Da Kine

It always makes me nervous when a sketchy van passes me on the road... and then I get the unmistakable whiff of cannabis. As if we, as cyclists, don't have enough to worry about with folks just being mean or inattentive or whatever, we also get to add "impaired" to the list. Of course, there are always impaired people on the road. I often think that late at night, when I'm riding home from the bar or somebody's house or a show, probably half the people on the road are impaired.

So, what's the difference between the pot smoker and the drunk? Well, from my perspective riding along the side of the road, when the stoner drives past I can smell it. I know immediately what's going on. Of course, I could probably smell a drunk if he was close enough, or drunk enough, but if that's the case I probably have bigger fish to fry. But that's exactly my point. The vehicle passes, I catch a whiff, and then I get the sinking feeling that there, right there, is a person who is waaaaaay more likely to kill a cyclist than the average motorist. The knowledge makes me ill. Funny, no? A drunk dude could roll right on by and as long as he's not swerving all over the road I'd have no idea. He's probably MORE dangerous to cyclists (and everybody else...), but since I can't necessarily tell from afar, it doesn't give me that same "Oh shit..." feeling.

I've smelled the dope cars twice in the last two days. Safety first, Providence!

I walked over to the mall for lunch today and discovered that the decrepit Fuji that was locked to the rail last week is now gone. Maybe somebody cut it down. Maybe the owner returned. Who knows. Regardless, my clever plan to catalog the bike's decline is foiled. I'm hoping the owner returned so the bike can ride on...