like the doppler effect stuff, you know?

on the way home today, i was stopped at a red light at telegraph/40th. i thought i had stopped in the middle front of the lane, but as the lane was wide, it turned out i was stopped slightly to the right.

so then a car pulled up to my left.

nothing happens.

then on the green and we both started moving, and of course the car accelerates faster,

and a white guy in the passenger side shouts at me, “i like your booz!”

me: ???!????

dude, you gotta understand i can’t hear what you’re saying when you’re moving away from me. if you want to say something to me, say it when we’re going the same speed right alongside each other. if you say something and you’re driving away, don’t expect me to catch what you’re saying. 

if you want to say something to anyone on the road and you’re not stopped, limit your message to one or two words. two syllables max is the best.

this has happened quite a few times, and the next five minutes afterwards, all i do is wonder what the person could have said.

did he said boobs? but he couldn’t have really seen them from his point of view. and i’m wearing a sports bra and they are kinda squished because of the way i wear my messenger bag. or did he say shoes? my brown and pink etnies are old. or did he say booze? but that doesn’t make any sense. what about my bag? he likes my messenger bag with reflective binding?

no idea.

first time i forgot to pack my rear bike light.

thought of taking the BART home but at the time i was unlocking my bike, the train would have just arrived or be leaving and i wouldn’t have made it down to the platform in time.

feeling kinda vulnerable and unseen at cycling home at 10pm. but at least front light and reflective binding on my messenger bag, and a couple reflective strips on the back of my pants.. better than totally nothing..

still felt like one of the many people cycling on telegraph ave. who don’t have bike lights, who i pass by all the time and feel scared for them. esp. those who are wearing black and have black backpacks.

but yay i made it home no prob… also helped that there was very little traffic tonight.

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at least in verbal/sound/honking interactions

(but overall, there are probably more friendly drivers, who are silent and unnoticeable in their deftly maneuvers to pass cyclists with enough space—avoiding any confrontation and conflict.)

a few blocks away from home, I’m in the bike lane on franklin st. in downtown oakland, when a black SUV merges into the bike lane way too early—when it is still solid lined (keep out!)—before it trails off into white dashes. Also, no turn signals used. so I immediately think, Ughh one of those drivers again. I go around on the SUV’s left side since I’m going straight, but then the SUV didn’t turn right and went straight across the intersection as well! Wth so I shout BIKE LANE! while the black SUV is still driving in the bike lane. The driver, a black (queer? stereotypes yeah, but she had short hair, wore tomboy-ish t-shirt) lady said something back but I only caught “move over” dunno if she was telling me to or saying she was going to. we both had to switch lanes anyway.

A block away where franklin turns into Broadway, I’m in the middle lane that goes straight, and I hear from my right, the same black lady in the black SUV in the right-turn only lane, say “sorry about that!” and I reply, “yeah it’s ok, just wanted to let you know!”

Well, it’s NOT ok to drive in the bike lane—that’s just my automatic reply..

so nice and refreshing to have a positive driver-cyclist interaction! even if it first goes off of an illegal action

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a block away from my place in downtown oakland, some guy walking his dog yells (at me?) “GET A FIXIE!!”

wtf??! as if the car vs bike “war” debate isn’t enough, road bike vs fixie??!!

and I HAVE a fixie, thank you very much. I’m just waiting on a new 650c tire so I can ride it again. and just because I have a fixie doesn’t mean I go around telling random ppl I know nothing about to get one.

reminds of one time in san diego I was riding my (road) bike a block away from my internship offices, and this kid on a vintage road bike-to-fixie conversion with the brake lines cut but still lazily on the bike shouts out “RIDE FIXED!” when he saw me.

wtf is this pretentious fixed gear > road bike nonsense??! and these people that yelled at me didn’t even look like hipsters, either! I bet they can’t even ride the highest gear (52 or 53 chainring) on my road bike, which I ride all the time except for on actual hills.

as long as people are riding, RESPECT. no matter if they’re on a road bike, mtb, fixie, citybike, folding bike, beach cruiser, whatever.

on way to work, northbound on Milvia at Kittredge (Berkeley High), the car (new model black corolla) in front of my stopped at the stop sign and then was about to go, but the car coming the other direction decided stupidly to turn left onto Kittredge, but a person was crossing the street on Milvia so the driver had to block us.

