Okay, not really. It was all a practical joke. My brain was already processing “practical joke” at the word “prison” but my stoopid mouth engaged first. “Oh! Are you okay?” But in the middle of a day spent writing test cases watching the Goodyear Blimp shoot landings at the Planet Ann Arbor airport, she had me going for a minute. Don’t get me wrong. I actually enjoy writing test cases. Really. Uh, if you don’t know what they are, you probably don’t wanna know. But, when I am writing test cases, I have to come up for air frequently and the blimp was a good distraction.

So, I was walking in the bike lane going down Miller earlier this week. That’s not a good place to walk but there’s no sidewalk there and it was *really* early in the morning and I had my ears wide open. And no bikes came along. I don’t really want a sidewalk in that place. It’s right next to Miller Woods and god forbid that they develop even the edge of the woods. I rarely walk in that bike lane or any other bike lane and there were no bikes so it’s all pretty cool, I guess.

I wanted to write a post about cycling this week but I find that I am all over the map about the whole subject, so tonight I will just write little bits about my history with cycling. And I am ALL FOR cycling. For fun, for exercise, to commute, all of the above. But I am not very good at it myself and my bicycle (I own one) is rusting in the dilapidated shed at the back of the Landfill yard. I was great when I was a kid. I used to be able to get going and then stand up with one foot on the seat and the other leg flying out the back. Yes, you read that right, I was standing on my bike seat. Coasting. Down the street. Or maybe we were doing this in the schoolyard. For the life of me I can’t remember how I got down from there but I do remember proudly displaying bandaged up knees with all of the skin torn off and telling people (other kids) that I had “fought World War III on my bike”. Roight. Smart kid. Brain of Lincoln School? I don’t think so.

I gave up cycling when I went to junior high. All the girls did in those days. It wasn’t cool then. You walked to school carrying your books and clipboard in your left arm. That is all.

Somebody hit the fast forward button and I was 32 or whatever and Lizard Breath was a cute little urchin and we bought some “mountain bikes” and a baby seat. That must’ve been the dark ages for bike baby seats because there was a strap to go around the baby’s waist but there wasn’t one for her shoulders! So. We would be riding along and she would fall asleep and tip forward and her helmet would be hitting me in the back. I *think* she was safely enough strapped in that she couldn’t actually fall *out* of the bike seat and she never did but with that bumping head I was never quite sure.

I am outta steam for tonight. Maybe this will be a series? Whatever misadventures I may have with bicycles, I am all for them. I hope that someday our society reaches a tipping point where bikes and feet and broadband are the standard way to get to work. I was ready to *strangle* some twitty little blonde on I94 today and after I got to work, apparently a semi-truck accident blocked the whole blasted freeway for quite some time. This stuff is not cool. Check out the Marquis (Maquis) for frequent bicycling adventures and more.

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