A Start

[Below is a conversation I had with my brother that pushed me to start this blog]

ME -  dont u feel like buses always pull away from their stops right as u are passing them?

BRO -  yes, yes i do

ME -  i hate that

a couple of weeks ago

i see a bus blocks away from me

not moving

no one getting on or off

and of course it pulls away whem im casually passing by

and then has the nerve to honk at me

then honks at me again while im staying on the right side of the road

im flipping them off next time

BRO -  hmmph.

ME - that incident sparked a blog idea i might follow up with

BRO -  what's that?

ME -  just my experience riding in baltimore, figure ill take video of every ride, if something interesting/scary happens ill post it

BRO -  yeah go for it

ME -  its kind of sad that baltimore has very little cycle-friendliness

a "share the road" sign doesn't cut it for me

BRO -  and the cool thing about this is that i write it up and you've been nice enough to read it so we have a topic to discuss

you should make that the thesis of your blog

"ts kind of sad that baltimore has very little cycle-friendliness
a "share the road" sign doesn't cut it for me"

ME -  nice

BRO -  that would get your local peeps talking

seriously

ME -  yeah

BRO -  local councilman or someone might pick up on it

ME -  what should the name of the blog be? I've been thinking, something like "Baltimore Bicyclist"

BRO -  sure

ME -  or "A Baltimore Bicyclist"

BRO -  i'll meditate on a title but yeahsomething like that

ME -  implying im part of a bigger community

i figure ill do it as a hobby at first, but if it actually gains momentum, i would push for ppl to write up their own little stories about the BS they face when riding in the city

BRO -  hell yeah

ME -  the first time i ever had a thought about how sad the cycling environment is in baltimore was back during the winter

charles street was completely under construction

and out of 3 lanes, usually 1 (sometimes 2) lanes were open

and it was awesome, i rode my bike maybe 80% knowing i didn't have to worry about cars

and im thinking "all this work, i hope they put in a cycling lane, because everyone goes on charles street"

then they finish

and of course

no cyclist lane

not even the crappy sign

BRO -  see -- that's a premise. a good one, too.

ME -  hahaha, the funny thing is, my initial idea for the blog was a colbert-esque angry rant

where i dont like anyone

even cyclists

hahaha 

but it wouldn't be fun to read because not everyone would get my humor

but having a cause behind it seems it would go over well

BRO -  do it up

eventually you find your voice while writing

one method is to concentrate really hard on a writer/voice/person you really want to emulate and just go -- that's how you find your own voice sometimes

ME -  so "Baltimore Bicyclist - A 'Share the Road' Sign Doesn't Cut it For Me"

ME -  a voice eh?

can't help but go straight to Colbert

but i don't want my sarcasm to overshadow the point im making

hmmm

BRO -  well therein lies the challenge.

ME -  ok

baltimorebicyclist@gmail.com

BRO -  nice