Be Predictable

That's not good life advice. Being predictable would be pretty damn boring. Predictable people wake up, eat their bacon and eggs, shuffle off to the daily grind, put in their eight hours, go home, eat their steak and potatoes, go to bed. Rinse. Repeat.

They also survive their daily commute.

See, while being predictable is bad life advice, it's very good commuting advice. I do my best to ride predictably because that's what gets me home in one piece. I don't (er, try not to) hop and off the sidewalk, because drivers don't expect to deal with traffic coming off the sidewalk. I ride in the middle of the lane because the gutter has all the bumps and lumps and cracks that knock a cyclist about and cause us to dodge all around in ways drivers don't see coming.

To me, it's just another step to defensive driving. The best advice I got when I got my license was from my dad—drive like everyone else is an idiot. I bike like I expect every motorist to do something illegal and stupid that will kill me, and I ride predictably to make that harder for them to do. I follow basic traffic laws. When I arrive at a red light, I pull in behind the last car, just like another vehicle. I signal obsessively—and not always the legal signals, sometimes I just fuckin point so there is no way they can misinterpret what I'm about to do.

But this doesn't just apply to bikes. This applies to everyone moving about in our crowded world. Granted, this is Texas. If you want to ride unpredictably, there are tons of fields and farm roads where it is perfectly safe to do so. But if you're going to be on the roads and paths where there are other moving people about, you need to be predictable.

So you there, guy, running on the left side of the Katy Trail? You are not being predictable. You are in the wrong space and when I spot you I worry that at any moment you are going to dash across my path to get to the correct side of the trail. And you, dumbshit punk kids who jumped out at me from behind a fence, you were not being predictable. That's why I nailed you square in the shoulder and knocked you to the ground.

You were, however, predictable enough to scamper down the side of the trail where I couldn't chase you and fully chew you out, so, kudos.

It's spring

Just yesterday I bemoaned the cold weather, but the truth is that winter seems to have passed us by this year. I guess it snowed out its quota in 2011. The coldest it's been has been in the early mornings, before the sun has come up.

But now it's in the high 70s. In college, this was the day that The Cut was covered in previously unseen CMUers as we all remembered a world of sunlight and warmth. Now it means that I've spotted 3 other road cyclists on my ride home where in all my months of doing this, it's been only me.

Happy Spring, Dallas.

Plus/Minus

PRO
If I pedal fast, my legs get warm

CON
If I pedal fast, the wind bites into the rest of me

PRO
I don't need to wear a band to wipe away sweat anymore.

CON
Said band would be good to wipe away everything leaking from my eyes and nose, but it'd be buried under three layers of sleeves

PRO
I see some really pretty sunrises and sunsets

CON
That's because the day is so much shorter and it's dark when I leave and get home.

PRO
No one wonders if I show up at work sweaty and stinky

CON
Everyone wonders if I'll end up an icicle on the side of the road

PRO
Not worried my tires are going to melt into the pavement

CON
Worried they'll shatter instead

CON
My ears get really really cold

PRO
My ear-warmer keeps my headphones snug

PRO
This year isn't

Yeah, fine, that isn't Dallas. But that's what it felt like.

I just keep flinching

This is still funny

You don't have to race or drop thousands on a wheel to get a giggle out of this one.

Link Roundup

If these links are TOO AWESOME, you can catch them as I find them by following me on Twitter or G+

Biking
Bicycle School Bus
#CycleSafe – Eight Achievable Steps for Creating Cities fit for Cycling

Running
Running Does NOT Ruin Your Knees

Rick Santorum is a Douchemonkey (Formerly 'Politics')
Rick Santorum Invents New Front In Fake War On Religion: Obama Wants Female Catholic Priests
Rick Santorum Conducting War On Any Religion That Isn't His (Jesus Quotes on Hanukkah Cards)
Santorum: 'I'll Die' To Stop Same Sex Marriage
Rick Santorum Is Coming For Your Birth Control
For Santorum: 5 Myths About Women in Combat

Women
600 Doctors (70 Catholic) Write In Support Of Contraception Rule
Republicans Retreat on Domestic Violence, Won't Renew Violence Against Women Act
Why 'Yes But' Is The Wrong Response to Mysogyny
Geek Culture, Gaming and Sexism Bingo!
By Nearly 2 to 1, Cable Networks Call on Men Over Women to Comment on Birth Control
I'm Not Okay With Chris Brown Performing At The Grammys And I'm Not Sure Why You Are
FOX Pundit Says Women In The Military Should Expect To Be Raped
2/13 Daily Show. Just Watch It.
Abortion Shmashmortion: Defending Planned Parenthood
Nerds and Male Privilege
It's Not About Birth Control or Abortion. It's About Sex and Power

LGBT
JC Penny CEO: 'Ellen Represents the Values of Our Company'
Poll Finds Support for Contraceptive Policy and Gay Couples

Science and the Environment
Why People Believe Misinformation, Even After It's Corrected
Koch Brothers Funding Climate Denial Education
Paranoia strikes deep: GOP exposes ‘dangerous’ U.N. sustainability plot
Big Oil’s banner year: Higher prices, record profits, less oil
Why climate hawks should care about birth-control access
Grand Canyon gives Coke the finger, bans bottled water
Five ways to argue with a Keystone XL pipeline supporter
Heartland Institute takes money from Kochs, gives it to deniers

Architecture and Design
America has 40 million McMansions that no one wants

Movies and TV
The Question Isn't 'Why Is There A Zombie Osama Bin Laden Movie?' The Question Is 'What Took You So Long?'
The Princess Bride 'Bottle of Wits' 
25 Television Facts that NO ONE DENIES

Awesome
Newt or Schrute? The Quiz
This Guy Rocks: Texas Federal Judge Demagogued By Gingrich Fights Back—'You Should Be Ashamed'
Luis Gutierrez Rebuffs Newt Gingrich's 'Food Stamp President' Claim About Obama

WTF
Do We "Need" Voter ID Laws? ACLU Offers $1k For Example Of Voter Impersonation
State-Level Education: Arizona Bill Would Prohibit Teachers And Professors From Teaching Any Book With 'Profanity'
5 Big Lies About The Phony 'War On Religion'
When (Right Wing) Bullies Can't Take a Punch

I guess for Republicans, liberty means liberty for employers

After a week off, Jon Stewart does what he does so well, and it is this.

