As I mentioned previously not too many new adventures... However the new bids for drivers were just completed so now is the time when the drivers start their new respective routes.
I was blessed in that the route for the 16 and 94 have now been changed due to the actions of my friend Antonio Banks... and rather than coming down Cedar they now come down Robert Street. I now am dropped off basically at my front door. Although I did not mind walking the two blocks to get home, rain and snow days were not as much fun. Saturday I ran up to Target (Pronounced Tar-ga) on University and Hamlin. On the way back the bus driver announced that the permanent change had taken effect and that we would now be going down 11th to Robert Street and on into downtown St Paul. As we neared the Rossmor I was standing up front preparing to debark when I asked the driver if she stopped at 10th as well as 9th Street. She said "I don't know"... I couldn't help but laugh and I told her that I was not laughing at her I just was not expecting that response. She said that she had not been formally trained on the route and she could stop either if I wanted. 9th street is the easiest for me as my loft faces 9th and Robert streets. As was pointed out by a friend maybe it is making me lazier however with the amount of biking I have done lately, I think that it counter balances itself.
About a week ago I was on my way home from work. After getting off the 684 express from Eden Prairie I made my way up to 6th and Nicollet to catch the 94C back to St Paul. It was a packed bus, as I stepped onto the bus I scanned the crowd for someone to sit next to. Before starting to ride the bus I never appreciated people's personal hygiene as much as I do now. One day in particular I was forced to sit behind a gentleman who I don’t think had seen a shower or water for that matter since the late 90's. Luckily my seasonal allergies were flared so I was unable to smell all of his musk. On this most recent evening I located a larger lady toward the front of the bus that I had seen multiple times previously. I had interacted with her previously and she was very pleasant and well put together. (as my Gram would say) As the bus steamed down 6th street toward Hwy 94, we made our last stop at 11th street and the driver hit the gas, we were on our way. After my experience on the 21 I am all for the drivers that "feel the need, the need for speed". Well this driver had switched on the after burners and we were off the races. I felt not unlike Dale Earnhardt Jr must feel during a Nascar bout. If you are familiar with 6th street in any way just before you enter the ramp to 94 East it is the worst stretch I feel within 20 blocks. There are giant potholes all over. As the driver enter this massive mine field of potholes within seconds we were airborne. Knowing the road and having other drivers unknowingly enter this mine field I was prepared. As we hit a couple the lady next to me was airborne. All I remember were legs flying in the air and people yelling. I may be sadistic but I could help but find it funny and I did my best to hold in the laughter. There were screams coming from the back of the bus where I am sure the worst was felt. I remember thinking so this is what a massive amount of turbulent in a commercial aircraft feels like.
I do respect the driver for not doing what any other Minnesota driver would which is to stomp on the brakes, I could foresee not only people airborne but launching forward into others. The words "Ohh the humanity" came to mind. The driver kept on the gas as his instinct told him that if he kept on it we would get thru them quicker.
Last Friday evening I was running to my friend’s apartment in uptown to go grab a couple drinks. I jumped on the 94B and headed to Minneapolis. I jumped off at Nicollet and immediately jumped on the 17 heading to his place at 15th. As I and a few others boarded the bus I quickly found a seat half way back. As the door started closing I noticed an older gentleman standing near the front putting his gloves back on. As I turned to look out the side window we starting moving forward, as soon as the driver hit the gas I heard a loud bang. My first instinct was that we had struck a pedestrian or that we had blown a tire. As I peered to the front of the bus I saw a group of people staring at the floor. If you haven't guessed it the gentleman didn’t hold on and went a** over tea kettle to the floor. As all of the people around him started to help him back up the man was visible shaken. Although he was not hurt he was a brave man. Had it been me I would have pulled the stop requested cable the second I stood up and jumped off that bus. Luckily nothing happened to the man and he was ok to continue his journey.
I did have my first embarrassing bike moment last week though. On nice days I have been taking the 94B in the mornings to 4th and Nicollet and then biking to uptown to take the Midtown Greenway to my office in Eden Prairie. As I was biking down Hennepin Ave one Friday morning. I came to the Uptown Transit Station. Being the macho biker that I am I figured "get off my bike and lift it up the curb, HA, I can just pop the front wheel up onto the curb and get going".... Now if only the reality were that I was a macho biker... quite to the contrary... As I stopped up to get some leverage on the bike I made a fatal mistake to lean forward and move my center of gravity more to the front of the bike. As you can suffice as I pulled back on the handlebars to lift them onto the curb nothing happened. Now imagine me falling sideways onto the curb. As the loud crash of me, my bike and my backpack slam into the sidewalk just as the 4 is loading it passengers to bring them south. Enter a nice Latino man who rushed over to make sure I was ok and to help me up. I did not have a mirror on me however had I am sure I could beat a bushel boy tomato for being more red in the face. I quickly jumped up swung my leg over my bike and began to pedal away as quick as possible. However as my feet began to move quicker and quick the bike did not... my chain had fallen off... adrenalin quickly took over as I thought "I have to get out of here quickly", so like any skilled biker I started kicking my feet wildly on the sidewalk to move myself and in turn the bike to the hill leading down to the Midtown Greenway. I coasted down the hill and onto the path as far as I could before surrendering to my embarrassment and stopping to reset my chain on the bike.
Luckily my laptop inside my pack as unharmed and the water bottle was also intact. Talk about the ultimate in embarrassment if not only had I fallen but my water bottle opened up and soaked the back of my coat and pants. Just pondering walking into my office with a wet backside would be cause to turn around and biked back home to sit on the couch in solitary the rest of the day.
