In the system.

So the town where I live put in bike lockers. Pretty nice ones too. You have to go to the city's parking office and buy a card. Then you have to put money on the card and you're good to go. Unless you need directions. 'Cause you don't get those. That's a whole other Kafka-esque local city government process. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to figure out how the bike lockers billing system works. You only lose about 10 cents off your card wrestling with it.

So I have a card now. Which means I can park my bike downtown and not have to bring it to work with me each day on the bus. It also means the cretins of my town can't strip it. Actually I'm going to stop right now and point out how crazy it is to lock a bike in a steel cage. Remember when you were a kid and you'd leave your bike all over the place? For the youngins ever see a movie where people just leaned their bikes up against a wall or left it laying in the front lawn? That really happened. People would do that. No one would touch your bike. It wasn't theirs. Now-a-days, it's like bike thieves are everywhere. I actually feel like I'm pushing it having a bike in my backyard that's not locked to a tree. And I have a big dog too!

Ok back to the thing with me having a bike locker card. I have a card. I also have new fenders for the rain. I also have velcro reflector strappy things for my pant legs. I wear my helmet and wear a yellow jacket. Honestly, I rode to the bus stop today looking like I fell out of the Bike To Work brochure. There I was, smartly locking up my bike and waiting for my bus. Just like the city council dreamed I would be doing when they decided to put in bike lockers.

This should be very wrong feeling for me. The "leave me alone. I'm not like you - and I don't want to be" charm I am instilled with really hates being a tool. So looking like the picture out of a brochure is un-settling. However, I don't really feel like a dork. I suppose I could ride with my lights off or something to be rebellious, but I think my whole riding downtown and taking the bus really may be the "right" thing to do. Given the problem of how to get to work, I think my morning ride and routine is one of the most right actions I can make all day. Only good comes from it. It's an action where nobody gets hurt. It really is a nice way to start a day and that over-rides everything.