Wednesday, November 01, 2006

satan is my motor

Yesterday I drove the car because I had to go to the Mass office.
On the way home I pass right by our Providence office that I normally bike-commute to. Around the time I got to the Providence office it seemed that every road and highway in the state came to a complete standstill. This is a common occurence for about a week or so after the daylight time change. Folks seem to forget how to drive in the dark and widespread chaos breaks out.
Anyway, a commute that should take only 15-20 minutes took me over ONE HOUR! Yes, 65 minutes to travel the 7.5 miles from the Providence office to my house. I sat at one intersection through SEVEN light-cycles before I got through. I was so pissed off. I just kept asking myself "Why? why am I stuck in this car? I HATE this!"

At one point I saw a guy behind me get so frustrated that he pulled out of the line of stopped cars, crossed the yellow line into oncoming traffic and... drove! He just drove up the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic. The oncoming traffic blew their horns, flashed their lights and swerved to get out of his way. He went for about a quarter mile before turning left onto a side street. Insanity!

I saw only one bike commuter. Sad.

So, after last night's drive from hell, there was NO WAY I was getting in a car today! Rain and darkness be damned! Today, I'd ride naked through a blizzard in Nome Alaska just to avoid sitting in traffic again!
My bike commute took me only 35 minutes. Same as it does every morning and, yes, I stop and wait at all (ok, about 95%) of the traffic lights.

OK, I'm glad that riding my bike to work is healthy for me, green for the planet and all that other happy crap but honestly, it would be closer to the truth to say I do it because I'm impatient, I hate sitting still and I hate stupid people.
Is that wrong?

If caring for the environment doesn't fuel your bicycling engine, let hate do the job. It works for me.

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