CyclingShorts

Yesterday as I was cycling to work east down 102 Ave. a motorist in the lane to my left slowed down, rolled down his passenger-side window and yelled out:

"Hey, is that a video camera on your bike?"
"Yeah," I said. "It's my Go Pro."
"Wow, that's pretty cool. So, like, you're getting video when you ride?
"I am," I said. "Not all the time, but it kinda keeps me safer."
"Right on. Ride safe, man."
"See ya!"

The rolling encounter reinforced my feeling that, yes, inside that engineering marvel is a cyborg and inside that cyborg is just another guy, in this case a guy who cares either about cyclists or video, or both. But it also made me realize again that that route to safety via video is a convoluted path. Does it really make me safer?

Not in that moment, I admit.

But studying the video afterwards does help prepare me to notice patterns and anticipate dangers. And being able to share what I find does get that word (that picture) out to others in my riding circles.

I have nothing against individual drivers of the automobile. I just think some of what they can do with all that power can corrupt their better judgment.

All of this as a preamble to the first edition of my CyclingShorts:

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