vplow

🇺🇸Minneapolis, MN is a bike city, so is Duluth
✔️adapt for seasonal weather

Decades ago, Sen Oberstar started funding bike trails
& we push for more/better
Ex. Protected bike lanes

I concede *some weather is too bad to bike; also some weather is too bad to drive.

✔️Snow plow🚴🏼‍♀️ trails to school

Cities should be for children, not for cars.

Every now and then I figure "heck, why don't I take the car for this little errand". And halfway to my destination I'm kicking myself for not taking the e-bike instead. Being traffic, getting stuck behind delivery trucks parking willy-nilly, finding parking, paying parking... it's all so dumb.

It's strangely poetic. It illustrates how infrastructure is the only thing that slows drivers. But even then; god help you if you're between speed humps when the driver is, again, speeding and trying desperately to pass you. What if we doubled the amount of speed humps?

That thing when; I'm cycling and the car behind me accelerates to pass before the upcoming speed hump while I simply continue at a steady 18mph on my e-cargo bike. I hear their front spoiler scrape the road cuz they went too fast, then accelerate to the next hump and do the same. I'm still ahead.

Looking at him; he’s just pathetic. A dweeb. A small man.

It’s staggering- the amount of power and superiority and aggression that car culture enables…. look how it transforms this dweeb into a monster when he’s behind the wheel. A monster who screams at kids on bikes.

I’m not mad at myself for not confronting him really, but it feels like a missed opportunity to have said my piece to him.

My stare lingered a bit, I watched him put his groceries into the trunk of his car, a car that’s newer than the one he was driving all those times he was yelling at our bike bus kids. He no longer has a vanity license plate. This newer car is a big upgrade. It’s a luxury car. Fancy.

Back at the store, I noted that he was tall, but his legs were willowy. Thin. His skinny jeans draped more like relaxed fit. No thigh muscle to speak of. I bet he’s hardly ever been on a bike. I feel sorry for his kid. The way he was engaging with the staff member made him seem lonely.

His eyebrows are set in a permanent fret. Notably so. In fact I’ve seen him stopped in traffic recently and noted the same. I couldn’t wait to tell a fellow bike bus leader that I saw ‘that guy’ and my first take was that he presents as a small, simple dweeb when he’s not terrorizing us.

He was chatty and seemed pleasant enough to the staff. He, like me, was stocking up on pomegranates. He was otherwise oblivious to those around him and I don’t understand how he wasn’t phased by the daggers and fire I was sending through him from my spot in line.

I realized the driver who has terrorized our bike bus kids multiple times over multiple years was in front of me at the grocery checkout last night. I noticed a few things about him…

The Poloroid Land Camera is named for its inventor Edwin Land.

Caught on Video: AC Transit Operator Appears to Assault Cyclist - Streetsblog San Francisco Bus driver uses bike lane on Foothill to queue jump slow-moving traffic, tailgates and honks at a cyclist in the bike lane, then nearly runs him over

Ok I spoke too soon when I said in my previous comment that city buses aren’t out to get me. JFC…

You feel that wind coming down from the hills? Bbbrrrrr....this is nice, it's *crisp* this morning!

Oh wow cool, that driver is just hanging back behind us, giving us space. Let's give them a little nod when they pull alongside at the stoplight.

Are you warm enough on the back of the bike love? Good thing you remembered your full-fingered gloves today. Dad, I can see my breath! Look honey there's a bunch of big kids skateboarding in that parking lot, we should practice your 'board there later.

And, also- goddamn isn't it a beautiful morning? Oh look, they put up their xmas decorations, it's lovely! Oh there's our friends up ahead, let's catch up to them and chat!

The sheer amount of awareness one experiences while cycling can be a little overwhelming at times. All the calculations, the chess game of urban riding, the judgement about the kind of person that drives like that, it's all part of cycling in the city.

People with tinted windows- I cannot see what gesture you're throwing. Are you offering me space to proceed? Are you flipping me off? Who knows... I'm just gonna wait here until you eventually make whatever move you're going to make.

Any parent who knowingly parks in a bike lane is my automatic enemy. If I see you at the pta meeting and recognize you, that's what the glare is about.

Don't hang out in the no-go blindspot area of work vans. It's a big ask for them to be looking out for you. But, that doesn't preclude yelling or #loudBicycleHorn alerts.

Any car with "my kid goes to [insert private school]" bumper stickers?... be very careful! They are not concerned with you. At all.

city buses- again; whales. Just give a wide berth because they probably don't see you. And at least you know they're actively trying not to squash you, if they can help it. Garbage trucks and city buses; think TEAMWORK.

tbh, any EV driver doesn’t realize that with all that incredible high torque acceleration, they’re scary as fuck because they pass so quickly. Garbage trucks.. don’t sweat it- they’re whales. Just keep an eye on them and always nod to the driver because you’re going to see them next week too.

the crews of roofers in their work trucks? They’re usually angels. The Subarus? They MUST get past you, but they do it very obviously and always using their turn signals to somehow indicate it’s actually “a very safe pass because I’m a safe and contentious driver..”

Thinking about how much information and judgement I parse whenever I’m on my bike regarding the drivers around me. I know it’s a Tesla approaching because they’re so heavy, their tires sound different. I know what happens when a bmw is nearby (prepare to get shouldered)…

so very sorry you got hit hard by shingles. Me too, and I can relate to having to stop the car to vomit… I had no idea it was so brutal until I had it and nearly wanted to die for a couple days there.

I got shingles when I was 48. It was so horrible and I never want anyone to have to experience that misery. Truly truly awful. I’ve gotten both doses of shingrex since then and while it was a bit of a drag for a couple days, it is 100% worth it to avoid another case of shingles.

The person I know with the biggest medical bills was a healthy 8-year-old who got shot in his car seat.