Lesson Learned

Note: I wrote most of this entry on Tuesday, immediately after I got home from work on the day the encounter happened. I wanted to give myself a few days to stew over things before I posted and frankly, I've been pretty busy with the holiday week. Expect a more fun/less wordy post soon.

Right now I'm just about as frustrated as a guy can be. See, I was riding to work this morning, as I do every morning, and I had my helmet cam all set up and recording when I had an interesting encounter.

Let me preface this by saying that I won't ever pretend to be the most "by the book" bike commuter. I don't have any pretenses about being a holier than thou, perfectly courteous rider. I'm sure there are times when I'm in a hurry to get to work, or home, where I pass a little closer to a car than that driver might be comfortable with. Yeah it might give them a bit of a start, but I would never do anything to purposely impede a car's travel. If I ever cut someone off, it's a complete accident, and that's something that I almost NEVER do. I always yield the right of way and do my absolute best to not get in the way. Sure I'll ride through red lights, but ONLY when I've stopped, or slowed down enough to make sure that it was clear and that I wasn't interfering with anyone. And most of all, if I'm behind a school bus on Bedford Ave, I stop while their red lights are on and give the kiddies ample time to get on or off without me impeding them. Which brings me to my encounter this morning.

I was on Bedford, heading north towards the Williamsburg Bridge and I was behind one of these school buses. Yes, I was north of where the bike lane "ends" but legally that doesn't mean anything about whether a person can or can't ride there. It just means there's no bike lane. This bus was in the left lane, in a row of cars that was slowing due to a few cars ahead making left turns. As I didn't want to ride in front of cars that were turning left on their left side, I shifted over to the right side of this row and proceeded to ride by them. As I was going by the bus, and through the intersection where the cars were turning, traffic started moving again. I surged forward ahead of the bus and cut back to the left side of the street, where the bike lane used to be. This is the best side of the road to ride since the missing bike lane still left about a bike lane width shoulder. Once I got back to the left side, the funny business started.

Traffic was moving a little faster than I, so the bus started to pass me. I had just shifted to the left in front of him, so I knew he knew I was there. My move had been a bit abrupt, but I made sure to leave plenty of room for him behind me when I shifted, so I didn't think much of it. As we rolled ahead, with the bus moving just slightly faster than me on my right, there were some cars parked on the left. As we went by them, the bus wasn't giving me much space. I was a little concerned, but made it through alright. Then traffic started slowing again. I tried to pull ahead of the bus, so I wouldn't get squeezed. That was when it became obvious that the bus driver wasn't the most courteous motorist. He sped up as I did and swerved to the left, cutting me off and nearly crushing me between his bus and the semi-truck to my left. I pounded on the side of his bus to let him know that I was there, I wasn't pleased, and he was about to maim me. As we went by the semi, I accelerated again to try to get away from him and he matched me and pulled ahead. At this point I noticed his window was open. I figured I'd be exchanging some words with him, but apparently he was sure of it. He pulled forward and stopped, boxing me from going by him with the front of his bus and a parked car. I rode directly to his window and the exchange went a little something like this:

me: "What the heck are you doing man? Are you trying to kill me?"
driver:"Yes, I am trying to kill you, you aren't supposed to be riding here."
me:"It's a road, It's legal for me to ride here. You cut me off, you squeezed me against that semi! I'm just trying to get to work!"
driver:"I'm trying to get somewhere too, you hit my bus! Didn't you hit my bus!?"
me:"Yeah I hit your bus, while you were trying to cut me off!"
driver:"don't hit my bus, you need to be on the sidewalk!"
me:"It's illegal to ride on the sidewalk!"
driver:Go to the road with the bike lane, get on the sidewalk, etc.

...And so on. At some point I mentioned that I had a camera on my helmet. He was a little taken aback, but immediately reverted to aggression by demanding to see the film. I assured him that he'd see it, and was so excited by the prospect of using this recorded encounter to get this guy off the road, and far away from looking after the safety of a couple dozen children.

So I finally got away from our homicidal child care specialist and excitedly finished my commute so I could check out the clip that would surely be on the evening news later, and definitely get this full on human bulldozer out from behind the wheel for a while. I pulled out the camera's remote handset, and noticed immediately.

