I was also taught to walk on the left. Not only that, though, it just feels dangerous walking on the right. You can't see oncoming traffic that way.

I do remember, as a kid, thinking the "walking on the left" rule was illogical. The way I saw it, if I was gonna get hit by a car going 60km an hour, and I'm walking 5km an hour, on the left side of the road I'd get hit with a force of 65km an hour (because I'm moving against the traffic), whereas on the right I'd only get hit with 55km an hour (because I'm moving the same direction as the traffic). I was a weird kid.

To give everyone a little perspective on this "joining Dave at the gym" line of comments that JD continues to make, consider the following: Prior to signing up to join the gym in Canby I called JD and asked if he'd be interested in working out with me again. He said he would, but he'd be occupied for a little while and wouldn't join me right away. I signed up for the year's membership and away I went.

My membership ends in 4 weeks.

We had to walk a mile each way to school and my Dad was very strict about us walking on the left side of the road. There was one big corner that he made us cross to the right on so people could see us coming around it. To walk on the right feels as weird as driving on the wrong side of the road. Ya know, JD, there are no rules for anything anymore.

People don't know the propere way to introduce people. Children are not taught to stand and shake hands when older people walk in the room; they're not even taught to give their seats to the elderly! It just galls me when I see robust teenagers sitting in the seats on the Max train while the elderly or mothers with babies, or as was my case then, heavily pregnant moms, try to balance them selves hanging onto the rail. Whats wroong with the world nowadays. It seems like anything goes and rules be hanged!

I know what you mean about the pahses in life. I think the fall of the year always makes me feel restless. You can tell on the Roth site this morning that I too am feeling discombobulated. I spent the entire time telling you all what I could do if I could just do it! Make any sense?

By the way, I like your layout on your blog. I hate change. I checked out the site you referred too and, yes, it's nice, but I have to say I like yours better. Just don't mess with it too drastically. Thats my unsolicited advice.

Nick, who is averse to commenting directly to this site (or any other), just came in to tell me that he's been watching for bicyclists in Canby. The other day he made a left turn and almost hit a bicyclist left-side bicyclist. Since then he's counted bicyclists. He's seen ~20 bicyclists, only three of which were riding correctly (on the street not the sidewalk — bikes are not allowed on sidewalks), on the right side, etc.).

It seems to me that the bicyclists in Canby are especially awful. Is it like this in other parts of the state? Other parts of the country?

When I'm in Portland, the bicyclists seem to be obeying the traffic laws, but maybe I'm just not seeing the scofflaws. In Canby, though, nobody seems to understand the traffic laws. The laws are there for safety, not because of an arbitrary whim.

Just last night, on the way home from physical therapy, I watched as two kids (young hoodlums from the looks of it) pedalled down a sidewalk (strike one), through a stop sign without stopping despite traffic (strike two), while biking one-handed, drinking Slurpees, and without helmets (strike three). Idiots.

I console myself with the thought that natural selection probably weeds out some of these guyss...

I also was taught to walk on the left side (unless there's a sidewalk) and ride on the right (never on the sidewalk). I don't have a clue why the bicyclists in Canby (is it mostly the young ones?) are so terrible, but in Portland I don't seem to notice so many criminal riders.

I love the layout for bibliophilic.org and if you have a hankering for changing your site, that would seem an easy way to accomplish the goal.

I'm glad to note that neither biking one-handed nor drinking Slurpees count as crimes. The Slurpees in particular are one of my favorite summer indulgences. (Yeah, and I really do eat Peeps, too.)

I feel discombobulated also--and rarely at 100%, but I can blame pregnancy. :) It's really rather remarkable how your physical condition can affect your entire life so profoundly.

In case you were wondering, the Boy Scouts of American Handbook stipulates walking on the left. As far as I can tell, I'm the only bicycling scofflaw in Portland, as I generally run red lights when there's no traffic, will occasionally use the sidewalk as a shortcut, and tend to make hand signals as I'm performing my turns. The other bicyclists in Portland are much better behaved.
dowingba, you ARE a weird kid, but I dig the cut of your jib. I've actually used the net velocity theory when biking- if I'm in traffic and feel like I'm about to be crushed, I try and speed up rather than hit the brakes for the very reason you detail.

strange how the gray of your weblog reflects everything described in today's entry

Bibliophilic has an awesome design...but I don't see how it'd work for a weblog. And hey, I've been using disgusting grey colours for my designs for years now too...

"in Portland, the bicyclists seem to be obeying the traffic laws"

Most bicyclists that I have seen in Portland DO NOT obey the traffic laws. Most of them want to be treated as a car by using a full lane of traffic, but when they get to a stop light, they move to the sidewalk or the crosswalk to get through the intersection faster.

Most of them want to be treated as a car by using a full lane of traffic, but when they get to a stop light, they move to the sidewalk or the crosswalk to get through the intersection faster.

Curious. I do just the opposite a lot of times: I'll keep to the side on the street so that traffic can flow past me, but at intersections I take my full lane (as the law allows me to do) do that I'm more visible in traffic. Once I'm through the intersection, I scooch back over to the side of the street.

The real problem is that nobody, neither motorists nor bicyclists, knows the rules for bicyclists. And often when a bicyclist does know the rules, he chooses to disregard them. Paul treats stop lights as yield signs, for example, and that drives me nuts. How can we, as bicyclists, expect respect and consideration from motorists when we, as a group, don't follow the laws, either? It cuts both ways.

Of course, who am I to talk? Out here in the middle of the country I blow through most stop signs. My rationale? I can see whether there's traffic before I get there, so there's no need to stop.