Notes from the bike lane
· You know public transport is bad when ordinary people like me conclude, 'Ride a push bike 9km, mostly uphill? That's totally a better way to get to work!'
· Riding to work will earn you the respect and admiration of every colleague. Seriously. I could have blitzed all of my paperwork, finished everything well ahead of schedule and done the can on the CEO's desk, and the lauding will never come close to the praise being heaped on me peddling to work. Warning though: if you do make the plunge, expect to become a mentor to all others that have - even briefly - considered it in the past.
· Even pedestrians that 'look left, look right' a million times will not give two shits about crossing a bike lane without looking. And they'll be the ones that act the most surprised when you warn them that there's a vehicle hurtling in their direction.
· I'm certain that when you ride to work in the rain, like I did this morning, every single motorist going past thinks, 'That guy is fucking hardcore'.
· Cyclists totally have a secret sect going on. For example, when you're on the bike on a shared pedestrian strip (ie outside Crown), you're constantly making eye contact with other riders and subtly indicating which way you're going to go. Makes you feel like part of a club. 'Push bike club' doesn't have the same ominous ring to it as 'Motorcycle club' though.
· When listening to an iPod while riding, make sure you load a playlist rather than thinking you can pull out the iPod and shuffle tracks with the hand you use for the brakes. Like I did. Which almost killed me.
· Showering at work? Don't stress about nudity! Although you may be shy at first, you'll soon find that older colleagues suffer from some sort of inter-generational nudity defect, and totally flop themselves in your face while you're trying to tie your shoelaces. Seen one penis, seen 'em all - and now I've had them all waved in my face at 8am.
· Bonus showering tip: If your work, like mine, offers two shower areas, one mixed with toilets and one not, do not go the one with toilets, even though it's way less busy. Many people wait until they get to work to drop their rankest stools. This is not pleasant while showering, supposedly 'cleansing' while invisible air-borne particles surely ingrain themselves in your soap.
· Riding to work will earn you the respect and admiration of every colleague. Seriously. I could have blitzed all of my paperwork, finished everything well ahead of schedule and done the can on the CEO's desk, and the lauding will never come close to the praise being heaped on me peddling to work. Warning though: if you do make the plunge, expect to become a mentor to all others that have - even briefly - considered it in the past.
· Even pedestrians that 'look left, look right' a million times will not give two shits about crossing a bike lane without looking. And they'll be the ones that act the most surprised when you warn them that there's a vehicle hurtling in their direction.
· I'm certain that when you ride to work in the rain, like I did this morning, every single motorist going past thinks, 'That guy is fucking hardcore'.
· Cyclists totally have a secret sect going on. For example, when you're on the bike on a shared pedestrian strip (ie outside Crown), you're constantly making eye contact with other riders and subtly indicating which way you're going to go. Makes you feel like part of a club. 'Push bike club' doesn't have the same ominous ring to it as 'Motorcycle club' though.
· When listening to an iPod while riding, make sure you load a playlist rather than thinking you can pull out the iPod and shuffle tracks with the hand you use for the brakes. Like I did. Which almost killed me.
· Showering at work? Don't stress about nudity! Although you may be shy at first, you'll soon find that older colleagues suffer from some sort of inter-generational nudity defect, and totally flop themselves in your face while you're trying to tie your shoelaces. Seen one penis, seen 'em all - and now I've had them all waved in my face at 8am.
· Bonus showering tip: If your work, like mine, offers two shower areas, one mixed with toilets and one not, do not go the one with toilets, even though it's way less busy. Many people wait until they get to work to drop their rankest stools. This is not pleasant while showering, supposedly 'cleansing' while invisible air-borne particles surely ingrain themselves in your soap.
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