About a year and half ago, I exchanged $40 cash and a Safeway bake-at-home pizza for a well worn, well-loved dusty black bicycle. I was happy with my newfound mode of transport, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little hesitant. I’d let the busy streets of SF and the warning words of my mother intimidate me into thinking biking in this city was a daily cut throat, near death experience. Don’t get me wrong, it sort of is. But so is riding in a god-forsaken über or taking the MUNI (I mean, have YOU ever been stuck in one of the underground tunnels?). It’s true that every time I get on my bike my I feel like my risk for dismemberment quadruples, especially because one thing the $40/pizza agreement didn’t cover was fully functioning brakes. Despite my funky set-up, and my admittedly limited coverage of SF’s bike friendly terrain, cycling has been a real eye-opening experience. This sounds cliché [then again this whole blog is sort of a fucking joke] but in my repetitive, pot-holed filled, quadricept-burning commutes I’ve come to realize something: The qualities required to be successful in urban biking are the same as those necessary to be successful in life. Cycling has forced me to improve some valuable traits that are objectively associated with being a better person.
Here's what I've learned:
1. Communicate
My first few days of biking to work I entered the 5-way roundabout near the Zynga building with uncertaintly, hesitation and timidity. I learned quickly that those traits will get you crushed between a city bus and a prius faster than you can say “WTF is Zynga anyway?”. So early on, I learned to be obvious, and purposeful and VISIBLE. Instead of holding my breath, plugging my nose and hoping I’ll resurface on my desired street, I now make it clear where I want to exit before I even enter in. I often just hold my hand out, pointing towards Townsend street in sort of a combined ‘mic-drop-and-I-dare-you-to-try-to-cut-me-off’ position. So far it’s worked wonders for arriving safely and directly to my final destination.
You get how that’s life advice too, right? Don't assume people know what you’re thinking—not bosses, or colleagues, or best friends, or dates, or strangers, for goodness sake. You have to tell them, clearly and deliberately and in an “don’t-you-dare-try-to-cut-me-off” way.
2. Be self-aware, but by God be assertive
In a similar vein to #1, don’t just assume people see you, or care about you! Sounds cold, but it’s a fact of life, in the bike lane and in the real world, too. So, take precautions: look over your shoulder, tell people you’re passing on the left [and then actually pass on the left], wear your lights and make eye contact before you do things like blow through stop signs. If someone in your path doesn’t see you, make sure they do. Same goes for the aforementioned people in your life also, know whadda mean?
3. Stay humble. [SIT DOWN]
Sometimes in life you’re going along really smoothly, pedaling effortlessly, and you find yourself at the base of a 22% grade hill. Even with the most sophisticated updates, my wimpy Univega and wimpier leg muscles could never summit that monster. So, I get off and walk. And sometimes it’s really dark and I don’t feel like my measly blinking LEDs will guide my way over the potholes safely; and I leave my bike and hitch a ride. SF is a good city for keeping you physically humble, especially on a bicycle. It’s not a bad lesson to remember in all facets of your daily existence, either.
 |
| Me staying humble |
4. Enjoy the ride
Biking around San Francisco has given me some of my happiest times. You feel viscerally connected to your urban surroundings because you’re feeling every bump in the road, and smelling every wonderful and nasty smell that emanates from the streets. You’re able to by pass traffic, and stop for coffee, and pretend you’re one with every other cool cyclist that speeds past you, somehow barely pedaling. And there’s nothing quite like the solidarity you create with a stranger with whom you were almost smashed between a UPS truck and a light pole. Yeah, there’s risks in riding a bike, but there’s a helluva lotta rewards too.
Haters always gonna hate
No comments:
Post a Comment