So I made it out of the city alive and am back in Seattle. The first thing I did was get my knee checked out since it was (and still is) bothering me. I went to the Virginia Mason Sports Medicine Clinic, which I was super impressed by. Apparently, I bruised my kneecap. I’m not sure is this was a progressive injury or arose out of simply kicking too many steps on my 4th of July ski trip. Whatever the case, the doctor informed me that bone bruises are extremely slow to heal and it wouldn’t be 100% for about three month. Thursday will mark two months since the injury and although it still is a bit sore, I have been able to get back on my bike.

Seattle is my first real experience with urban biking. I had gotten accustomed to being able to spin a full 40 or 50 miles without stopping and maybe only seeing one car. Walla Walla, WA and Bozeman, MT both were sure to deliver this experience on any given day.

Now in Seattle, it is like urban combat. Constantly checking your lane, sprinting to keep the driver behind you from running you over, getting held up at red lights. But, all that is pretty tame. Its the verbal assault from some drivers that gets me–like yesterday. I was riding across the Ballad drawbridge and it happens to be up. Over the PA, the drawbridge operator tells me, “the biker,” to come forward and to cross first. I thread my way through the cars to the front and cross the line where cars are supposed to stop. Almost immediately, some driver cranes his head out the window to tell me to “Respect the line!” I ignore him an continue across the bridge as I was instructed to. He proceeds to follow me for a few (purposely circuitous) blocks before yelling some insult I didn’t catch and turning off.

As luck would have it I heard a repeat of KUOW’s The Conversation today where they were discussing the conflict behind motorists and cyclists. The tensions have been rising between bikers and motorists in the city in the recent months. These tensions exploded last month during a Ciritical Mass ride. The Seattle PI reported:

The driver tried to back up, he said, and struck a bike.

That’s when bicyclists really began attacking the vehicle.

“They broke his windshield and they broke the rear window and did some additional body damage,” Jamieson said.

The driver told officers he feared for his safety and that of his girlfriend, so he sped off, hitting other bikes and riders.

Braun was one of the bicyclists who were struck, but he disputed the official version of events, saying that the only thing happening before the driver sped off was a lot of shouting.

A frequent bicycle commuter participating in the protest ride for the first time in years, Braun said he rode up just as voices were being raised.

He was still trying to figure out what the trouble was, he said, when the driver drove through the group, hitting him on his bike.

“I didn’t have time to get out of the way,” Braun said.

He was dragged along briefly, got loose, and then the car ran over his leg. Braun said he saw another man sprawled on the hood of the car as it drove off.

Less than a block away, the driver stopped and was surrounded by bicyclists. Some spat on the vehicle, some hit it. One man punched the driver through an open window. Another took a knife and slashed the tires.

The driver got out of the vehicle, Jamieson said, and when he did so, someone behind him hit him with an object, cutting the man’s head.

Okay, so everyone’s actions in this situation were terrible. The driver shouldn’t have sped through a group of cyclists and the cyclists shouldn’t have slashed his tires or hit him with a bicycle chain (as was later reported).

But, in the end, the reason that cyclists can’t and shouldn’t be held to the exact same standards as cars on the rode is that in a collision between a bike and a car, the cyclist always loses–between a cyclist and pedestrian, the outcome is more uncertain, but it is unlikely to be a fatal event. So when a cyclist determines it is “safe” to run a redlight or roll through a stop sign, they are basically implicitly recognizing the risk with their life and only their life. A cyclist’s judgment has no airbag as a safety mechanism. If they are wrong, they die. So the next time you see a cyclist making an illegal traffic maneuver, take note that they are betting their life on it.

This argument isn’t an excuse to break the law. On the contrary, I obey traffic signs and rules while on my bike because I don’t have the confidence in my urban riding judgment to bet my life on it. If others feel they do, then go for it, but try not to be stupid about it.

So I only have a few more days in the city. In most ways I am more than ready to get back to Seattle, but there are going to be a few things I will miss about this place.

New York is the first place I have been where I am not the fastest walker on the street. Maybe I’m just always running behind (which is pretty much true), but more than a few people have told me that I walk too fast. Well not here.

The second thing that’ll miss is the lack of bull shit here. For example, a cop isn’t going to give you a ticket for j-walking and if someone is clogging up the subway turnstile they are gonna hear about it. At the same time, New York is such a catwalk for people to show off their money and “sucess” that it makes me sick. I just you can’t get rid of all the bull shit.