The camera wasn't on.

My batteries had died about 5 minutes in to the ride and I had absolutely none of my harrowing encounter on tape! I couldn't have been more disappointed. Someone had literally tried to kill me, and admitted to it ON RECORD and I didn't have the footage. I learned a hard lesson about battery charging. And you can rest assured that I won't be missing any footage like this again.

Many of you know that the area where this encounter occurred, and Bedford Ave. in particular, has been a bit of a bone of contention for the local cycling community over the past few years. The local religious community that makes up most of the population of the area is not the biggest fan of cyclists passing through their "turf." As such they had the bike lane that happily fed conscientious cyclists up through Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy, South Williamsburg to the base of the Williamsburg bridge removed once it gets up in to their neighborhood. The idea was to divert cycle traffic away from their main thoroughfare to ease traffic flow. Really it was a bit of a slap in the face to one of the ideals that I think New York stands for, that diverse communities of people can live in such close proximity without many toes getting trod upon. Removing the bike lane was just a big nod to isolationism.

I know that there are a lot of complicated factors that go in to this issue, and that a big argument against me is that I'm just some naive, white, gentrifying windbag with no respect for cultural traditionalism or community. I'll admit that that's half true. I am white, I might be naive, and by default my presence in a community where my race/religion/heritage is not the predominant population makes me a gentrify-er. However; I like to think that I have some respect for the communities that I end up living in and around. So far, I've had really no problem being one of the young, white, goyim in Brooklyn. But when a member of a community who I thought was supposed to put some stock in the whole "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" thing tries to kill me for using a public road in his community, I lose a little bit of the respect that I had for that community, and that's pretty sad. That's the sort of behavior that leads to the cultural conflicts that can be so poisonous in such an ever changing city.

I'm going to try to not let it get to me though. I'll still ride up Bedford on my way to work every day; I'll still stop for buses and red lights; and even though he basically asked me to, if I see the bus driver running across the street between crosswalks or against the light, I won't run him down on purpose.

DELAY!

Whoa!

It's been a minute. I know you've all been eagerly awaiting this moment, so wait no more! Here it is.

First and foremost, why haven't I written in so long? Well, mainly because I went to visit my parents for a week in Michigan. I thought about writing a post while I was there, but I was far too busy reliving all of my high school rides on my slightly more modern whip:




Ahh Holdrige Lakes, how I missed you. And what's this next picturesque landscape?




Why that's a lovely view of Pontiac Lake in gorgeous Oakland county, MI from some of the best singletrack in the area. Needless to say, it was nice to be home and be able to revisit a few trails that I hadn't been on in at least four or five years. The great thing was how familiar they still were after all this time. I guess riding them weekly for much of my adolescence really hammered the lines in there. Between the old trails, a couple old friends, and spending a bunch of time just hanging out with my parents, it was a great trip. Though I must say, it's good to be back in the city.

Another funny thing happened while I was out of town. As some of you may have noticed...

I made it!

My film project exceeded its funding goal by more than $200! I was completely overwhelmed. Before you go getting your knickers bunched with excitement over my impending film though, I have to say, It's gonna be a while... It'll be a couple weeks before all of the cash is processed through my Amazon account. Then I've got to get the camera. Then I start the countdown; 365 days of filming/editing. I'll keep you all posted on how the project is coming, and for those who pledged and are waiting on their pledge gifts, you'll be hearing from me soon!

Staying on topic, I came across something that got me worked up in a much less awesome way recently, check this out. Apparently, because this dude manages money for a bunch of folks with a shit ton of money, he gets reduced charges for a hit and run with a cyclist. Now don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against folks with shit tons of money. That's not what this is about at all. The outrageous, egregious, error of the DA in this case is his motivation. HIS motivation is the money!

The DA is lowering the charges because if money manager dude gets charged with a felony, he'll have to report it. If he reports it, he'll likely lose a BUNCH of wealthy, right-minded clients. If he loses his clients, he can't pay any "restitution" for his crime. According to the DA “When you're talking about restitution, you don't want to take away his ability to pay.” Alright, I get that, but since when does someone's ability to pay MONETARILY have anything to do with justice? If the victim's hospital bills are the concern, I'm sure this guy might have some non-liquid assets he could spare (a black, slightly dented Mercedes perhaps). The excuse that the driver didn't know he had hit anyone almost makes it worse! He was so fricking (you're welcome Mom) oblivious that he didn't even know what he had hit! He just kept rolling until he found somewhere that he could pull off and call for a tow! He could have hit anything from a deer to a child and he would have had no idea. So homeboy is bombing around Colorado and not even looking out his windshield, and that's why it's ok to drop the charges... Brilliant.

