Bumps in Bike to Work Week: It's a conspiracy, I tell you!

The oil companies and the auto industry control the weather!

Wake up people!

That’s how I felt yesterday afternoon, riding into what felt like a relentless spray of icy buckshot.

Commute by Unicycle
The morning was fun, but sinister machinations were already at play...

The day started out just a bit chilly and drizzly, but that didn’t keep more than 100 dedicated bike commuters from visiting a “Bike to Breakfast” stop I was helping to run.

But in the afternoon, Nature sent a snowstorm to Commute by Bike headquarters. As in Arizona. As in May 18th. As in right in the middle of the week where we are focused more than ever on encouraging bike commuting.

Coincidence? Hmm….

I rode a Hebb e-bike to pick up my stepdaughter from school. Before I even arrived at the school, I was soaked and cold. I could hardly look at where I was going due to the tiny ice knives hidden in each snowflake.

I have goggles and shell pants for such contingencies. But not today. Did I mention that this is the month of May in Arizona?

I entered the school covered in wet snow. I said to my stepdaughter, “We need to think about options.”

Immediately she said, “Call a taxi?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

The truth is that I could have carried her all the way home on the Hebb. And if my goal were to make her hate cycling for the rest of her life, that’s exactly what I would have done.

Hebb Electrocruiser on a bike car rack
Hebb Electrocruiser on a bike car rack

So we called a taxi. The school let me store the Hebb in a locked closet overnight. This morning I arrived by car to retrieve it.

Normally it’s difficult to find parking right in front of the school at 8:30 AM, but not today. Today is Bike to School Day.

Oh the shame.

But it’s true what they say: The more bikes there are on the road, the less congested the roads are, and the less competition there is for parking. I proved that this morning, thanks to all the parents and kids that didn’t drive.

Hebb Smacks Cannondale
The scene of the assault

I lifted the heavy Hebb onto the bike car rack. I didn’t like the way the frame design made it stick out from the side of the car. I took a picture.

Just a few minutes later I was parking the car, and indeed I did swipe something with the protruding Hebb. I backed into an innocent Cannondale. I took another picture.

To make it worse, this was right in front of Biff’s Bagels, co-sponsor of yesterday’s Bike to Breakfast stop. Only my ego was harmed.

So the oil and auto industries conjure up a snowstorm, and then I become an accomplice to an assault wherein a car and an e-bike sucker-punch an innocent pedal-powered bike.

Some readers will find symbolism there. Knock yourselves out in the comments folks.

Happy Thursday.

Tomorrow is Bike to Beer Day. It can’t come soon enough.

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