This one time, on a brisk gray afternoon, I was biking down
the great hipster silk route at a medium rate of speed. I wasn't the only one - the newly constructed bike lane allows for heavy two-way bike traffic on this one-way street. This "new" kind of bike lane is separated from the auto traffic by a row of parked cars, making it
virtually impossible for a car to find itself amongst the bikes - it's a great idea really, I'm a big fan of this stretch of road.
Well, like I said, this one time I was moving right along this path, comming up on some newly built luxury condo constructions which hold a Hasidic school for youngsters. Many bikers from NYC are aware of the whole bikers vs hasids beef that's going on in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, over some specific bike lanes and such - I'm not a part of that movement and I hate Honda Odyssey mini vans swirvin down Bedford signal-less for reasons much simpler.
As I approach the entrance to the school I see 2 dozen youths pour onto the sidewalk right next to the bike lane. Perfect timing. I'm good 50 yards away, yet my senses are alerted, one of these lil bastards is bound leap off a sidewalk and get clipped by a well worn-in Animal Edwin at a healthy 15mph.
Twenty yards away from the scene I hear either a dirty diesel F150 or a torn up Astro van lacking a muffler mashing on the gas. I didn't bother looking back at this roaring monster - I knew it was bound to pass me any second, and I would be able to see if I was right with my guesses from the safety of the bike lane.
I was wrong. Moments later, myself and 3-4 other cyclists are cut off by a short School Bus that stabs its way across the bike lane, blocking both of them and nearly taking out a rider with a kid. I swear I thought the driver was going to jump the curb. What was the meaning of this EXTREME maneuver? Why couldn't he wait for 7 seconds for half a dozen bikes to speed past? Power trip?
I had to stop and take a photo of this, even in this great bike unfriendly rude little town you don't get to see assholes like this very often. As I pull out my phone and snap a few shots, a handful of students yell at me from the sidewalk.
"Mister, hey you mister, who are you?"
"Me? I'm a terrorist."
Probably not the nicest thing to say, but I was really upset.
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