Obviously situations like these get me a little heated. Sometimes I have a bit of a tendency to get worked up into a bit of a "get the hell off my lawn dammit!" fervor, and this is just the sort of thing about which I can't help but sound off. But rather than continue ranting on and on about it, I'll just recommend that you all go sign this petition and if you have a minute, send this guy a note:

Judicial District Attorney's Office
Mr. Mark Hurlbert, District Attorney
955 Chambers Rd.,
P.O. Box 295 Eagle, CO. 81631
(970) 328-6947; (970) 328- 1016 fax

Big ups to Stevil at All Hail the Black Market for spreading the word.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week. I'll leave you with this because it's awesome.

Carboner

Carbon Fiber

It's cool, it's light, it rides really well, you can make bikes that are really cool shapes, and it's strong... Until you hit it with a rock.



Yeah, that's my mountain bike. Yeah, the left seat-stay is broken in half. I've literally had it for about 6 weeks. Trek sent me the frame as a replacement for my 10 YEAR OLD FRAME! That's right, Trek warrantied a 10 year old CARBON mt. bike frame. Talk about standing behind your product! We had a customer bring his broken carbon road frame in to the shop this week. I won't say who the company was, or which frame, but let's just say, they weren't quite as generous.



This frame is 2 months old, and according to the customer, hasn't been crashed or had something fall on it. That said, this type of crack wouldn't happen just from the stress of riding the bike, so it's not clear if the damage is covered under warranty. Huge bummer for this dude, cause now he has to wait for the frame to be sent back to the company so they can assess it and decide how the frame was cracked.

In fairness, this is exactly how a warranty claim has to go. Keep it above board, and by the books, that way nobody can accidentally or purposely screw anyone. The thing that bugged me about the whole thing was the attitude that the reps took right off the bat. Everyone seemed to default to "It was the customer's fault." Nobody even pretended to take the "Let's give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe our shit was messed up" line.

That's sort of wack.

Oh well, hopefully everything will work out for him in the end. As for my frame, crashes aren't covered under warranty (apparently slamming on rocks isn't considered normal use) so I'll be paying to replace the frame. Thankfully Trek are pretty good with crash replacement, so I won't have to take out any more loans to pay for it. Until the new one comes though, I think I'm just going to ride it with the "splint" that my buddy, Todd, and I made out of garbage we found while I waited for my train home.



Think it'll hold up?

Cars Cars Cars

I have had a love/hate relationship with cars for a very long time. As a white male who grew up in southeast Michigan I was invariably engulfed in car culture for my entire youth. Somehow I always felt slightly on the fringe of it, but still in it nonetheless. No, I couldn't tell you exactly what year that Camaro was that just drove by, but I could usually guess to within a year or two. I couldn't tell you how many cylinders that engine had by its sound, but I knew it sounded fucking cool. Cars were (and still are) a requirement if you wanted to have any sort of social life in high school.

Living in a sprawled out rural/suburban mid-western town meant that if you wanted to go anywhere, or do pretty much anything, you drove. Go see a movie? 30 minute drive. Go to the grocery store? 20 minute drive. Go to your nearest good friend's house? 15 minute drive. These might not seem like terrible times in the context of 30-40 minute subway/bus rides. But public transportation is quite a different animal. Your 30 minute train ride means jumping on the train, reading a magazine, chilling out, hopping off, and boom, you're there. Driving to the mall means starting the car, driving the three miles of dirt road to the highway, getting on the interstate, piloting a two ton death machine at 75 mph for about six miles, finding parking, and slogging through the sea of parking over to the front door. Not exactly calming.