Finally that driver starts to get across and i veer left to go around that car close to the black corolla. was crossing the intersection super close to that black corolla because yeah, i’m not riding a fixie—can’t trackstand, and it’s not the best place to put foot down and stop, and then try to get going from zero mph. 

the black corolla lady driver honked. at me??? because i was cycling a couple inches away from the back of her car?? then a little ahead when i was totally obvious behind her, and no cars in front of her, she honked again. ???! 

very unclear of your intention with the honking…

(though if she honked at me because i was so close to the back of her car… well wtf, do i ever ring my bell [if i had one] at all the cars who squeeze past me only three inches away??!)

Then on the ride back home, i’m on a residential street i take leading up to Telegraph Ave in north oakland, like 61th or somewhere before Alcatraz Ave..

a car is going hella slowly. maybe looking for a parking spot. then it stops and probably about to pull into one (on the right). so i bike around it on the left since i’m going faster, and then right as i’m going around it, the driver starts turning left (into a driveway). WTF??! I yell “WATCH OUT!!” as i’m two inches from the car’s left headlight. 

when i’m ahead i look back and yell “SIGNAL!!”

gyahh! people, use your goddamn turn signals!

i’m gotten used to anticipating that people will do stupid things on the road, but sometimes, the action that people take will be stupider and more unexpected.

drivers not using turn signals annoy other drivers as well!

like some drivers will very suddenly stop to claim a parking stop, or drive so friggin slowly, or just stop right there—all without tapping a turn signal or double-parking hazards. dude, if i was driving a car, I COULD HAVE REAR-ENDED YOU AND IT WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN MY FAULT. plus, drivers who do the above without using turn signals BACK UP TRAFFIC. if you had used turn signals to indicate that you were about to turn or try to get into a parking spot or used hazards to show that you were about to double-park, i (and subsequently the cars behind me) could have switched to the other lane earlier to avoid your ass.

the turn-signals are a FLICK OF THE WRIST away. USE THEM.

I was just cycling on broadway northbound in oakland. a man is trying to get into his car. I move over more to the center of the lane to give him room,

but oblivious driver behind me just keeps pushing it, and my handlebar makes a sound against his new prius’ side mirror, and again against the right side of his prius.

WTF did that really happen??!!

I almost still refuse to believe that it did but yelled out TOO CLOSE!!! before the middle-aged asian man turned off onto pleasant valley way. no response. sure he heard me, though—saw his windows were cracked open a bit.

seriously, wtf??! If you see someone trying to step out to get into his or her parked car, you give them a little room. If you see a cyclist riding in front of you and you want to pass, pass him or her safely with some room.

I had been riding most of the broadway stretch just fine, a little in the door zone because the pavement is in horrible condition, so I wasn’t going very fast so I can let drivers pass me. and every driver that passed me was nice—no honking, passed around me with decent room—until this guy.

Dianne does not date middle-aged asian men.

please please please no 1R bus. (telegraph ave.)

a few blocks in: the 1R bus.

fortunately this time the driver was nicer and the bus’ stops and I didn’t leapfrog much. maybe it was because I signaled left when a fedex truck was double-parked in the right lane. later near telegraph/ashby in berkeley, there was a girl I passed.

a cute black girl, maybe middle school age, on a purple mtb wearing black vans flats, backpack, and helmet.

the bus was stopped at the red light in front of us. I super took the lane on the left side of the girl. she was super on the right side corner of the back of the bus.

I wanted to tell her about an urban cycling class the ebbc offers, and to lead by example to not bike so close to the right side because drivers can’t see you there, and you’re more likely to get doored.

but of course I just ended up passing her without a word. I wish I had some contraption to spin out flyers, or something to transmit links to event pages online.

in a couple blocks, I “ran a red light” at a minor intersection. the light turned red just as I approached. no car traffic perpendicularly, only a couple persons going to walk across the street but hadn’t started yet.

way to lead by example. >___>;;;

yesterday i bumped into a friend, and he told me the other day, he was riding on telegraph ave. with his gf,

and the driver of the 1R long bus squeezes them with only about 14 inches of space (way less than three feet of safe passing distance) left of his handlebar, between a row of parked cars on their right. 

gf is unhappy that this has happened. he decides to do something about it

the long bus is stopped at the red light. he takes out his chain lock, goes to the driver’s side and whips it at the big side rear view mirror. CRASH, down it goes.

omg pretty badass story. too bad (or good?) that i keep my u-lock at the bottom of my bag..

because I ride fixed gear every day.

then I ride my road bike with a 52 or 53t chainring—and NO.

my legs must have been so much stronger when I rode my road bike every day. also thanks to the unavoidable hills in san diego. like, the muscle around my knees.. it’s almost a struggle. my commute just went up to difficulty level 4 or some shit, just because of this chainring. and my route here is flat! x___x;;;