I have been commuting quite a bit the last few weeks, that is to say, riding more than I have all year. It is quite refreshing to feel like a cyclist again. I feel like referring to myself as one is no longer a lie, anyway. But it is also quite refreshing to be out there in the world again and on my bike. I ride across the Gandy bridge on my way into work and the view there, though I have seen it my whole life, takes on new meaning when you are that close and personal with it. Riding your bicycle feels quite different than being caged up in a box with windows going 70 mph past the blur of scenery.
When I ride sometimes the pelicans will float next to me as they scan the water below for breakfast, before they tuck into their dive and quickly disappear from view, I assume to bombard some unsuspecting fish. I feel like a part of nature... the cars screaming by me are loud and distract from this serene experience to some degree of course, but I'm able to block them out in favor of this day dream. I used to wear headphones, I'm starting to realize that just taking in my surroundings is a far more effective tool for distraction.
I have begun collecting things of sort from the bridge... the strangest things fly out of peoples cars and onto the side of the bridge; the other day I grabbed a Frankenstein's Monster lawn decoration, I also found a visor from some cheap car, and a small orange cone, I assume used for some kids game. They call it the emergency lane, but it is seemingly also the trash lane. I see the same bolts and piles of glass every time I ride the route. I think of it as MY lane... I rarely see anyone else along my route, even though the weather is great for it lately. I think of the car lanes as the "emergency" lanes, as in, people should only take their vehicles in an emergency. Either way, I'm riding again, and its making me happy.
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