On My Ride Home
Jul. 26th, 2008 01:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maxcelcatI had a crazy ride home on Ninja Bike tonight.
I work down near the Domain interchange on St. Kilda Road. It's a fucked intersection to try and ride on, since there are four lanes of traffic heading North, and at one corner there two of them peel off to the left. So you need to make your way from the bike lane across two lanes of turning traffic to make it across the intersection onto the bike lane on the other side.
I usually take the footpath. I was glad I did today, two cars struck each other a glancing blow just before I headed by. They were in the process of moving from one lane to another, didn't look too bad, but it did make a crunching sound and would have sucked on a bike!
So somehow I made it up to Flinders Street station. What I usually do is ride down behind Fed Square - the area is called Birrong Marr - and ride over the pedestrian bridge to the top of the MCG, and then through East Melbourne. However, it was infested with football fans. So I detoured, and rode into the Fed Square car park. And took their lift up to Flinders Street level! Clever!
Rode up Russell Street, then onto Collins Street, which was really, really busy. I made it round all the taxi's and mad guys in beat up vans. Ducked east towards the, er, what are them gardens behind Parliament House called?
Eventually made it to Wellington Parade, my intend route. And who should I spot coming the other way, but Critical Mass! About 100 cyclists, at least two of whom recognised me! I was tempted to join them, but has places to be...
Rode up to Alexander Parade, and rode over near the corner of Smith. And waiting there for me was my car! My mechanic is on a corner there. I popped in this morning and paid for the work, and they'd left him waiting outside. So I bunged my bike in the back and drove the rest of the way home.
Which was weird, I've not been driving for more than two weeks, and I've been all Bike Ninja, fighting the traffic, so getting back into a car was novel. Controlling 900 kilos of metal is a lot harder than controlling 15. And a lot less nimble :-)
I work down near the Domain interchange on St. Kilda Road. It's a fucked intersection to try and ride on, since there are four lanes of traffic heading North, and at one corner there two of them peel off to the left. So you need to make your way from the bike lane across two lanes of turning traffic to make it across the intersection onto the bike lane on the other side.
I usually take the footpath. I was glad I did today, two cars struck each other a glancing blow just before I headed by. They were in the process of moving from one lane to another, didn't look too bad, but it did make a crunching sound and would have sucked on a bike!
So somehow I made it up to Flinders Street station. What I usually do is ride down behind Fed Square - the area is called Birrong Marr - and ride over the pedestrian bridge to the top of the MCG, and then through East Melbourne. However, it was infested with football fans. So I detoured, and rode into the Fed Square car park. And took their lift up to Flinders Street level! Clever!
Rode up Russell Street, then onto Collins Street, which was really, really busy. I made it round all the taxi's and mad guys in beat up vans. Ducked east towards the, er, what are them gardens behind Parliament House called?
Eventually made it to Wellington Parade, my intend route. And who should I spot coming the other way, but Critical Mass! About 100 cyclists, at least two of whom recognised me! I was tempted to join them, but has places to be...
Rode up to Alexander Parade, and rode over near the corner of Smith. And waiting there for me was my car! My mechanic is on a corner there. I popped in this morning and paid for the work, and they'd left him waiting outside. So I bunged my bike in the back and drove the rest of the way home.
Which was weird, I've not been driving for more than two weeks, and I've been all Bike Ninja, fighting the traffic, so getting back into a car was novel. Controlling 900 kilos of metal is a lot harder than controlling 15. And a lot less nimble :-)
