My Morhing Bike Ride by yours truly:
The ride begins like almost any other ride, except i was a little late leaving the house so i pushed a little more on the first uphill so that i could make up some time. I get over the hill with only a little extra effort. I pedal my way all the way down this street and by the time i make it to the next major hill i have already made up 2 of the 10 minutes that i am late. Things are going great. So i power my way of the next hill. I'm a little tired from my extra speed so i cannot power up this one so i take it easy and do it at my normal page. I crest it and everything is gravy. I hit the circle and the cars are nice and make a hole for me to fit in. Dispite my lateness i am pretty happy. I have to stop at the traffic light at the bottom of the third big hill and while i am waiting another biker lines up at the stop bar with me and wishes me a good morning, and i return the seniment. Wow cars are being nice, i am making better than usual time, this is awesome. I hit the next hill with a renewed burst of energy and power the entire way up it (hell i am keeping up with cars) i crest this hill (short but steep) and watch the aforementioned biker almost get flattened by a car because of a poor decision he made. He does a good job of avoiding collision and makes his way down ridge ave. I am also going that way. I relax and let gravity do it's thing. I make it down the hill pretty fast and make it onto kelly drive and across falls bridge. I still have a few minutes to make up so i kick it into high gear, tuck and pump my legs away. I blow myself out way too early and i end up needing to go slower. No big deal it's just getting into work at 8:05 instead of 8:00 no big deal...
So i get to the turn off and i merge with the cars again and again they are giving me more than enough room and being courteous. So i climb the last hill before work and because i am burn out from pumping too hard on west river drive i need to drop into granny gear. I make it up the hill and coast down the other side. I proceed to do my normal 34th street jig where i dodge left and right (in one lane) to avoid the sinkholes, manhole covers, debris, etc in the road. I get honked at by a driver and he proceeds to almost run me into the parked cars along the side. I lay on my breaks hard so that he doesn't pin me between the cars. after i clear his rear bumper i am hella pissed and have new found energy so i bike up past him in the left lane and proceed to lay every insult i can think about and tell him to look up the info in his DOT handbook he yells at me and tells me that i shouldn't be in the road. this proceeds for about a block, us trading insults (at one point i thought he was going to try to run me into the other parked cars) he eventually tells me to stop but i yell that i have places to be (it was true it was like 8:03 and that means i was late for work) so i pulled down arch street while he pulls off the side of the road.
So to prove that i am ccorrect i did a little research and found on page 25 of this pdf has a bunch of bike laws related to driving. I also found this webiste that has all of PA's bike laws and a bunch of useful information.
So take that you ignorant drivers (well not any of you anyway, just the assholes that like to fuck with us two-wheelers)
The ride begins like almost any other ride, except i was a little late leaving the house so i pushed a little more on the first uphill so that i could make up some time. I get over the hill with only a little extra effort. I pedal my way all the way down this street and by the time i make it to the next major hill i have already made up 2 of the 10 minutes that i am late. Things are going great. So i power my way of the next hill. I'm a little tired from my extra speed so i cannot power up this one so i take it easy and do it at my normal page. I crest it and everything is gravy. I hit the circle and the cars are nice and make a hole for me to fit in. Dispite my lateness i am pretty happy. I have to stop at the traffic light at the bottom of the third big hill and while i am waiting another biker lines up at the stop bar with me and wishes me a good morning, and i return the seniment. Wow cars are being nice, i am making better than usual time, this is awesome. I hit the next hill with a renewed burst of energy and power the entire way up it (hell i am keeping up with cars) i crest this hill (short but steep) and watch the aforementioned biker almost get flattened by a car because of a poor decision he made. He does a good job of avoiding collision and makes his way down ridge ave. I am also going that way. I relax and let gravity do it's thing. I make it down the hill pretty fast and make it onto kelly drive and across falls bridge. I still have a few minutes to make up so i kick it into high gear, tuck and pump my legs away. I blow myself out way too early and i end up needing to go slower. No big deal it's just getting into work at 8:05 instead of 8:00 no big deal...
So i get to the turn off and i merge with the cars again and again they are giving me more than enough room and being courteous. So i climb the last hill before work and because i am burn out from pumping too hard on west river drive i need to drop into granny gear. I make it up the hill and coast down the other side. I proceed to do my normal 34th street jig where i dodge left and right (in one lane) to avoid the sinkholes, manhole covers, debris, etc in the road. I get honked at by a driver and he proceeds to almost run me into the parked cars along the side. I lay on my breaks hard so that he doesn't pin me between the cars. after i clear his rear bumper i am hella pissed and have new found energy so i bike up past him in the left lane and proceed to lay every insult i can think about and tell him to look up the info in his DOT handbook he yells at me and tells me that i shouldn't be in the road. this proceeds for about a block, us trading insults (at one point i thought he was going to try to run me into the other parked cars) he eventually tells me to stop but i yell that i have places to be (it was true it was like 8:03 and that means i was late for work) so i pulled down arch street while he pulls off the side of the road.
So to prove that i am ccorrect i did a little research and found on page 25 of this pdf has a bunch of bike laws related to driving. I also found this webiste that has all of PA's bike laws and a bunch of useful information.
So take that you ignorant drivers (well not any of you anyway, just the assholes that like to fuck with us two-wheelers)
I feel like Philadelphia is one of the least bike-friendly cities... not just the people but the structure of the streets.
I did all of Forbidden Drive this morning, both ways, which totals about 10 miles- which is nothing much, but it felt good for the first ride of the season.
Technically, my first ride was in March, in Cozumel, Mexico.
yesterday morning this car pulls up behind him a lays on the horn for no reason
the car then flies out around him and this lady driving kindly tells him to go fuck himself
this is at like seven in the morning with no other cars or people around
he just laughed it off and kept riding
this is why i hate philly drivers