SMUG

{words by brian}

This past week, on two separate occasions, I was reminded of why I often feel superior when riding bicycles.
Mind you, I don’t really need a reason to feel good about riding my bicycle instead of sitting in a car, but these two incidents just helped remind me why trying to get around in a car (and polluting the city) is just plain silly.

Incident #1: Mariners vs. White Socks.
First I’d like to thank SAFECO Field for providing bicycle parking at the stadium. The lovely “No Parking” street signs spaced every 50 yards is the best you can do? Honestly, how hard is it to add a couple bicycle racks in the initial planning of the stadium?!

But I digress … my moment of smugness came after the game; the hordes of fans pouring out of the stadium were making mad dashes to the parking garages in order to beat/sit in traffic. Luckily, I was bicycle bound, weaving in and out of the people crossing the street and passing the cars tied up in the post game rush. This just brought a huge smile to my face with every pedal stroke. I couldn’t help but think, "I’ll be home before some of these people even get out of the parking garage - I love my bike."

Incident #2: Going to meet friends for Apres Labor

The only time I re-think living in the South end of Seattle is when I go to meet friends. The South end isn’t exactly the "popular" place to live or visit, so most everyone I hang with lives up north, which means I have to make the long haul in order to be social. Taking the quickest route I know heading northbound, I encountered a small traffic “diversion.” Apparently one of the three bridges that cross the Lake Union Canal in Seattle was closed (a sink hole sucked a bit of the bridge's foundation with it). Bummer for the folks caught in rush hour traffic; they had to take another bridge.

Moment of smugness came on my way through this diversion. Cars had now clogged the streets for miles and I was able to ride along with relative ease. I figured I added maybe 10 minutes to my commute while these poor saps added at least 40 minutes to their's. I can only hope a few of them saw me passing as they burned away $3.50 a gallon, and wondered…