Admittedly, my view right now might be a little biased. Back in MI a car meant freedom, It meant independence, it meant not waiting awkwardly in front of Macaroni Grill for Mom to pick up you and your "date" in the mini-van... So cars were good. Once I had my license, I got in to them. I did all my own maintenance on my '89 S-10 not just because I couldn't afford a mechanic, but because working on cars is fun. And driving them can be fun too! It doesn't even have to be doing donuts in the high school parking lot early on a Saturday morning; just getting out on the open road, turning the radio up and pushing the pedal down can be a great feeling. Open Road! America! Apple Pie! Fuck Yeah!

I've found driving to be especially enjoyable since I stopped doing it. I haven't "owned" a car since I was in high school (owned in quotes because I've never actually had a car's title in my name, I always had hand-me-downs). My primary means of transportation has been two-wheeled and human powered for the past 7 years and that has felt great. But, given our nation's relatively young infrastructure and the fact that a hefty portion of our civic planning was done with the scale of the car in mind, occasionally getting behind the wheel tends to be unavoidable. Generally, I've found that to be ok. The times that have necessitated my driving have been mostly bearable and at times bordering on fun, even here in the city!

That is, until recently. You see, lately I have had to do a lot more driving than I'm really accustomed to, and it's getting old fast... My current part time gig working for a cabinet maker in NY requires that I make a decent number of trips to the finisher in Queens, to the job site on the Upper West Side, back to the shop in Williamsburg, etc. etc. Now, the more I drive, the more I realize driving sucks. Maybe it's the traffic in the city, or maybe it's the minimalist accommodations of my boss' F-150; more likely, though, I think it's the fact that I've been spending way too much time driving. It wears me down. At the beginning of a day where I know I have a few trips to make, it's not so bad. Even sitting in traffic I just relax behind the wheel and wait for things to clear up. The more time I spend in the truck, however, the worse my attitude gets.

It's easy to understand why there are so many pricks all over. They probably drive everywhere. Look at the following images and which one puts you in a shit mood:

A.




or B.




Not that B is some stunning vista, but at least the sky is visible! As you may have guessed, these are views from crossing the Williamsburg bridge by car (A) and bike (B). When it comes down to it, it's not even a giant difference. But you definitely get the feeling that you're actually enjoying a beautiful day with image B, rather than rotting away in a steel box. I would have posted a picture of the view from the train, but I'm sure you all can imagine what that is like.

So, needless to say, I'm not a giant fan of cars, yet I still find myself watching Top Gear on Netflix all the time... Maybe cars can be ok in the form of cool toys for grownups, but as a primary means of transportation, they leave a lot to be desired.

Launched!

Gah, Finally!





I managed to get my Kickstarter page launched tonight. Now CLICK and pledge! Please...

And thank you!

Fair Warnings

If you're wondering why I still haven't launched the Kickstarter page, well I'll show you.



Yesterday my brother, Steve (of AllBright Skateboards fame) was hit by a car on his way to work in Boston. He was on his bike and thought he had a clear intersection. Turns out he didn't. So anyway, I've been in Boston for the last 2 days chilling with him at the hospital. I'd write more/work on getting the video up now, but I'm tired as hell. If you're curious, he's ok, just a broken Tibia and Fibula, thankfully. I know that's not, not a big deal, but it could have been a lot worse. He's a fucking machine.

BE CAREFUL!

Updaterade

So, I've been working on a short intro video for the Kickstarter page and let me tell you, making videos is hard. Even the little 1-2 minute jam to introduce the film that I want to make is taking me all night. I knew this project was going to be a lot of work, but now I'm starting to realize just how much. Regardless, I'm still really excited for it, and super excited to get the Kickstarter page live so that I can get this ball rolling.

I wanted to take a quick little break from the video and update all of you faithful followers (I think we're up to a solid 7 now) on the progress. Here's a short little clip of what you can expect:



Ok, actually that wasn't the one I wanted to show you, that was just me checking the lighting and making sure I looked ok (special thanks to Stu from Tazzors for the epic soundtrack suggestion). Here's the actual clip:



I know it isn't much, but it's tough aiming your cell phone camera and riding. That's a pretty clear example of why I need money for a helmet cam. I'm trying to finish the video up tonight, so look for the project to launch tomorrow.

In unrelated news, my younger brother just launched a skateboard company over in Boston with a couple of his friends. Give AllBright Skateboards a look and maybe even order one of their boards. They're pretty badass.