Yes, I was the person at the train station who got off her bike and walked it down the ramp to the parking area even though everyone else rides down at full speed. I then spent the next 5 minutes looking for a good spot to shove my bike, because I am still not sure what degree of shoving or stacking is appropriate and what may get my bike taken by the city. You may also have noticed that I did not have a bike bag, and so I tied my work bag to my bike and secured it with my bike lock... I know it looks funny, but it works most of the time! Oh, and by the way, I didn't mean to make you miss your train because I was afraid to pass that family that was riding with 4 babies on one bike and so you were stuck behind me. Hey, I'm a foreigner - what do you want from me?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Came to your blog via Di. I first started riding a bike in Seattle, and I found that difficult. Whenever the bike path ended I would walk my bike instead, in constant fear of death and destruction. Now my bike sits on the balcony, and I am far too frightened to take it out here in Belgium. So you're doing far better than I am.
ha! i walk down the ramp too! and i'm not a foreigner (well... sort of...).
Hi Lydia, I had the impression that Seattle was one of the more bike accessible cities of the NW... I shipped my Dutch bike back to NY when I moved home last year and it just sat in my apartment because I was totally afraid to ride it. here everything is so tailored to bikers it's a real pleasure to take advantage of it, but when that's not the case it can be really scary.
Where are you living in Belgium?
ha! Yes Mieke but you're sort of the anti-Dutch-Dutch... if that makes sense. Seriously, that ramp looks like a disaster waiting to happen. If I rode down it, I'd definitely lose control and drive right into the bikes or even worse a person.
Another "I'm a dumb ass" foreigner move: the other day I went to IKEA and then attempted riding my bike with the bag full of stuff AND a coffee. I ended up realizing very quickly that I was definitely going to crash, so I walked home feeling sorry for myself (with the bike, bag, and coffee)while the locals sped by eating lunch, carrying bags of potting soil, and entire families effortlessly. It's ok though, at least I try :)
Post a Comment