ouch!

I learned a very valuable lesson Friday afternoon. apparently bike lanes in NYC [and it's wonderful borough of Brooklyn] are not really intended for bikers to bike in, rather, the following things instead:

- strollers
- dogs and idiots who walk them
- Chinese (not necessarily "Chinese" people, but the food) delivery guys
- delivery trucks (as seen above)
- morons who think assume it is the "extra small" passing lanes for motor vehicles

I just so happened to fall victim to a small, pregnant belly man in a beat up Dodge® minivan who thought he could squeeze both his pregnant man belly and beat up Dodge® minivan into the bike lane just as I happened to be enjoying my space in the lane. while he thought he was making a clean pass around a Dog Day Afternoon of Brooklyn traffic, he actually came door too fist w/ me and his door won sending me flying over my handlebars and into the bike lane I was leisurely riding in. it isn't too often I have a crowd to perform in front of, but just my luck, a group of tourists were right there to witness my asphalt acrobatics and I'm pretty sure I scored an 8.2 out of 10 on my landing. after 45-seconds or so (and after the tourists helped me up) the pregnant belly man got out of his beat up Dodge® minivan to ask me if I was ok. WAS I OK? ha. I took it upon myself to explain to him that the bikers' lane was in fact NOT an "extra small" passing lane, but that it was intended for these 2-wheeled things called bikes and these 2-legged people that ride those 2-wheeled things called bikers. that when he drives his 4-wheeled piece of American sh*t in the bike lane, he might just have a pretty good shot of hitting a biker, which he did.

I made the biggest rookie error to be made, I said I was ok and road off not realizing for a few blocks that my arm was covered in blood from my nosedive into the asphalt. lesson learned here:

1. bike lanes aren't for bikers.
buy an orange flag and attach it to your bike, while not quite a moped, at least the drivers will kinda see you while you ride in "their" lane.
2. after you get hit, call the police.
the bike lane is a bike lane and cars shouldn't be driving in them and well, assholes deserve points on their licenses if they don't understand the difference between the (2) lanes.
3. get the insurance info, name and plates of the asshole who hit you.
you should never have to pay your own bills for their laziness, neglect and general moronic driving habits of running over bikers.
4. after you get their info, be sure to let them know they are a total piece of sh*t.
telling a grown man he looks pregnant is a sure way to make him feel even worse after having run you down while riding your 2-wheeled friend.

I guess I'm the sucker this time around; it's time for some Neosporin®. NEXT!