Sweet and sour

What is it with Jerk Season????

Today, while I was performing the intricate choreography of one way streets required to get from Point A to Point B around Harvard Square, I had my own run-in with jerkiness.  I was on a two-lane one way approaching a light at one of those intersections that has a hard left, bear left, straight, and right turn.

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I needed to bear left, so I signaled to move out of the bike lane into rightmost lane.  There was one car far behind me, and the light was just turning red, so I took the lane thinking this would be simple and obvious to all involved.  But the far away car?  Suddenly was bearing down behind me, accelerating toward a red light (with a very clearly marked 'no turn on red' sign), and honking insistently.  It honestly seemed like he started going faster as soon as he saw there was a bike in the lane.

When he came to a stop behind me, I heard the driver shout something about, "use the friggin' bike lane, lady."  I kind of awkwardly half-turned over my shoulder and called back (not as calmly as I might have hoped) that, "I'm turning left-- this is what I'm supposed to do!"  There was some more unintelligible shouting, when the couple in the car stopped in the other lane starting yelling, too, and I thought, "Oh great, more?"

But no!  The Nice Couple were shouting, so that everyone could hear, "We're with you on the bicycle!  You're doing the right thing!"  As I was thanking them, Aggro Driver screamed again about "you have your own lane, dumbass!", and the Nice Couple kindly shot back, "She's supposed to be in the lane to turn left!"

Aggro Driver gave a few, now slightly halfhearted grumble-shouts; the light turned green; and A.D. had to wait approximately 2 seconds for me to push off toward the left before he made his (very fast) right turn.

I've read so much recently about the abuse taken by law-abiding cyclists, so it's clearly widespread and not specific to me.  But.  I can't help but wonder: while I do stand behind my fashion choices and my right to wear whatever the hell I want to, today I happened to be wearing a big, ribboned headband and pink Mary Janes, a combination that doesn't exactly scream "Formidable Adult Adversary;" and I was riding a loop frame bicycle with colorful, flowery bags in my rear baskets.  Now in all likelihood, Mr. Aggro would have acted exactly the same way if I were a man riding a road bike... but I sometimes can't help but feel that when I look more superficially "feminine," male drivers in particular might feel more able or more entitled to act out their aggressions toward me.  Certainly, I would appear to be in less of a position to object than, say, a giant muscle-y man who might threaten physical violence in response to verbal abuse.  I suppose this just may be an added layer of ickiness on the already uneven power relationship between those on bicycles and those safely ensconced inside two-ton steel boxes.

They should watch out, though-- carrying Frida up and down the porch steps is starting to give me really big guns.

Kind of blue

First off, in case any of you have been wondering, Frida is not a trashcan!

How rude!  It's true that this particular stretch of Harvard's campus does not have any trashcans right there, if you walk 30 seconds in almost any direction (as I did shortly after taking this photo), you will find one.  I normally don't leave the rear baskets unfolded when I park, but the bike rack I use has been so deserted now that school is out, and plus it was raining that day so it was even emptier; so I just left the basket open.  But this kind of thing (who does this?  really!) does encourage one to continue the habit even when it would seem otherwise unnecessary...

The other thing I noticed on the way home was that I was surrounded by blue mixtes!  Observe:

Blue mixte #1

Blue mixte #2

And blue mixte #3

Which was right next to blue mixte #2 

These last two caught my eye as I was riding home.  I just had to pull over and walk my bike back a few blocks to take a closer look.  They were right on top of each other, so it was tough to get a good look at either of them individually-- especially the outer one, with its delightfully unmatched mish-mosh of blue rims and tires and bright blue handlebar tape and blue Knog light!  I really wanted to cross the street to get a better shot of it, but it was starting to be rush hour, and there were just too many cars going by.  More to the point, probably, I am a terribly impatient (and accordingly, poor) photographer (working with a camera phone, no less). 

Frida retreats behind a tree, jealous of these mixte buddies and their blue camaraderie.

The outer one is a Peugeot, and the inner one had a Lotus headbadge.  They both look well-used and well-loved, and beautiful in their own individual ways.  I'm glad I decided to stop and turn around to look at them instead of just continuing on my way home.  Maybe this is all I need, mixte-wise, for the time being.

Spreading the word

The last time my little sister and her boyfriend came to visit me from Brooklyn, we had many discussions about Frida, the merits and joys of cycling, and the beauty of vintage bicycles.  Neither of them has had a bike since they were in middle school (at least my sister hasn't, for sure), and I was encouraging them to start again.  Well, today, I got this in my email:

J__ and I got bikes today! well, we put money down for them at Recycle-a-Bicycle and we will be bringing them home next week. I got a black Phillips step-through (made in England, merged with Raleigh in the 70's?) and James got a black Triumph man-bike (also made in England and was bought up by Raleigh). Both are from the early 70's and look totally cute together. James almost got a Peugeot mixte, but the one they had was a bit too messed up. Our bike place didn't have as many cool looking old bikes and mixtes as the Cambridge Antiques Market, but we were at least able to find these two gems once we went to their warehouse (after being disappointed with what they had in their shops). We're both getting coaster brakes put on at the warehouse and James' bike still needs be reconditioned, so we can't have them just yet :( . But now we're looking for bike accessories! How do you like your bike lock? Is it a standard u-lock or a long one? Kryptonite? Now I have to think about bells, lights, racks, baskets - eek.

