Adventures in Biking

I'm really enjoying getting around by bike in Tel Aviv.  I suppose I could walk to work, but a half-hour journey each way gets a little dull, especially when there are those times when I'm trying to get to my destination quickly.  Riding the bike cuts the trip down to seven minutes and it's faster than I could go by car.  Cruising around the city at other times allows me to quickly get familiar.  I use some of the skyscrapers as waypoints and just take meandering routes to get where I want to go.  That's how to see a city.

Biking here, however, is not without its risks.  First, take riding an Israeli-made bicycle.  I guess it's possible that the one I purchased was a lemon, but I figure it ties in with my 85% theory (if you haven't heard of it by now, just e-mail me and I'll tell you about it).  Anyhow, the bike basically shifts gears when it wants to.  I'm just along for the ride.  It doesn't sound like it would be all that bad except for when you need to stand up to cross the street quickly in front of traffic, only to find that you have gone from a high-resistance gear to one that is low and the chain hasn't fully settled on the sprocket.  You're pretty much just screwed when that happens, and it's happened several times.  I'm just waiting for the day the brakes fail.  Hopefully none of this happens before I go a second round with Crazy Eddy's bike-selling cousin this Sunday.  He has promised to fix the bike.  We'll see.

The second risk or riding a bike here is the affectionate and cozy Israeli pedestrian.  I guess it is such a small country that the people here really feel isolated if they're not packed snugly up against another person.  That's the only thing that can explain why the guy coming the opposite direction on an empty 12 foot wide sidewalk has to veer toward me as I drift away from him to avoid a head on collision.  

The third risk is the Israeli driver.  I have to say that it hasn't been that bad so far.  Yesterday, however, I was heading back from Jaffa on a two-lane road (one in each direction).  I passed a stopped bus at one point and continued on my way.  The bus finished picking up passengers and started gaining on me as we both approached a red light and stopped traffic.  I was about 15-20 car lengths away from the cars at the traffic light when the bus starts blasting its horn behind me.  The driver was in a mad dash to get to that light . . . so that he could . . . stop!?!  When i didn't cede ground, the bus began to overtake me and I found myself riding about six inches away from the curb as the bus passed within less than six inches from my left hand grip.  It was a little nervewracking to watch the bus slowly squeeze me out of ridable pavement.  I emerged unscathed, but I'm not going to deny that I spent the rest of my ride playing out scenarios that probably would result in the Israeli government "graciously" facilitating my departure.