And that.

I'm a fan of #3

System Comics

Link Roundup

Bikes
Velo Couture? Cycle Chic? Bikeyface Wears What She Wants
Boehner’s last stand: House leader wants to kill transit funding

Running
If You Went 26.2 in 2011 (And Went Fast), See How You Rank 

Women
Komen Backs Down, Apologizes, Pledges to Fund Planned Parenthood
Find Out How Contraception Guidelines Under the Affordable Care Act Affect Women's Health and Religious Organizations
Damage Control: Why the Backlash Against the Komen Foundation Succeeded
If It Looks Like a Compliment and Sounds Like a Compliment ... Is It?
Komen Halted Funding for $12 Million in Stem Cell Research Like We Wouldn't Notice
Look, Kitten, I Am Too A Feminist! Fauxminism and Men
An Accounting of Komen's Impressive Financial Hypocrisy

Politics
Bloomberg: 'You'd Think That If A Congresswoman Got Shot In The Head,' That Would Change Congress' Views On Guns
Arizona GOP Lawmaker Wants A State Holiday To Celebrate White People
By Better Than 2 to 1, Americans Say the More They Learn About Romney, the Less They Like Him
Proposition 8 Ruled Unconstitutional | Civil Rights Are NOT Up For A Vote
Majority of Catholics Think Employers Should Be Required to Provide Health Care Plans that Cover Birth Control
The Birthers Are Back | YouGov US Opinion Center
When (Right Wing) Bullies Can't Take a Punch

Science and the Environment
Paranoia strikes deep: GOP exposes ‘dangerous’ U.N. sustainability plot
Big Oil’s banner year: Higher prices, record profits, less oil


Architecture and Design
The Economics of Traffic
Most Americans Want a Walkable Neighborhood, Not a Big House

Movies
Top 50 Modern-Day Low Budget Movies
20 Facts You Might Not Know About 'Drive'
What Charlize Theron Doesn’t Get About Black Hollywood

YES
Obama to Increase Alzheimer's Research Funding

Brad Pitt thinks cars are dumb

Watch segment here

I'm a Pitt fan. I put him and Clooney in the same boat—guys with real acting chops stuck in the body of a more traditional leading man. I really am a fan of most of his body of work: 12 Monkeys, Thelma and Louise, Se7en, Fight Club ... and now this.

Who Needs Facts When You Have FOX?

Link roundup

A lil late! This one is a little 'Women'-heavy, on account of Komen deciding that only wealthy women deserve a fighting chance against breast cancer.

Bikes
Where Do People Walk and Bike the Most?
Why is America's Transportation System Stuck in the 1950s?
Cars Kill Cities

Running
Runners Who Wear Heels, Read This 
Learn to Run Like You're Barefoot And You Can Go Way Further Without Injury

Politics
Rick Santorum: The Left Uses College for 'Indoctrination'
Romney Steps Up Culture War, Claims Obama is Waging an 'Assault on Religion'
Security for Perry's Presidential Run Cost Texas Over $800,000
Video: The GOP's Racial Politics
Gingrich Wants Kids to Work as Janitors, But Refused to Work Himself While He Was in School
Republicans Want to Throw Kids Under the Bus. Literally.

Women
The War on Women's Right to Choose: 2012 Edition 
What Planned Parenthood Actually Does
New Hampshire Republicans Propose Bills That Prevent Police from Protecting Domestic Violence Victims
Give Komen the Pink Slip: 5 Ways to Support Women's Health for All
Planned Parenthood Will Recoup, But Will Komen?
How Is Standing In A Driveway Not Impeding Access?
Conservatives Defend Rights of Teenagers to Drop Out of School, Stay Pregnant
Susie Essman Wisely Suggests We Turn Our Uteruses Into Corporations
In Bad Faith: New Study Further Underscores Lack of Truth in Anti-Choice Claims
Janet Howell, Virginia State Senator, Attaches Rectal Exam Amendment To Anti-Abortion Ultrasound Bill
Lad Mag Suggests Guys Get Rapey, Because Odds Are in Their Favor 

Science and the Environment
Obama's Mercury Ruling Saves 300,000 Babies a Year From Learning Disabilities
Low IQ & Conservative Beliefs Linked to Prejudice
The Wall Street Journal Will Publish Literally Anything So Long As It Disputes Global Warming
WJS Climate Denier Op-Ed Like 'Dentists Practicing Cardiology'
TransCanada Spent $410,000 Lobbying for Keystone XL During Last Quarter
Six Questions About Fracking Only An 'Ecofascist Industry Tool' Would Ask
The Wall Street Journal’s willful climate lies

Architecture and Design
This old house: Why fixing up old homes is greener than building new ones 
Saving Food From The Fridge: It Will Taste Better, May Even last Longer 

Just Awesome
The 10 Best Clips from Community on Hulu
Shaun White lands X Games’ first ever perfect score [VID]
The Muppets Attack Fox News
‘God Bless America’ Red Band Trailer Sticks Its Middle Finger Up at Pop Culture
See a Venn Diagram Connecting Current Reality-TV Shows