Blog the Travelogue

Today I got pulled over buy a cop. I was headed home for lunch and to finish an assignment I had for class. The weather was dreary. The road was wet and the clouds had shut out all hope of every seeing the sun again, at least until tomorrow. I was driving down the street when I saw the blue lights. I pulled over and she asked me to step out of the vehicle. I sat there wondering what did wrong. Thoughts of Rodney King came to mind. It was reminiscent of one of those COP shows on TV, "Whatcha gonna do when they come for you. Bad boys, bad boys. . ." I wasn't speeding, there's no doubt about that. However, I did not hesitate and I did she said. Suprisingly, she stayed in her car. I walked over to see woman roughly my own mothers age and she looked somewhat like would imagine Aunt Jemima's little sister only dressed in a blue uniform.

She asked, "Just tell me, why did you run that red light?" I stood there trying to figure out what she was talking about. "Take your hand out of your pocket."

"Yes, ma'm." I showed no disrespect but, honestly, I could not remember seeing any red lights.

"You were in the turning lane and my light was green for several seconds." Again I just stood there thinking and I realized my light was green but the turing lane was not. It wasn't red either.

I told her, "Ma'm I honestly don't remember seeing any red lights. Maybe my mind was on something else." She also said that I needed to drive more carefully. Fortunately, she let me go without even a warning.

She must have thought I was in a big rush or something. She wasn't mean about it at all but just gave me words of caution. She did have a point. I know for a fact, and this is anecdotal evidence, that I am much more aware of my surroundings when I ride my bicycle in traffic than when I drive my truck. On my bicycle I have a 360 degree unobstructed view. When I get into my truck and drive I feel as though my height of awareness goes down. I am not as alert. In fact, when I drive I am not thinking about driving at all I am only thinking about where I am going and what I need to do. Traveling between points A and B are not really fun. On my bicycle traveling in the fun part. When I ride I am, at least 80% of the time thinking about riding and traffic, cadence and pace and endurance. I am looking in the rear view mirrors mounted on my helmet, keeping one eye behind and one eye ahead. Thinking of the safest way home.

In short, I love riding bicycles! I wish we lived in a more bicycle, pedestrian friendly world. Not that I hate cars riding my bicycle is just much more rewarding. I'm losing weight, hopefully preventing heart attacks, strokes and various kinds of cancers. I think the American people would greatly benefit from incorporating more manual labor into their daily lives.