life hereafter

random musings from a wannabe economist

Earlier today I had the lovely experience of being hit by a man on a mountain bike as I walked to work. Now, I would understand if this happened while I was in a cross-walk and an aggressive messenger trying to beat the light blew on through. However, this happened on the sidewalk.

As I crossed 8th street walking south I began to turn around to walk east on Race. At that point I was struck by a man on a mountain bike riding on the sidewalk. I then watched as the man fumbled around without saying anything and then proceeded to ride half way down the block and cross the street in the middle against traffic and into a parking lot. Thankfully I was not hurt, just disoriented, and a little sore.

I honestly cannot understand people who ride bikes on the side walk. I see this all the time, and it really makes me angry. Don’t these people understand that it is both illegal and dangerous to ride their bikes on the sidewalk in cities? Both Pennsylvania law (Section 3508.a) and Philadelphia Code (12-808.1) state:

“No person shall ride a bicycle upon a sidewalk within a business district, as such district is defined in The Vehicle Code.”

Additionally, Philadelphia Code (12-808.2) states:

“No person 12 years of age or more shall ride a bicycle upon any sidewalk in any district.”

This man was clearly over the age of 12.

People, there are bike lanes for a reason. Use them, and remember that you are classified as a vehicle and the same laws apply.

I some how managed to lose both my livestrong bracelet and SJL Rowing bracelet between last night and this morning. I realized this around 8am and completely freaked. It’s funny how if you don’t have something on your body that you have had for the past five or six years, you feel completely naked. 

After frantically searching my home and car I decided that I had to retrace the steps of my cycling adventure yesterday. Around 8pm I started to wander around my parking lot and found the two bracelets covered in what looked like “got run over by many cars” soot.

Yay!

Something is very wrong with the chain on my bike right now, and its very bad considering the MS 150 is only a few days away.

In the past two days I have found myself spinning up a hill when all of a sudden the chain pops off the little cog and the bike stops with my legs spinning wildy. Next thing I know I am practically fracuring my wrist by hitting the ground. Ugh. My poor knees and arm…

There is nothing quite like getting all ready for a ride, picking up your bike and realizing that one of your tires was flat. You distinctly remember it not being flat the night before, but now all of a sudden in the morning, it looks like sad rubber.

After spending 20 minutes checking the tire, checking the tube, determining that the tire was okay, then worrying that one of the spokes was protruding through the rim, and then re-taping the rim I put it all back together and decided not to stray too far from home today.

No problems on the actual road, although every little sound made me worry. I’ll watch the bike, if I did manage to destory my rim (without knowing what I did) I will not be a happy camper.

This was quite the weekend for injuries.

1) Friday after work one of The Firm’s partners had a few people over for some volleyball and swimming. Now, I am not very good at volleyball and my general strategy is to make sure that if the ball comes near me, I send it away as quickly as possible. How I accomplish that is through a series of flailing arms and hands. On one particular volley heading my way I tried to hit the ball open palmed. Unfortunately the angle the ball and my hand were at ensured that the ball would only hit my left ring finger. The result was a jammed swollen finger and some broken blood vessels. No big deal, just a bit painful.

2)  This morning I went for a ‘training ride’ with a few people who will be doing the MS 150 with me in September.  While riding on Main Street I managed to get myself into an accident. I was riding behind my roommate who was riding behind a black car. The black car decided to turn right, into a parking lot, without using any signals or providing any notice. This caused my roommate to brake quickly and veer right. In order to avoid hitting him I tried to brake quickly and go around the car on the left. Unfortunately the woman driving the car saw my roommate in her line of sight and decided to stop very short. This did not provide me with enough reaction time to move more quickly to the left and I crashed into the back of her car. My hand was caught between my bike and her trunk, my front wheel scraped along the rear bumper of her car. As she calls out “Are you okay?,” I screamed back, “just fine thank you!” Later I realized that I banged up my right hand pretty badly, but it was really only superficial.

3) Waiting at a stop light I didn’t unclip from my pedals fast enough and I fell on my right side. Right in the middle of the street. If you were in a car at the intersection of Kelly Drive and Calumet Ave you probably had yourself a good laugh.

With the amount of klutzy things I manage to do it is a wonder that I haven’t managed to break anything in twenty years.

In less than 24 hours SEPTA has managed to piss me off twice. New record I think…

1) I rode SEPTA back from the bike race in Manayunk yesterday. A ride of less than one mile. It was hot and I just didn’t feel like human powering my way back. Well as soon as we get to the Ivy Ridge stop and some people get up to leave the conductor gets very angry. “This train don’t move till I say it moves. Where are ya’ll tickets?” What the heck man?! If I get to my stop before you collect my ticket, I win. Thats the rule. You don’t get to change the rules in the middle of the game. I reluctantly gave the guy my ticket, however the girls behind me ran off the train. He called after them asking if that “made their day?” To which they replied, “YES!”

2) The 5:37 train pulled into Suburban Station three cars short. You do the math. New rule; if you don’t have a seat on the train you shouldn’t have to pay for your ticket.

P.S. Another new rule: If you are too out of shape to climb the stairs to the train, thereby holding everyone behind you up as you pant and crawl. You should take a cab to work.

It’s hot out.

So I’ve been good this past week. Lately I have found myself not wanting to ride once I get home from work. It’s hot and I’m tired. Not a good combination. The solution? Convince the roommate (or vice versa) that waking up early and riding before work is a good idea! So, 5:30 am wake up calls, brush of the teeth and hop onto the saddle.

Sadly, day three into this and I am already grounded by rain delays. You know, if you don’t do something new seven times in a row, it ruins the routine…