An Unexpected Nudge in the Bike Direction...

Trip Start Jun 17, 2011

Trip End Aug 26, 2011

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Flag of United States San Francisco, California
Friday, April 1, 2011

On April Fool's Day, Matt and I parked my car on a side street in the Haight to visit some bike shops and test ride some touring bikes around the neighborhood. We met up with his visiting parents, Mike and Esther, and on our way back to the car we heard a loud crash and saw an old Ford truck swaying side to side that was parked in front of my Subaru. We rushed over to find the front half of a little Nissan smashed into the rear bumper of the truck. Fortunately, the woman driving was okay except for sobbing hysterically. I was relieved to see that my Subaru had just been missed...until I got to my rear bumper and tire. Somehow she managed to bounce off my car first before careening head-on into the Ford. The best part was that she had no explanation for the random smashing of three cars, leading me to suspect that a contributing factor was illicit texting, talking, or other inappropriate use of a smart-phone by a stupid-person. Lovely. Not one, not two, but three police officers responded in a leisurely manner with the sole purpose of filling out a police report on a 4x6 inch paper consisting of nothing but all the information we had already exchanged with each other

RIP--Vehicle of Many Adventures--1997-2011

. Also lovely. While this was occurring, a young fellow of a very stereotypical appearance for the Haight passed by on the sidewalk and commented loudly, "That's what you get for driving cars!" Double lovely. Well, I hope someday he twists his ankle while walking down the street and a passerby informs him that's what he gets for walking!

For the next couple of weeks, we navigated our way through the process of dealing with the insurance company for (luckily) the first and hopefully the last time. Since my little old Suby was of a certain mature age and had lived a long hard life, the hit it had received (although seemingly minimal in my expert opinion) was enough for the claims adjuster to declare it a total loss. This was a real bummer for us since it was our preferred car to use over Matt's gas-guzzling (but charming!) Jeep Wrangler.

However, I do feel there is a certain significance embedded this situation, which is why I think it merits an entry in this blog. Perhaps the fact that this woman abruptly condemned my car to a junkyard while we were scoping bikes foreshadows the change that our summer ambition will have on our lifestyle. Maybe this incident is telling us that it is time to transition to a healthier, cheaper, more environmentally responsible, and ultimately less car-dependent existence. I guess this is what we get for wanting to ride bicycles!

Did I forget to mention that the insurance money I received for the car is precisely the cost of two Surly Long Haul Trucker touring bikes? Hmmmm....Stay tuned!

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