Screw You MTA Bus Driver!!
I’m really excited about my bike right now so pardon the self indulgent post that nobody is going to care about (not that anyone cares about any of my posts). I just got my bike out of the shop where they replaced the brakes, changed all the cables and housings, switched the old suspension fork for a rigid one, trued the wheels, and gave ‘er a tuneup. All in it cost me $195. That’s almost twice what I paid for it last May when I bought it off some pot head’s angry girlfriend in Eagle Rock. The bike now runs great and hopefully I’ll be able to get many more years out of it.
So I commute 9 miles each way to work 2 or 3 times a week. I’d like to do it more but I’m often prevented by laziness or a sore taint. Here’s my route, as if I could make this post any less interesting (the start location is approximated so as to not give away my home address. I love you Citlalli :-).
Anyways, as you can see the last bit of the trip is on Ventura Blvd. At the time I’m coming in there are anti-gridlock laws in effect so there is no street parking on the Blvd. This turns Ventura into a 3-lane almost-highway with stop lights. It’s terrible for biking, but I don’t see an alternative. If you come up with a good one I’ll give you a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints. So this morning I was cruising along in the far right lane as close to the sidewalk as I could without hitting my pedal on the curve when a Metro Bus 750 approached me from behind. Usually the buses just pass me, but this driver got right behind me and started honking. There isn’t much I can do in this situation so I just kept on pedaling. The driver kept honking, then when traffic to his left allowed he swerved around me. I caught up with the bus when it stopped at Sepulveda and I pulled alongside the driver’s window. Our conversation went something like this:
ME: Were you honking at me?
BUS DRIVER: Yes, you were going to slow.
ME: Too slow? I’m on a bike. What do you want me to do?
BUS DRIVER: You should go on the sidewalk.
ME: It’s illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk. I’d get a ticket.
BUS DRIVER: Well, you should use the sidewalk. You’re going to slow.
ME: No, YOU should share the road. We gotta share the road brother!
At this point I pounded my chest with my closed fist twice then gave him a peace sign, and rode away. I’m not quite sure what motivated this ghettofied gesture. I think I was momentarily overcome by a “fight the power” sentiment, and I believed I was representing a noble cause in the name of suppressed cyclists everywhere. Suddenly I remembered all those annoying soap-box blogs I’ve read run by self-important cycling activists and I was disappointed in myself for acting like them. I put my headphones back in and finished my commute in shame.
