from the city for all the flat tires I get. Why should the city pay for my flat tires? Well, primarily because city code requires that I ride to the right of the lane. That is where the glass gardens grow. Glass gardens are all the glass that ends up on the right side of the lane, right where I am required to ride. See, every time one pollution machine gets into a wreck with another pollution machine, broken glass is inevitably the result. Is this glass ever cleaned up, either by the city, or by the respective pollution machine owners? Oh no. Its pushed to the right side of the lane, where I am required to ride, making my one flat tire a month a forgone conclusion. So that's it, I will start a one-man campaign to get the city to issue vouchers to every person who commutes on a bike or works on a bike. I'm thinking one tube a month, at $5.00 a tube, plus a new set ...

I got called a Nazi not too long ago. I was riding downtown, doin' my job, and I stopped at a light. As I was waiting at the intersection, one of Lyndon LaRouche's wack-job followers comes over from a stand they had set up on the sidewalk, and asks me, "So, what are you doing to make this world a better place?" "I'm ridin this here bike," I said right away. "What good does that do?" "Makes one less car on the road, friend. Makes us that much less dependant on foreign oil." "Well that's not enough," he says. I knew my light was about to change so I decided to let him have it. "I bet you drive a car less than a mile to the store don't you?" "Yeah, so...," he stammered. "So, you support wars for oil then. What's LaRouchie got to say about that, friend?" His mouth opened and closed but no words came out. Poor guy had nothin' to say, so I finished it for him. "I bet y...