Ever since I started biking to work last year, I've inadvertently joined an elite club of other cycling co-workers. These are the ones who come in to the office with one pant leg rolled up, a helmet dangling from their fingertips and a thin layer of sweat across the brow. Though my little folding bike is quite emasculating compared to their full-size, multi-speed, sideways-U-shaped-handlebar ones, when I see these people at the bike racks, we make small talk. When we run into each other in the building, we say hello.
Other co-workers, the ones who aren't a part of this club, ask me how it feels to bike to work, how far it is, how long it takes. Do you like it? (Generally.) Is it scary with all the traffic in the City? (Sometimes.) Must be nice to not have to pack into a bus like cattle at the end of the day. (Definitely not a fan of being herded.)
I've already talked about my general loathing for public transportation, but I shouldn't feel this way. Thousands of people use it every day to get to work; without it, the City would grind to a halt. Several forms of it are located within a very convenient distance from my house and office building. There is a BART station within a 10-minute walk from my house, five minutes from work, and a bus can pick me up or drop me off around the corner from either home or work. There is not much to complain about.
Especially so when it rains, as there is very little fun to be had while biking in the rain. Between the cold and the wet, the general slipperiness of the streets, I sometimes don't even notice how the rain feels like cooked spaghetti whipping against my face. And because I've been caught in the rain one too many times, my tires or gear or chain is now squeaking, presumably because the lube got washed way. Or some equivalent explanation that sounds all cyclist-like. . .
So this morning as I walked into work amidst a torrential downpour, I bumped into a woman emerging from the bike racks. She shook off some water from her poncho and nodded hello. Seeing how dry and comfortable I looked, she remarked that I made a smart decision to take the train in this morning.
"Nope," I told her. "My partner and my dog drive me to work when it rains, and they'll come and get me in the afternoon."
She rapidly blinked twice and feigned a double-take. "Wow, that's some charmed life you got there!"
"Yeah," I said. "I guess so, huh?"
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