My favorite moment was either the impromptu Bike to Work Day support station poker run (I hit 8) or or the woman that blew the stop sign near the Bush school yelling “MOMENTUM! MOMENTUM! I’M GOING!!!” Never mind that there was already a car to her right that was starting to go.

Ah, this one is not the newbies fault, but that of an amazingly confusing area near the east side of the “lower” West Seattle bridge that the city seems to not want to fix.  Watching people trying to cross Spokane Street after coming off the bridge eastbound at high speeds, encountering a green light at the bottom, but a ‘don’t walk’ signal as well plus a large construction project...what to do?  Well, just cut across the intersection without looking first, pell-mell chaos with lots of cyclists and high speed traffic. 

The kicker is there is a wonderful route that loops UNDER the bridge so the whole intersection can be avoided.  Newbies don’t know that and there’s no signage coming eastbound that indicates the route! 

Other than that, didn’t see too much from the Southerly route.  A few more cyclists w/out helmets, some new cyclists on bicycles that were perhaps on the verge of collapsing into pieces (and sounding like it)…

I think my fave story was hearing about Ignacio ridig back to West Seattle and up that huge hill!

My favorite is watching car drivers freeze up and stop when I blast my airhorn. I think they are looking for a truck. I use it as a defensive noise when I see their tires rolling and them heading out into the road without seeing me.

My favorite comment was from a bicyclist, who I saved with a timely blast..."Was that your horn that saved my a$$?”

Delta Airzound Bike Horn, best $25 I’ve spent for commuting.

Since you were riding slightly staggered and not single file, you managed to create an impressive 5-foot wide BGT event horizon hazard.

Sweet, sweet comedy.

My favorite, but not BTWM, is the guy riding a Cervelo TT bike outfitted with panniers. Not sure why he thought this was a good idea or how much the shop laughed when they had to put this together.

Runner up is always the people wearing runner shorts over their cycling shorts with aero bars mounted to a stem raised so high they don’t need to lean forward.

Weird...I always thought bike to work month was a way to introduce an alternate commute option to people who haven’t tried it before. You may all recall that you were that newbie at one point. hope none of them are reading this blog. let’s try to encourage people to get out of their cars instead of pointing out their flaws.

@Sue: Sheeeeeit. (Think “The Wire")

Man, we sure do love bikes and the people who ride them. And we think it’s perfectly okay to point out the inherent goofiness of one’s tribe. We all need constructive criticism now and again. All of us. That’s how we learn. If I’m acting like a jerk on the road I sure hope somebody will tell me to stop acting like a jerk on the road. It doesn’t have to come via the passive-aggressive medium of the blog, but I do hope I’ll still get the message somehow.

We all have flaws. Why not point them out? (Anonymously, via the interwebs, natch.)

But, I do get your point Sue. I just tend to think that cyclists are forward-thinking enough to get past the niceties of public critique.

For your own safety, never visit Bike Snob NYC.

Sue, you’re totally right. Anyone getting out of a car and trying out two wheels is something to celebrate!

Ooh, look how cool we are with our public ridicule. Assholes.

Ooh, look how cool we are with our public ridicule. Assholes.

@Anonymous (If that is in fact your real name). Don’t you think that’s a little harsh? I think you are missing the spirit of the post. We were all newbies at one point. And because we have all looked like asses at some point we have all earned the right to laugh at the weirdness we see out there. I am sure any person commenting on this is ecstatic that there are more cyclists out there as it only makes it better for everyone.

Lighten up and stop calling people assholes.

You know your blog has “arrived” when Anonymous shows up and starts cussing.

Congratulations team!

I’m certainly not a bicycling “newbie.” I have my share of centuries, races and the foolishness of at least one double century to my name. But when I came back to Seattle a couple of years ago, my beautiful bike landed in the corner of my basement, gathering spiderwebs and dust. It took the acerbic taunting from my co-worker Robbie (yours of this blog) to put pedals to action during the back-to-work month of May.
And I must admit, I felt like a newbie. Much to the consternation of some of you out there, Seattle is not the mecca of biking it purports to be. Not even close (consider the recent comments from one of the mayoral candidates, who believes that merely painting bike signs on the road is an attack on car culture). From a biker’s perspective (I also ride a motorized two-wheeler), Seattle is gritty; it’s tough; it’s hilly as hell, and its drivers are not as gentle as they used to be when I last lived here. I pity the poor newbies.
Despite the obstacle course nature of this city, I managed five commutes during the month of May, 18-mile roundtrips from West Seattle. I’m sure I looked like a newbie out there to some of you more experienced commuter cats who passed me by, I of the Guru racing bike swinging wildly around the volcano-sized potholes that riddle the ride along the waterfront. Of course, I retold the ugly tales of my rides to Robbie and my other colleagues in the office. And there were so many: nearly getting hit by a driver going the wrong way on a one-way street in downtown Seattle; nearly freezing to death on my very first day, when a cold rain pounded the city. There were so many “nearlys” that Robbie was certain I was a goner, her team’s first casualty in this great experiment we call bike-to-work month. And as certain as rain on the Fourth of July, I was a newbie last month, a commuter virgin who fumbled his way to work toting a backpack filled with shoes and clothes. And of course, I laugh at my own “newbiness.” That’s why I’m not bothered by Robbie’s “Amateur month” post, because I know she meant it in good spirits. Two of her team members were newbies who logged about 20 percent of all the miles. And no one was happier than Robbie. My bike has made it into the garage now, parked next to the Vespa, tires filled with air. This newbie may just manage a few more rides to work this summer, before the rains return and wash away amateur hour. Heck, if I get in shape, I may just make it to work on time!
Ride on, newbies!

Lawd help us!

I am very guilty of being a newbie!  First day of riding in to work, I ran a red light for a crosswalk and the biker next to me yelled “What are you, NEW??!!” and I would have yelled “YES!” but was too out of breath and worried about looking back and falling to actual say anything.

I get a lot of teasing from Robbie about my white cycling shoes being too white, but we both know they make me ride fast and that’s all that matters. She claims it’s just “hazing” and because she motivates me to get my butt out of bed in the mornings to ride, I take it so I can be part of the club.

Michelle, good news! Once you complete tomorrow’s daybreaker, you will be officially IN. That’s the final test. ;)

Alas, Bangalore traffic did not let me escape and i managed to get out of Bangalore only at 4pm. After that, it was a great drive to Mysore. The roads are straight and well laid. We reached Mysore at 7pm. It was another 120km to Wayanad. It was already dark and we did not want to cross Bandipur forest at night. So we stayed over at a ramshackle motel in Nanjangud.