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beige_alertI drove my car today for the first time in nine days. We’ve been having very nice weather and with all the disruptions to the petroleum industry caused by the hurricane it just seems like minimizing fuel consumption is the thing to do. I’d forgotten what a pain driving is. I’d gotten used to cycling, riding 318 km in the nine non-motoring days, and after all the aggravations of cycling, like the challenge of finding a secure place to lock the bike and morons who Must Pass Right Now, forgotten the aggravations of motoring, like getting stuck in a traffic backup, morons who Must Pass Right Now, finding a place to park, getting back out of the parking place and turned around to go the right way, and getting stuck in traffic backups.
Today we had rain, and I had some errands to run, like buying some new bicycle tires and some of the bulkier items like a bulk pack of Kleenex. I still like having a car, but the less I use it, the less I want to use it. Pain in the ass, it is.
Last week I tried something new, taking the bus from the Medical College where I work downtown to the library. I used the bicycle to get between the College and home. The College is a secure place to keep the bicycle, and since I have access to the building and my office at all hours, I left my cycling clothes and stuff in my office, rode the bus downtown, walked around as I usually do, and rode on back to the College to change clothes and cycle home. The bus goes in a straight line down Wisconsin Ave between the College and downtown and does so on a pretty frequent schedule. The bus stops to pick up and let off passengers, which delays the trip, but the drivers are all maniacs, which makes up for that, so it comes out just as fast as driving my own car between the two points.
I’d forgotten a lot about bus travel since my college days when I last regularly rode the bus. In particular, the practice of walking around in a moving vehicle that is not only bumping around but also vigorously accelerating or braking. It seems like an extreme sport, but on the bus not only teenage crazies but random old people do it.
Today we had rain, and I had some errands to run, like buying some new bicycle tires and some of the bulkier items like a bulk pack of Kleenex. I still like having a car, but the less I use it, the less I want to use it. Pain in the ass, it is.
Last week I tried something new, taking the bus from the Medical College where I work downtown to the library. I used the bicycle to get between the College and home. The College is a secure place to keep the bicycle, and since I have access to the building and my office at all hours, I left my cycling clothes and stuff in my office, rode the bus downtown, walked around as I usually do, and rode on back to the College to change clothes and cycle home. The bus goes in a straight line down Wisconsin Ave between the College and downtown and does so on a pretty frequent schedule. The bus stops to pick up and let off passengers, which delays the trip, but the drivers are all maniacs, which makes up for that, so it comes out just as fast as driving my own car between the two points.
I’d forgotten a lot about bus travel since my college days when I last regularly rode the bus. In particular, the practice of walking around in a moving vehicle that is not only bumping around but also vigorously accelerating or braking. It seems like an extreme sport, but on the bus not only teenage crazies but random old people do it.
