Hey, look! Dorks on bikes!

Maybe it's just the four fillings I had installed this morning, but I feel somewhat ornery today. The stupid people are getting to me.

I live and work near Broadway, but on two very different stretches of it. The one near home is wide, relatively traffic-free and well prepared for bikes. The stretch in town isn't. Inevitably, on the lunch walk down the hill away from the campus, I see someone coasting down the middle of the righthand, northbound lane. Today there were two kinds of riders.

The cool rider: This kind rides a fixie. I will admit, I have an innate dislike of fixie riders. Some of them are actually pretty capable, but too many are like the helmetless undergrad I saw today. She was pedalling with all her might going down that hill, but the cars were creeping up behind just the same. In about three seconds, she'd meet with one of the many intersections downtown. Someday she might meet with an actual car.

The athlete-in-training: Full team kit, of course. At least this one's got a helmet. I have some serious problems with these guys, too, especially just south of Iris. Today's athlete gets fewer dork points than the cool rider, because he's got gears. With a sufficient run up to the hill, he actually maintained the 30 mph speed that most cars are going downtown. Still, there are better ways to get north and south in this town.

On a happier note, a driver actually stopped by me this morning to tell me I'd dropped a glove about a quarter mile back. Long live the nice, non-stupid people !