I Want to Ride my Bicycle Bicycle Bicycle...

In case you're wondering, I'm still sick of running.  I'm so thankful that today is a day off and that tomorrow I only have to run 5 miles instead of 8.  I am trying so hard not to think about Saturday when I have to run 20, and am just hoping I have the motivation to drag myself out there to do it.  

But anyway...

Recently I have been thinking a lot about bike riders.  Generally, as a pedestrian on the streets of NYC, I hate them.  Nothing angers me more than when bicyclists come flying through the cross-walk when pedestrians have the walk signal.  If you are going to ride your bike on city streets, you have to follow the rules.  You are not immune to the giant red stop light, and you certainly cannot run these red lights when innocent people are trying to cross the street.  I do not think it's my duty to look every time I cross the street when I have the walk signal, just to make sure a bicyclist is not breaking the law.  I understand that it's a pain in the ass to stop at lights, but that's the price you pay for riding your bike instead of taking the subway. 

And if that's not bad enough, they're generally terrors on the pedestrian paths in Central Park and the Hudson River Park.  They come careening by, sometimes two or three in a horizontal row, as if they have sole privileges to enjoy the path.  The fact that there need to be signs all over the Hudson River Park instructing riders and walkers to "share the path" is unbelievable.  And certainly the bike riders aren't doing it.  I fear for my life every time I cross the path to enter/exit the park, as these bikes come flying by faster than cars. 

I generally keep my feelings of rage to myself, and actively hold myself back from living out my dream of kicking a bicycle as its rider rides into a crowded crosswalk.  It's a struggle, believe me.

But lately, I have made friends with the enemy.  Specifically, Tessa:

Ridden by this bundle of love:

I couldn't help but be impressed as I heard this road warrior's tales of racing home on Tessa in flip-flops to beat a thunderstorm, getting respect from random car drivers commenting on her speed.  I delighted in hearing how she reprimands cars that don't obey the bike lane rules, and praises those who follow the rules especially well (SUCH a teacher...)

And just like that, yesterday I was standing on the corner at Astor Place, contemplating a coffee, when I heard a voice.  "BIKE LANE!"  I looked up to see a bicyclist swerve around me as I stood on the corner.  Then I looked down.  Sure enough, I was standing off the curb, directly in the bike lane:

Incidentally, the only picture of the Astor Place bike lane shows a car parked in the lane, but I was standing exactly where that car was parked when this interaction took place. 

For the first time, I realized that maybe pedestrians are just as annoying to bicyclists are they are to us.  That they are dealing with swerving around cars as well as dumb people who are oblivious to bike lanes.  That some are road warriors fighting daily battles of road etiquette.  Therefore, I'm calling a truce with all the bicyclists of the city.  And I'll try to stay out of the bike lane when I leave work today.