With my embarrassing bike moment behind me and the rough rapids scaled I am ready for anything mass transit has to throw at me.
I was blessed in that the route for the 16 and 94 have now been changed due to the actions of my friend Antonio Banks... and rather than coming down Cedar they now come down Robert Street. I now am dropped off basically at my front door. Although I did not mind walking the two blocks to get home, rain and snow days were not as much fun. Saturday I ran up to Target (Pronounced Tar-ga) on University and Hamlin. On the way back the bus driver announced that the permanent change had taken effect and that we would now be going down 11th to Robert Street and on into downtown St Paul. As we neared the Rossmor I was standing up front preparing to debark when I asked the driver if she stopped at 10th as well as 9th Street. She said "I don't know"... I couldn't help but laugh and I told her that I was not laughing at her I just was not expecting that response. She said that she had not been formally trained on the route and she could stop either if I wanted. 9th street is the easiest for me as my loft faces 9th and Robert streets. As was pointed out by a friend maybe it is making me lazier however with the amount of biking I have done lately, I think that it counter balances itself.
About a week ago I was on my way home from work. After getting off the 684 express from Eden Prairie I made my way up to 6th and Nicollet to catch the 94C back to St Paul. It was a packed bus, as I stepped onto the bus I scanned the crowd for someone to sit next to. Before starting to ride the bus I never appreciated people's personal hygiene as much as I do now. One day in particular I was forced to sit behind a gentleman who I don’t think had seen a shower or water for that matter since the late 90's. Luckily my seasonal allergies were flared so I was unable to smell all of his musk. On this most recent evening I located a larger lady toward the front of the bus that I had seen multiple times previously. I had interacted with her previously and she was very pleasant and well put together. (as my Gram would say) As the bus steamed down 6th street toward Hwy 94, we made our last stop at 11th street and the driver hit the gas, we were on our way. After my experience on the 21 I am all for the drivers that "feel the need, the need for speed". Well this driver had switched on the after burners and we were off the races. I felt not unlike Dale Earnhardt Jr must feel during a Nascar bout. If you are familiar with 6th street in any way just before you enter the ramp to 94 East it is the worst stretch I feel within 20 blocks. There are giant potholes all over. As the driver enter this massive mine field of potholes within seconds we were airborne. Knowing the road and having other drivers unknowingly enter this mine field I was prepared. As we hit a couple the lady next to me was airborne. All I remember were legs flying in the air and people yelling. I may be sadistic but I could help but find it funny and I did my best to hold in the laughter. There were screams coming from the back of the bus where I am sure the worst was felt. I remember thinking so this is what a massive amount of turbulent in a commercial aircraft feels like.
I do respect the driver for not doing what any other Minnesota driver would which is to stomp on the brakes, I could foresee not only people airborne but launching forward into others. The words "Ohh the humanity" came to mind. The driver kept on the gas as his instinct told him that if he kept on it we would get thru them quicker.
Last Friday evening I was running to my friend’s apartment in uptown to go grab a couple drinks. I jumped on the 94B and headed to Minneapolis. I jumped off at Nicollet and immediately jumped on the 17 heading to his place at 15th. As I and a few others boarded the bus I quickly found a seat half way back. As the door started closing I noticed an older gentleman standing near the front putting his gloves back on. As I turned to look out the side window we starting moving forward, as soon as the driver hit the gas I heard a loud bang. My first instinct was that we had struck a pedestrian or that we had blown a tire. As I peered to the front of the bus I saw a group of people staring at the floor. If you haven't guessed it the gentleman didn’t hold on and went a** over tea kettle to the floor. As all of the people around him started to help him back up the man was visible shaken. Although he was not hurt he was a brave man. Had it been me I would have pulled the stop requested cable the second I stood up and jumped off that bus. Luckily nothing happened to the man and he was ok to continue his journey.
I did have my first embarrassing bike moment last week though. On nice days I have been taking the 94B in the mornings to 4th and Nicollet and then biking to uptown to take the Midtown Greenway to my office in Eden Prairie. As I was biking down Hennepin Ave one Friday morning. I came to the Uptown Transit Station. Being the macho biker that I am I figured "get off my bike and lift it up the curb, HA, I can just pop the front wheel up onto the curb and get going".... Now if only the reality were that I was a macho biker... quite to the contrary... As I stopped up to get some leverage on the bike I made a fatal mistake to lean forward and move my center of gravity more to the front of the bike. As you can suffice as I pulled back on the handlebars to lift them onto the curb nothing happened. Now imagine me falling sideways onto the curb. As the loud crash of me, my bike and my backpack slam into the sidewalk just as the 4 is loading it passengers to bring them south. Enter a nice Latino man who rushed over to make sure I was ok and to help me up. I did not have a mirror on me however had I am sure I could beat a bushel boy tomato for being more red in the face. I quickly jumped up swung my leg over my bike and began to pedal away as quick as possible. However as my feet began to move quicker and quick the bike did not... my chain had fallen off... adrenalin quickly took over as I thought "I have to get out of here quickly", so like any skilled biker I started kicking my feet wildly on the sidewalk to move myself and in turn the bike to the hill leading down to the Midtown Greenway. I coasted down the hill and onto the path as far as I could before surrendering to my embarrassment and stopping to reset my chain on the bike.
Luckily my laptop inside my pack as unharmed and the water bottle was also intact. Talk about the ultimate in embarrassment if not only had I fallen but my water bottle opened up and soaked the back of my coat and pants. Just pondering walking into my office with a wet backside would be cause to turn around and biked back home to sit on the couch in solitary the rest of the day.
With my embarrassing bike moment behind me and the rough rapids scaled I am ready for anything mass transit has to throw at me.
