::Bad bad day
just to let you know that your bicycle posts bring out the very essence of your blogging style. i personally enjoy reading your blog because it's interesting
keep it up!-comment from mut.
Looks like someone enjoys my bicycle posts huh? :) Pretty encouraging to a bike newbie hehe. Well that's one piece of good news.
Now the bad:
Had big fight with parents. Ended up with me becoming the bad guy again. Everyone subscribes to the belief that when in doubt, SATan is anal. Even when they don't know what the fight is about. Nuff said.
And then, I went down to the park to let off steam. And guess what?
Everyone and his grandmother were at the park today. The whole place was so thick with people that I leaned over and asked my ma, "Is there a holiday tomorrow?" But no, there wasn't.
Anyway, it was horrendous. I started off giving way to people and ringing bell as usual, but soon realised that the whole path was jammed up with entire families, complete with uncle, auntie, grandpa and grandma lined up from end to end of the path following one little kid on a bicycle with trainer wheels. Anyway, I was nice so I rang the bell. "Ring ring." Then in one collective motion, they all ignored me.
So I rang again. Average of five rings before they notice there's a bike in front of their faces. So they all stepped aside, leaving one space big enough for one bicycles. And abovementioned kid decides to fill up that space with his own bicycle.
*@!$@^&@!!!!!
Or else, someone else also rings and they clear a space big enough for two bicycles and then some stupid kid appears from behind them and sticks his bicycle smack in the middle of the space, forcing me to brake cause as you have probably noticed, I don't have much space to move cause I'm now right in front of everybody so I can't swerve and I can't split my bike in half or something.
!!##%&moveyourfuckingbiketothesidedamnit@!$^&*^#!!!!!
Ok. Many such incidents later, I decided to stop being nice and do the tank thing. That consisted of going really slowly and charging straight forwards, forcing everyone who doesn't want to be run over to jump out of the way, only swerving during emergencies, and stopping and waiting in front of family excursions until they can all figure out which way they want to move, all the time wearing a pissed and bored expression on my face. And hey, it worked.
Despite my strategy, I still had a lot of unpleasant encounters. Most of the regulars were nowhere to be seen, probably escaped to less human-infested places. I however, was still stupidly going round and round the park, getting myself more and more pissed off.
Anyway, some observations:
1) Little children on bicycles only notice you when you're right in front of them. Then they panic and swerve into the worst possible position about 75% of the time, forcing you to go into a group of beginner rollerbladers or something.
2) Little children love bells. ringringringringringring. Whether there are people in front of them or not.
3) Big groups (around 10) of little children on rented bicycles trying to race each other are bad news. Unless you're in some place like East Coast or Pulau Ubin where it's less convenient to bring your own bike, most people who rent bikes don't have bikes of their own, means they probably can't ride well. Little children generally (but not all!) have poor skills and/or poor judgement. And big groups of little children who can't ride well trying to race... ...very bad.
While cycling slowly (to put as much distance between me and them as possible) behind such a group of little monsters, I saw one of them crash headlong into a cyclist who was trying to get around them at the side of the path.
4) Don't overtake people carrying twigs or sticks. I was trying to overtake an Indian family and was nearly whacked on the head by a twig carried by an Indian lady who suddenly decided to wave it around. Fortunately, I felt it coming, tilted my bike and ducked, and escaped unhurt but slightly pissed. And then, she still LAUGHED!!!! :(
5) Family excursions like to form a family organism which opens up at the sound of a bicycle bell, lets the first person through, and immediately closes up much to the unhappiness of the person cycling behind.
6) Bicycles with trainer wheels travel in a more unpredictable fashion compared to those without. This may be related to the rider rather than the bicycle itself.
7) People like to teach little children how to cycle on the jogging track. If you can't cycle, please move to the cycling track. It's straighter, flatter, wider and we can all avoid your child's wobbly bicycle more easily.
8) Some children and young teenagers don't like giving way to people. You must give way to them, even if your bike is bigger (nah, give way to them lah).
9) Beginner rollerbladers make spooky hand movements. You can't tell if they're falling, trying to grab your bike, or what.
10) Teenage girls like to walk singly or in pairs in the middle of the path. Some even walk so sexily they can't seem to hear your bike bell and only know of your existence when they feel your handlebar in their side.
And so I went home in a suitably bad mood and had another fight with my parents.
