« On your right! | Main | Commuting »
May 4, 2006
going down 
This has been a crazy week. By tomorrow noon, I'll have had four appointments in five days—nuts, I tell you, nuts.
Today, coming back from career dude, I went down on the scoot.
It was like this. I was riding, la-ti-dah, and then the person in the SUV in front of me slammed on her brakes and so I slammed on my brakes. Hard. I don't recall if I looked for a way out. All I know is that I lost a few seconds, and found myself on the ground, still on the scoot, with the motor still running.
Adrenaline is a crazy thing. I immediately stood up, picked up the 350# bike, and got it over to a parking place. The woman in the SUV was out of the vehicle to check on me. I'm fine!
And really, I am. To my tremendous shock, I might have a couple small bruises, but there wasn't any sign of friction on my clothing, or on the scoot.
...
As I think about all the things I want to do with my life, finding a new longer commute has not been amongst them. But what happens if I do, um, find a job in the Silicon Forest? What if I get a good opportunity? The biking infrastructure for the west side sucks!
I just did the math, using the standard driving deduction of .32 cents a mile. A month's worth of commuting would cost $153. I don't know if that even really covers gas. Assuming a 24 mile round trip commute, that's probably about a gallon a day, or $3 in the car. For the scoot, I would get about two days roundtrip to a gallon of gas. Shessh!
And public transit isn't that great either. Yes, I can get there... in 69 minutes, taking 3 different buses.
Posted at May 4, 2006
Comments
Yikes, VJ! I'm glad you're ok -- and sorry that happened to you.
I'm going through the whole, "Is the commute worth it" debate mysef, as I'm looking for work in metro Atlanta after moving here recently.
You sound great -- I don't know if you remember me, but I always appreciated your support over at my blog and enjoyed reading yours. :)
Take care --- and you be careful out there!
Posted by: Sarah at May 7, 2006 9:04 PM
Yikes, VJ! I'm glad you're ok -- and sorry that happened to you.
I'm going through the whole, "Is the commute worth it" debate mysef, as I'm looking for work in metro Atlanta after moving here recently.
You sound great -- I don't know if you remember me, but I always appreciated your support over at my blog and enjoyed reading yours. :)
Take care --- and you be careful out there!
Posted by: Sarah at May 7, 2006 9:04 PM
oh geez, veej! scary stuff! i'm glad to hear that the SUV driver at least stopped and showed her concern instead of trundling off, blind to your fall. knowing you're not hurt and your scoot made it safely through is a tremendous relief, too.
Posted by: hollie at May 8, 2006 9:16 AM