a beautiful thing

I live in southwest Houston. It is by and large an industrial and bedroom suburb for the great Houston metro, most noteable for it's lack of bike paths and sidewalks. I bike, I bike a lot and because of the aforementioned lack of bikes paths, I bike on the local roads. I could bike on the sidewalk, but too many years of riding my bike in the Netherlands, where bikes are just considered one more common form of wheeled transportation, and as such must follow the rules of the road, has me trained not to ride on sidewalks. In reality, it is easier just to ride on the road than to have to leap back and forth between sidewalk and road.

Be that as it may, I always wear a bright colored shirt with a neon yellow and orange safety triangle on my back. Far from being a warning to give me room, most drivers seem to consider this the aiming point of the target. I have never been run off the road or hit, so maybe they just need to pull up and see what it is before they pull out and go around, but I often consider taking it off anyway but haven't yet.

Today as I was biking down a fairly major thoroughfare, head down, forearms on the handle bars to cut wind resistance,a red sporty something or other beeped at me as it passed. Since I was at that point near the end of my ride and too exhausted to do more than lift my head and glance at the driver, I figured it was just some Texas hot stud trying to get a rise by startling the old lady into the ditch. I peddled on and suddenly became aware that the same car had hung a U turn and was now approaching me in the next lane, pacing itself to me. I started slowing down and looking for a bail out spot, figuring he was going to swerve or honk or throw something. Much to my surprise, the young man in the car rolled down his window and shouted " I love to see you riding a bike, it's a beautiful thing." I straightened up and shouted out my thanks while giving hima thumbs up. The surprise alone was almost enough to drive me into the ditch, but I recovered and rode home, buoyed up by both the positive comment and the fact that the wind was for once, finally behind me and pushing me along. It was indeed a beautiful thing.