A Rant Coming On?

Is it possible to have arthritis in just one joint? The first joint on my left pinkie finger is very sore and has been for more than a week now. None of my other joints are sore, so I don’t know what it is. I have very loose joints to begin with, so it’s very easy for me to hype-extend my joints. My pinkie fingers are especially flexible, so maybe I’ve just hyper-extended it too far. Who knows?

I feel a rant coming on. I’m not sure if I should rant about cycling or about “Crack-berries.” Maybe I’ll rant about both...

Cycling:

This morning on the news I heard about two cyclist/auto collisions in the last 24 hours. Judging by the cyclists I see on a daily basis, I’m going to go out on a limb and NOT blame the crazy drivers in this city for that (even though one of the recent accidents was a hit and run, which is shameful). One of the accidents saw the cyclist rear-end a taxi and go right through the rear window. Yikes! Turns out that it was a “dummy” cab being used for a movie shoot that was parked on the side of the road. Details are sketchy, but looks like it was probably the cyclists fault. So, with that in mind, here is my rant directed at the cyclists out there (as a cyclist myself).

For god’s sake, wear a helmet! It’s just not worth it if you go down (whether or not you get hit by something or just lose your grip on the road and go down). There really are no excuses for this. And wear one that fits properly, too. It doesn’t do you any good if it’s loose. A friend of mine recently crashed when his tire slipped on a wet lane marker (for the record – they are very slippery when wet, so don’t ride on them). He said it all happened so fast, he didn’t even know what had happened until he found himself on the ground with his helmet cracked in two.

Do not, under any circumstances, ride on the sidewalk. Unless you are under the age of 12 (and this age varies from one city to the next), it’s illegal to ride on the sidewalk. You’re a menace to pedestrians and are far more likely to get hit by a car while crossing an intersection, as cars just aren’t looking for you to be there. If you are in an area where riding on the road is not possible for some reason (including your own safety) and must go on the sidewalk, dismount your bike and walk it. Please!

Obey all the traffic laws. This means: stop at all red lights, even if no cars are coming and you’re out in the middle of nowhere. You should be stopping at stop signs, too, but even I’m not 100% good with that one. But I always slow down – shooting right through the intersection is just asking for trouble, especially if it’s not an all-way stop.

DO NOT and I repeat: DO NOT ride the wrong way down a one way street or ride on the wrong side of the road (i.e., facing traffic). Sheesh! A 12-year-old boy was killed here a few weeks ago because he was going the wrong way and a dump truck driver with the late-day sun in his eyes could not see him (nor should he expect to see a cyclist going the wrong way) and hit him.

Teach your children road cycling safety. Just as you teach them not to run out from between parked cars, teach them not to ride that way, too.

Assume that cars CAN’T see you or know that you are supposed to behave on the road just as they do. Drivers are ignorant about cycling rules and generally self-centered while driving, so don’t expect them to be aware of you.

When stopped at a red light – which you are always doing ;-) – do not stop in the right-hand turn lane (meaning lanes that are meant for turning right only) if you will be going straight. Stay on the right-hand side of the lane that is going straight. That way, cars won’t get pissed off at you from preventing them from safely making a right turn on the red light. And, it will prevent you from getting hit by said cars once the light turns green. This is also true if it’s already a green light and you’re riding right through – don’t go into the right hand turn lane. It’s tempting and seems natural as it’s close to the curb, but you’re more likely to get hit or cut off if you do.

Don’t go up on the right side of cars that are making wide right-hand turns. Go around them on the left, even if it means that you’re taking up more space in the lane than you normally would be.

Always take a quick look over your shoulder before you move out to pass (car, pedestrian, other cyclist, etc.) as you never know who is coming up behind you. And use your hand signals (you know, the ones you learned when you were a kid or in driver training) – that way cars will know what you’re going to do (well, if they’re actually looking at you, that is).

And headphones while riding? Just don’t do it. Along with riding on the sidewalk or the wrong way down a one-way street, it’s illegal (even on a bike path – but check your city’s by-laws). And we already know that cars aren’t looking out for you, so how can you possibly be 100% alert to them if you are distracted by music (or whatever) in your ears. And it doesn’t matter how loud or soft it is – it’s still a distraction. Come to think of it, pedestrians are at risk, too, but there aren’t any laws against it.

Bottom line: you are a VEHICLE not a pedestrian, so you have to follow vehicular laws. This isn’t just to be a pain, it’s for your own safety, too!

Ride safe!

Crack-Berries:

OMG, I don’t know what words to express how much I hate those things. Wait, it’s not the Crack-Berry itself that I hate, it’s the Crack-Berry user I hate. I work downtown and there is a large underground path that connects many office towers to public transit and commuter trains. If I see one more person walking through the path with their head down staring onto that screen while their thumb is scrolling frantically, I’m going to SCREAM! This morning, I was getting ready to make a right-hand turn into the parking lot and this guy walked right in front of my moving car (at a much slower speed than people usually walk) because he had his head down looking at his Crack-Berry. It’s just a matter of time before people ram right into each other because they aren’t looking where they are going.

The other day, I was on the elevator when it stopped a few floors below me. A group of four men got on together (it was obvious that they were “together”). Three of them had Crack-Berries and, almost in unison, they stopped their conversation, reached for their little blue devices and began scrolling though something – while totally ignoring each other and the one guy who didn’t have one! Have we lost all of our social graces??

Then there’s “silent mode”, which is hardly silent as all I can hear around me is the “vroom, vroom, vroom” sound when they are set to vibrate.

OK, I’ll concede that it’s a great little piece of technology that allows you to stay in touch wherever you are (hmmm, cell phones come to mind, too), but for some reason the behaviour of the Crack-Berrymen (not meant to be gender-specific, by the way) has gone way beyond the limits of social dysfunction and rudeness, even compared to cell-phone users. I guess it’s just a matter of time before society self-regulates and these anti-social behaviours are called out for what they are, just like it did when it called out against cell phone use in public spaces.

[/rant]

Today was my day off from working out. I didn't ride my bike to work and actually drove so that I could do laundry right after work. I ate OK, but not great. I still succumbed to a rice crispy treat around 2:30 and some honey roasted peanuts while doing laundry. The last thing was because I wasn't going to get dinner for a while. And the stupid washing machine was broken so while my load of darks finished just fine, the whites were still sitting in half a tub of boiling hot water. I threw the darks in the dryer and then nearly scalded myself trying to remove the white from one machine and put them into the other. That set me back about 25 minutes since I had to wait for that load to be done, too. By the time I got home I had to pee so bad I thought I was going to wet myself.

Last night I had my first night of the Triathlon clinic that CL and I are teaching. It's only five weeks long, so not too much of an imposition on my own training. I ran with one of the participants last night who had a million questions about everything. All in good time, grasshopper; all in good time! I think we ran about 5K and then walked the last 750m or so (I didn't want to run up the hill as I was spent from pushing the pace so hard).

The plan for tomorrow is to ride to the gym in the morning (weights and a run on the treadmill) and then to the pool after work. I hope to get some of my swimming mojo back as I kind of lost it a bit after being away from it for the last month or so.

Alright, time to put that laundry away now...