Friday, April 21, 2006
How I Became a Cyclist: A Memoir
It was a day of dizzying highs and… dizzying lows. For this day, September 18, 2004, was the day I bought my new bicycle! I was thrilled! Indeed, the world was my shellfish. The girl had pursued for well on five years had finally relented to my charms. I was moving back to Vancouver (No Fun City itself!) after two years of self-imposed exile. And I had a bike to navigate Vancouver’s numerous bicycle routes!
And then I ran over a thumb tack a flattened my front wheel.
I was undaunted! As it so happens, the town I lived in (Gibsons) had two things every budding bicyclist needed: a psuedo-militant hippie bicyclist community and public transit with bike racks!
It was setback, yes. But I was not willing to let a little thing like a flat tire deflate (ha ha) my enthusiasm. I was going to get it fixed. All I needed to do was get on the bus (with a bike rack, naturally!) and head up to the local bicycle repair shop.
As I grabbed the bike rack on the public transit vehicle (which has a bike rack), the driver was waving and frowning at me. Being dyssemic, I immediately assumed she was flirting with me, and I smiled at her, as I hooked up my tire-flattened new friend.
As I entered the bus, proud at my ability to read instructions and not breaking anything (anything too expensive, anyway), the driver must have been put off by my unresponsiveness to her flirting.
She then informed me that "bikes are not allowed to be loaded at this stop! You can unload here, but not load."
Perplexed, but undeterred, I simply gave her my neutral face expression (cluelessness), and she relented on her lecture.
"I'll let you do it this time," she informed me.
The ride was short. Luckily, the friendly-neighbourhood bike apothecary was no more than a five minute trek up the road. I exited the bus, disengaged the bike and waved a hearty wave at my new admirer. Her rolling eyes and her quickly driving away told me she would be counting down the minutes until I once again crossed her bus's threshold. The bike repair individual came with a glowing pedigree. "He's the only place in town," was the most-common recommendation.
As I entered he sensed that my bike was in pain. Quickly he was stroking and reassuring it, telling the bike everything would be all right. He looked at me disapprovingly, sensing my time as a cyclist was limited.
I resorted to my secret weapon: vague knowledge of peoples' passions and an ability to incite them. "Can you believe it? As I put the bike on the bus rack, the driver's yelling at me that I can't put it on at a rural stop!"
His suspicion of whether I was one of his kind wass quickly usurped by his righteous anger at the mistreatment of a cyclist at the hands of a motorist. I pressed on to reaffirm my allegiance.
"One day there'll be a Critical Mass on the Sunshine Coast. That'll show 'em."
He nodded solemnly. Only a person who cycles regularly would know the name of the Vancouver bicycle advocacy group. He smiled. Surely, I was one of his people.
Fifteen minutes later I walked out with a new tube in my tire and a patch kit in my backpack. Now, I thought, nothing will stand in my way. The world is mine!
I rode my bike home, riding on the right side of the road. Various belligerent vehicles passed closely and sped past when an opportunity to pass presented itself. From their glares and engine-revvings, I assumed they were jealous of my new bicycle. Pity those poor SUV drivers...
Coming soon… the story of how I got my Learner’s Licence.
# posted by Anagram @ 2:11 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
you forgot to quote the transit riders' safety and security doctrine here.
# posted by 
: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 12:52:00 PM
: Tuesday, April 25, 2006 12:52:00 PM
Nonsense. TransLink values and supports its bicyclist clientele.
# posted by : Thursday, May 04, 2006 7:44:00 PM
: Thursday, May 04, 2006 7:44:00 PM
The question is, if you were to be hassled by the RCMP, would you be able to outrun them? A bicycle wouldn't have to stop to relieve itself, after all.
# posted by : Tuesday, May 09, 2006 10:28:00 PM
: Tuesday, May 09, 2006 10:28:00 PM
Due to budget cuts, the Mounties now ride another, lower-ranking Mountie.
So yes, if given a good, flat road I'd leave them in the dust.
Post a Comment
So yes, if given a good, flat road I'd leave them in the dust.
<< Home
