Day 25 - Finkl Birds

Day 25 - Finkl Birds, originally uploaded by Mikey Brick.

Because it was a rainy day and I already have a cold and a nasty headache, I rode the bus instead of biking to work today. When I got off of work, the rain had quit for a little while, and the clouds broke up a bit, resulting in a lovely evening sky which helped me decide to walk home rather than wait for buses. As I was working on getting this photo, a bike came down the sidewalk to my left. I admit I find it incredibly annoying when people ride on the sidewalk, but I stepped forward to the edge of the sidewalk anyway so the rider would have more room. I honestly don't recall encountering a bike on a sidewalk where there wasn't a bike lane, and this road has a very large bike lane that buses also use (infrequently) making it one of my preferred bike routes. The cyclist bearing down on me was well-equipped with lights, helmet, gloves, a basket, panniers even, I think. When I stepped to the edge of the sidewalk, he rode right up to me and demonstrated another piece of safety gear. He had an electric horn that's clearly meant to make a sound audible inside a car. It was ugly and fucking loud. Really, a bell is enough for warning pedestrians, even when they hear the way I do, which isn't great. But this jackass, who should have been in a bike lane on the other side of the street, was apparently so offended by a pedestrian being on the sidewalk, that he rode closer after I moved out of his way and laid on his electric horn. Of course, I then yelled, "Get off the sidewalk, Honky!" and he flipped me off. There were two more exchanges of gestures and words while he continued to ride, then he stopped about 50 feet away and I told him he was stupid. Then he pointed at me and did a little wing thing. Kind of like calling me chicken, except his arms were extended, which I've never seen when calling someone chicken. I mean, our thumbs fit in our armpits for a reason, and that reason is to make chicken wings. He took off immediately after that (maybe he was saying, "Hey, you, I'm a chicken, watch me run") and I asked myself, "What the hell?" Then I flung my camera over my shoulder, held it to my body and took off after him - down the sidewalk…still! It was like the Terminator except he was on a bike instead of a truck, and I couldn't catch him.

So cyclists, stay off the sidewalks, please. And Honky, you won't ride past me on a sidewalk again. I won't step out of your way, and I will destroy your little fucking loudass horn. If I run across you while I'm on my bike, I'll just berate you, and we can talk about it while riding.