My bicycle was locked up outside of my work for a week or so, so I decided to ride it home today since I was running late for hockey tonight. (It’s faster to get home on my bicycle than taking a streetcar or driving).
It was an interesting ride home. The first incident was with a 3-legged man on crutches. He was basically sprinting across the street. He was going faster than any other person I’ve seen on crutches in my entire life, and he was almost directly crossing my path so I had no time to stop. I swerved to the right directly in front of his path and hoped to god his crutches didn’t get stuck in my spokes. A girl standing on the curb thought I was going to hit her so she jumped out of the way as I swerved back to the left after narrowly missing the 3-legged man.
The second incident was with a businesswoman. She was also J Walking; she took one look, then slowly walked across the street. I figured I had lots of room to ride by her in front of her path. But without even looking still, as I’m approaching to pass her, she starts jogging, putting herself right in front of me. I slam on the brakes, swerve, and yell “JESUS H CHRIST!” she was very startled and jumped out of the way. Close call.
Then I happened to see a Parkdale prostitute on the side of the road. It was only 5:15PM! 5:15PM! I’ve never seen a hooker out there at 5:15PM. Ridiculous!