What I Learned Riding my Bike to the Library

I got a new bike for Mother's Day/my birthday this year. It's a real bike from a real bicycle shop. I feel a little special, although in reality, my height - not my skill - is the reason I got a real bike instead of another department store version. This bike just fits me better. I wouldn't have gotten a bike at all if I didn't refuse to ride the bike that broke on me last year, causing me to crash in front of the local medical center. Something about the handlebars completely falling apart caused a rift in my relationship with that bike. Trust? Gone.

 

So B bought me a new bike and once again, I started spring with high aspirations for riding my bike more this year. (Last year's bike crash occurred on the season's inaugural ride and happened in the last half of the summer, so clearly I have good intentions and less than stellar follow-through.) And so, while I haven't been riding as much as I'd like, primarily thanks to Seattle-like weather around here, I have been riding more. Today, my destination was the library, where I wanted to check Consumer Reports' ratings on smartphones because mine is dying a slow death and I'm unlikely to avoid a trip to the Verizon store much longer.

I learned a few things today on my ride to the library:

• Vehicles don’t consider bikers waiting at the crosswalk to be pedestrians. Technically, I suppose they’re correct; however, when an actual pedestrian is also waiting to cross the road, stop already, people! It's the law and those signs telling you to stop are more than a suggestion.
• There is a drainage/barrier pipe at the end of the bike path where it meets the highway. You cannot ride your bike across this barrier. You must stop and lift your bike over the barrier at the very busy intersection, unless you've already got it figured out and ride on the road instead of the bike path, like the cyclist who passed me.
• My bike tires are too big for the bike rack at the library.
• While sitting in the quiet section perusing Consumer Reports, I realized I have peanut butter from lunch smeared on my black shorts. Nice. Hand the girl a napkin.
• Consumer Reports didn’t really tell me much that I didn’t know/assume about smartphones, although it did rate the iPhone #10 in the 2013 buying guide, which just made me chuckle at all the Apple advocates I love. Haven't quite crossed over to the dark Apple side.
• The bike lock won’t close unless the code is aligned. I guess this makes sense, but I'm not sure why, exactly, that's necessary.
• I had time to get home and write my dad’s Father’s Day card and get it in the mail since I can ride my bike through the neighborhood quicker than the mailman can drive his truck.
• I have about as much confidence (which isn’t much) riding my bike as I did when I was eight despite the fact that I was wearing a bright yellow cinch backpack that reads “Do more of what makes you awesome.” However, I only flinched a little when the dump truck passed me. Just a little.
• I’m glad I wear a helmet. All the cool kids do (as if I've ever been cool) and really, how can I not since I'm still sporting scars from that last year's incident?

I'm a regular biker chick.