Finally, the food. In a word amazing. Some of the best spots I have hit were Dovetail, Annisa, Asia de Cuba, and The Staton Social.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures from the trip my sister and I took out to the Statue of Liberty and a few more from random spot around the city. Check out the gallery.

So I have been out in New York for the past few weeks for a training program for my new job. It suffices to say that it has been a lot of long days. C’est la vie.

Luckily I have gotten out into the city a bit on the weekends and have enjoyed it. I think I would be missing Seattle more if I knew that my knee could stand up to the punishment I’d want to put it through this summer. So maybe a 6 or 7 week mandatory rest will help it out. I think one of the oddest experiences I have had was at the Museum of Natural History. In the exhibit of North American Mammal there are all these dioramas of moose, bears, wolves, etc. Beside the obvious oddity of the taxidermy itself, there were masses of people getting their picture taken in front of these things. This was so weird to me coming from a childhood where I was worried about running into these guys on the trail and often hoping not to see one (or at least not suddenly or up too close).

One thing New York has going for it though is food. Almost, every meal I’ve had (that didn’t come from some chain) has been delicious. I went to this place tonight called S’Mac. All they serve is macaroni and Cheese. They do it so well. I had the “cajun” style with sausage and green peppers and a couple cows worth of cheese. So good.

I finally “finished” moving out to Seattle. It was quite a process. The 11 hour drive combined with the need to arrive before 4 pm forced me to leave way too early in the morning. My early start caused me to only get 3 hours of sleep the night before, but hey, this is what Starbucks is made for. After a long drive without much drama (save for the McDonald’s worker who literally followed me out the door and puked in front of me after handing me my Breakfast–I threw it out; my digust far outpaced my desire for the ever delicious Egg McMuffin), I arrived in Seattle

I got moved in and my set up is fantastic. I couldn’t ask for more… Well maybe cheaper rent, but I am living in the middle of downtown. IPlus, in this new era of ridiculously expensive gas, I might actually save money by not having to drive anywhere.

Over the course of two days, I pretty much furnished my life at Ikea. The furniture is great, but the drive to Renton is not. Although I’m not exactly known for having superior navigation skills while driving (ahem Jamie), the number of times I have gotten lost driving in Seattle is outlandish. It took me like 20 minutes to find an on-ramp to I-5 south. Sometimes I think I’ll be really slick and try to find my way on surface streets between neighborhoods. This usually results in my driving around the intervening area for about a half an hour before throwing in the towel and finding my way to I-5.

Then there is the traffic. Having to wait at a light for more than a cycle in Bozeman, MT is a rare occurrence, here its rare if you don’t come to a stop on the freeway–at least the views are nice. But, seriously I think I want to get rid of my car. Between paying for insurance as a 23 year-old male, gas prices, and $150 a month parking, it is seriously expensive for me to drive anywhere. I’d ditch it in a second if it weren’t for the fact that a car is slightly necessary to get to the mountains to ski and climb. We’ll just have to see…

So a friend and I decided to try to ski The Great One, a couloir on the north face of Sacagawea’s southern sister peak. Our start was delayed due to the road to the trail head being closed (of course the first car through once the gate opened arrived just as we finished the 3 mile ‘extension” of the hike). The hike up required kicking a few steps and I in my running shoes obliged. The problem was that without a hard toe two things happen. First (and most obviously) your toes get smashed. Second, your foot get deflected and wrenched in odd ways. By the halfway point my right knee was starting to hurt. In any case, we ended up summiting Sacagawea a bit later than planned, but precisely when a rare 10 a.m. thuderstorm starting throwing bolts. Seeing lightning strike about 5 miles south of us, we decided to retrace our steps as quickly as possible. Neither of us felt good about being on the highest peak in the range holding metal sticks with metal skis extending 2 feet above our packs. I was especially nervous because I knew my knee was not going to let me ditch my pack and make a break for it. As we came down, another group continued their hike on the assumption that the storm will be funneled to the south of us. Whenever I see a person making the exact opposite choice as me in a similar situation, it makes me question my judgment.

While it sucked to bail, lighting is one of the few factors in the outdoors you have very little control over. It is probably the only nature phenomenon I won’t mess with. In nearly every situation there is gear or skills that will keep you alive. With lighting about all you can do is try to get to a less exposed area, crouch and cross your fingers.

The story has a predictable ending though. As the other group forecast, the storm blew to the south. So we tossed on our ski boots and got in about 1000 feet of turns. It is July, so I can’t complain. Now I just have to figure out how to move to Seattle without bending my right knee…