Now if Kajuan Cornish was riding with traffic through the intersection, then it doesn't sound like an appropriate fine. But if Kajuan was illegally crossing the street & forcing cars to slow down for him, then yes, he deserved to get a ticket. Maybe not a thousand dollar ticket, but a ticket nonetheless.
Yup, that's exactly what some young chicana yelled at me yesterday as I was making my regular ride home from work.
Alright, if someone screams that at me and I'm on Virginia Beach Boulevard or Tidewater Drive, I'd probably be in agreement that yes, the sidewalk would be safer.
Unfortunately for Miss Hot Stuff, I'd had a pretty frustrating day at work, and as she rode away laughing in the passenger seat of a late-model gray Toyota sedan, I decided to chase her down.
I shifted up and took off after the obscenity-spewing and caught up with her on 21st Street.
"Get on the f**kin' sidewalk!!!" I screamed at her when I caught up with them at the next stoplight. I kept pace as her friend pulled away, and followed them down the street to the nail salon at the shopping plaza. When they got out of the car, I stared down Miss Hot Stuff and told her again, "Get on the f**kin' sidewalk!!!"
"What the f**k is your problem?" she asked me in her best Jerry Springer,
"You! Why are you hanging out your window screaming at me?"
"Because you should be on the sidewalk! That's where bikes belong!"
"You're wrong! It's illegal to ride on the sidewalk in Norfolk! I'm supposed to be on the road!" "Get your nerdy ass off the road!"
"Honey, I've got the same rights to be on the road as any car!"
"Well you'd better watch out, 'cause we'll run you down!"
"Fine! My lawyer is bigger than yours, and I will sue your ass!" "Oh, bring it on! I ain't afraid of your lawyer!"
We stared each other down outside the nail salon. She accused me of being a stalker, while I just kept my headlamp pointed at her eyes. After a few more minutes of dialog worthy of Judge Judy, Miss Hot Stuff headed into the nail salon, and I headed home.
Maybe I could've handled it better, but I think I made my point.
Liz will tell you that I don't talk much about my "bike ministry." It's just something that I do.
For about four years now I've spent a morning or two every week on the streets with the Norfolk Catholic Worker when they feed the homeless. While Steve and Kim and a host of volunteers ladle grits and fill coffee cups, I fix bikes.
I load up my BOB trailer with bike tools and parts, an apron to keep the grease off my office clothes, and even a workstand. I'm usually working on crappy Walmart bikes, but occasionally I'll see a Schwinn or a Diamondback, maybe a Raleigh or a Peugot.
It's really basic stuff- adjust brakes, true wheels, trim derailleurs, tighten seatposts, and patch flats. Always patch flats. I try to keep at least 4 spare tires and tubes in my trailer.
I also give away bikes. People like Liz and a host of Tripower folks give me older bikes to overhaul. I try to get them to the point where the bikes are simply working, and working simply: no need for 21 gears around Tidewater, so I usually just convert the bikes into ad hoc singlespeeds.
Now here's the part where you come in- in order to secure the blessing of a bicycle for a guy who doesn't have bus fare to get to his job site, I need bike locks. It used to be that I just went to the hardware store & bought chains and padlocks, but the bike thieves are getting too active in Norfolk for that to work anymore. So I'm upgrading to U-locks. Preferably Kryptonite U-locks. $25 will buy a U-lock that will deter all but the most well-equipped bike thieves. I've got four bikes sitting in my garage right now that I could have out on the street this week, but I don't have U-locks to go with them.
So if you've got a few extra bucks you could invest in some bike security, head on over to PayPal and send me some. My PayPal account is friendwes_at_mac.com (You'll have to replace _at_ with @. Sorry, but I'm trying to avoid spambots...)
So back to Liz...Liz passed along a sweet little Bianchi 'cross bike for me to build up. I stripped off the old bar-end shifters, rebuilt the front chainring, converted it to a singlespeed, installed some old fenders & a rack I had laying around, and put some good reflectors on it for good measure. I also added a U-lock. So soon enough Liz should be seeing her old bike being put to a new purpose around town.
As I get the other bikes out of my garage, including a sweet little Giant mountain bike from Crazy Mike, I'll post the pictures online.
A few images from our recent Christmas Vacation...
The Luggage... The Drive... Pitstop in Baltimore... Price Chopper in St. Johnsbury Pitstop in Conneticut? Downtown Montpelier... Leftover Holiday Donuts...