Hooray!  I cannot wait to see pictures of the new additions to my bicycle extended family!

Bicycles are awesome

Putting mixte madness aside, yesterday I had a night that reminded me how great it is to have a bicycle at all.

For starters, instead of walking to the laundromat that's about half a mile from my apartment, I figured out that Frida can comfortably hold about 2-3 smallish loads of laundry between the rear baskets and rack.  While the total amount of time it takes to load/unload/lock up/etc. is probably equal to (or even a little greater than) the time it would take to walk, it was so much more pleasant to zip over with Frida shouldering the load instead of... my shoulders shouldering it!  The other bonus was that where I would normally kill time at the nearby cafe (which is also enjoyable), I was able to use the washing and drying times to ride to the farther-away grocery store that carries the brand of ginger beer I like and then aimlessly toodle around on the neighborhood side streets for the fun of it.  I think I may be taking Frida on laundry runs from now on.

Even better, though, was when I got home and decided I suddenly wanted to make a late night run to Target.  This used to be something that would require a bus or a Zipcar-- i.e., money and time and a particular schedule-- but with a bicycle?  I could just go.  There's something about a summer night that tends to make you feel free anyway; add in a nighttime bike ride sailing along mostly empty streets, and it feels acutely pleasurable to be alive.

It was nice, too, to come out of the store at 11:10PM and see that a few other people had the same idea. 

One of these things is not like the others...

Now all they need is some carrying capacity-- I guess it was messenger bags for everyone?  The two ladies who belonged to the middle two bikes came out as I was preparing to wheel away, and I caught them stealing envious glances at Frida's commodious baskets!  Maybe inspiring someone to have new insights on the merits of owning a big, heavy bicycle??

That's right: workin' hard and lookin' good. 

On a decidedly less than awesome note, I saw a craigslist post today about a bicycle stolen right outside the Design School at Harvard.  As this is one of Frida's more common locales, I find the report particularly disturbing....  But I suppose at least it makes my new U-lock + cable lock + rear wheel lock + Brooks-hiding shower cap system seem less paranoid.

Oh noes!

UPDATE: Remaining strong in my resolution not to purchase a bicycle right now.  (I think...?  Oh, gah.)

Third Sunday: Avant moi, le deluge

After the storms subsided yesterday evening, I was itching to get out of my stuffy apartment and into the open air.  So the Bat and I took to the Charles River bike path once again, passing a few spectacularly downed tree branches on the way [not pictured].  Everything had that after-the-rain, super saturated feel to it, which was especially nice as the sun was setting.

It was really good to get out, and the bike path was empty enough that I felt okay about posing Frida for some beauty shots next to the puddles.  (I was also really enjoying riding straight through the giant lakes of water that everyone else was avoiding, lifting my feet off the pedals to keep my feet dry and also to make it more fun.)

Happily, Cordelia's new owner, C, was able to join me for a little zip along the river.  She was wearing such a bright and adorable blue and red outfit and told me that she's been really big on cycling in skirts.

We stopped at one of those outdoor workout stations, which was right next to another huge fallen tree branch [not pictured].  It had this fun, springy/spongy ground material and some ellipticals that seemed more like swings for your feet than anything exercise-y.  There were two girls there already, playing on the various contraptions, so we chatted a bit while I photographed Cordelia and Frida together again.  One of them was doing some impressive somersaults in the background!

It was getting surprisingly chilly and windy, so we headed off to my favorite cafe to warm up-- ! in June!  I love warming up though, much more than sweating out.

The streets were so quiet and empty, and the air felt somehow full of mystery...

... but inside was cozy and full of good things to eat and drink.

We stopped for frozen yogurt afterward, but it was so cold by that point (both in the air-conditioned shop and outside) that we decided to head home.  So I took mine to go.

I'm going to say this officially counts for the Let's Go Ride a Bike Summer Games Part 2: carry a load on your bike!

8 reasons why I shouldn't buy a mixte

1. I just bought a brand new, beautiful, and expensive bicycle.
2. Rear derailleur?  What?

don't want to buy

3. I don't know how to use those little thumb shifters (and see #2 above).
4. I like riding slowly, especially now that it's summer/sweaty time.  So I don't need a sportier bike.

not interested

5. Where would I put it?  My apartment is small; Frida is large; and I'm increasingly distrustful of the bike storage in my building's front hallway as the front door's lock seems to be constantly malfunctioning, i.e. not locking at all.
6. I don't want to hurt Frida's feelings or make her think she is less special to me.

mixtes are stupid

7. I'm still new to bicycles and still figuring out what I like and don't like, so it would be premature for me to be making more purchases, especially of a kind of bike that I don't know much about.
8. I enjoy daily scanning of craigslist to see if there are any interesting bicycles, and if I bought another one now, I would really have no reason to do so.

Yeah!  That's right!
Any others?