Small Racks, Angry Stares, and My Shorts

A few days ago, we (my son and I) rented a movie from Red Box down at the 7-11. We rode our bikes there and he told me that renting a game would really be a waste of money because it's cheaper to join gamefly.com or to rent a game from BlockBuster. It's true. I may get a movie for just a buck from Red Box, and it sure is convenient to walk right up, but it's still cheaper to go to BlockBuster and get a movie for 5 days for just $2.

Anyway, we returned a movie to BlockBuster today and he'd never ridden with me to the HEB area. I did my best to keep my mouth shut but I offered advice on riding a bike once in awhile. When we got there, we dropped off the movie, and I told my son we'd ride in front of HEB to see where the bike rack was located. I saw another one by the propane tanks, but it turns out they moved the one that barely holds 2 bikes from its original location. This means HEB did not add more bike racks. (Bastards!)

I told him we'd ride the sidewalk because I know the worst place to ride a bike is a parking lot full of cars. As we approached RadioShack, though, I said let's ride the street because there isn't any traffic. But just like that, some lady cut us off and glared as she cruised by. She was going all of 1/4 of a mile faster than us. Did she think I was going to steal a parking spot from her? If you look up the statistics for car accidents, a lot of them occur in parking lots. That shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone. There was a lady at the loading station HEB created and they were done packing her groceries; the HEB worker closed the trunk and waved goodbye. My son and I waited for her to go but she only scooted a few inches and stopped. I waited and finally took the initiative to pass her but then she decided to go. I actually saw her then turn and look back to see if there was any traffic! She was annoyed that I was there and hit her brakes. I had already stopped (becuase I was counting on this happening) and she took off. Drivers in parking lots really have no idea how much slower they should drive.

I really don't care whether I was right or wrong. If I get hit by that car, I lose. You can take all the safety precautions about helmets, lane position, lights, and safety vests to heart but they don't mean squat if you don't learn to follow the most important rule: don't get hit by a car. So if you have to ride your bike in a parking lot, be careful.

On a related note about being careful, I do my best to never wear cycling clothes when I ride around town. I wear plain shorts and a t-shirt. It's just a personal observation but drivers do not react as negatively toward me when I'm dressed like a regular person. Save your fancy gear for the long rides. In town, ride at your leisure and dress casually.