Today's Rant

I really should have "rant!" as a category - I rant far more than I talk about, oh, writing...but I promise this will be short.

I recently started riding a bike again -- sadly, not the beauty pictured in the photo above (someday...), but my old Diamondback. The area where I live, Venice, Santa Monica and Playa Del Rey - is a great place to ride bikes. In Venice, I sometimes think the bikes outnumber the cars.

But there are still too many cars, which I really don't like (a topic for another rant), so when I'm on my bike, I try to find routes that have as few cars as possible. This means the bike paths, which around here run up and down the coast, in and out of docks and past the Ballona Channel -- some truly gorgeous scenery.

I've learned to accept that pedestrians will use the bike paths. Even with the big signs on the cement that say: "Bike Path - Bikes Only!" You know, you have your tourists, your non-English speakers, and your "Special" people who don't feel the need to pay attention to such things.

What I don't understand are the folks who not only walk on the bike paths, but who just. Stand. There. In the middle of the path. Sometimes with baby carriages.

Look, people (especially you "Special" people)...I'm not that skilled a bike rider. If you do something really dorky like, unexpectedly walk in front of my bike, odds are good that I'm not going to be able to avoid you, and I may hit you.

This is something I've never understood. I get that some people are going to do what they're going to do, that they live in a bubble, or whatever. But what I don't get is, why do they trust other people to be paying attention? I sure don't.

/ rant.