My previous theory does not seem to be holding. Since riding the train, I haven't encountered the bizarre and unusual as I have in the past. Not even a racial slur. Just a lot of bums chasing me for my change.
But I did have an adventure recently nonetheless. This involved me, my Trek 1000 racing bike, morning traffic, riding parallel to trolley tracks on McKinney, an attempted 30-degree left turn onto Harwood, my thin wheels alternating from falling into the rut between the rail and the asphalt and losing traction on the smooth surface of the rail, both wheels slipping out from underneath me, and the left side of my body slamming onto the asphalt in the middle of McKinney Avenue.
The result is a bloody elbow that's still oozing puss, a strained ab, bruised hip, and a minor cut at my ankle. Well, my bike's important too, so it's going to need its alignment done, and the shifting mechanism got twisted around the handlebar.
Lessons:
1) Cycling in rush hour is stupid, even when it's just a couple miles from the Katy Trail back to your apartment in Downtown Dallas. Uptown is particularly bad since the streets that get you back to Downtown are limited.
2) Crossing streetcar lines with racing tires works best at 90-degree angles. In fact, that may be the only way I care to do that ever again. I would have still taken Harwood, but I would have crossed one street at a time like a pedestrian.
3) I feel stupid, irresponsible, and lucky to be alive.
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