bikeriding in hell

[nisaa]

I ride my bike. A lot. I commute to school and work on my bike. And I'm having to deal with my own road rage lately because these fucking drivers won't let me cross lanes or make a fucking left hand turn.

Yes, I use hand signals. Sometimes I feel like one of those people at airports who signal where the planes should go. You know, the ones with the reflector vests and the pointy things. I mean, I can't be more clear about the hand signals, really.

I get honked at and yelled at and ignored. I almost got crushed into the sidewalk this past weekend because someone didn't look before they made a turn.

S suggested that I avoid Pacific avenue (the main street outside of our building) so, I tried to get off of it ASAP today and still - got honked at, ignored and ran off the road.

I curse. A lot. And it doesn't really help. But when you have a life threatening experience once a day, it doesn't seem to matter, the curses just seem to flow.

I try to avoid riding my bike during rush hours. I even try to avoid lunch hour if at all possible. But, there are places I need to be and sometimes they're at these times. Sometimes I just take the fucking bus during rush hour.

Feh. Any other city bike riders out there have any suggestions? I got a hug and some calming essential oil from a classmate tonight before I got on the bike to go home. I want to keep riding my bike but I don't want to feel like a nervous reck everytime I do.

Comments

bike route

[acumen.livejournal.com]

oooh! i might have helpful info here. i'm not sure where exactly you live, but if you ride the actual beach paved trail thingie until washington and then take washington sidewalks (largely pedestrian-free) it just might work. i took that route to school a few times and it was ok. however, once you get past lincoln it'll prolly be scary again. kudos to your healthy lifestyle and be safe and wear bright colors and all that!

Re: bike route

[nisaa.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I will try that route out and see how much time it takes -- or maybe riding the bike path along the beach until I get to Venice Blvd where there's a bike lane.

Today I rode down Abbott Kinney to Venice and that was fine too.