9.02.2013

cycling: drunk drivers can go right to hell

Fresh off last month's early morning Drunk Asshole Head On Wipeout, I note a fatal Drunk Asshole vs Cyclist crash in Morro Bay this morning, which has particular resonance because for several of my younger years I lived in Morro Bay with my bicycle as my main form of transportation.  If pressed I could puzzle out the number of times I pedaled over the exact stretch of shoulder where the useless drunk killed one cyclist and seriously injured another- an off the cuff estimate would be more than 600.  Back in my cycling heyday I enjoyed tearing up the hill before that offramp, sprinting to the top and then gliding full speed down the back tucked over my handlebars.

Riding a bike around is dangerous enough- even sober people sometimes have trouble seeing you, and bad luck on the road is magnified when there's nothing between you and harm except a little styrofoam-and-plastic cap.  Cyclists either start out paranoid and cautious, or quickly learn the habit.

But there are some disasters no amount of skill and caution can get you past, like when some drunk shitbird thinks they're a special snowflake, immune to the laws of probability, and gets behind the wheel to plow through someone else's life.

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