Okay, I Get It. Be More Interesting.

I'll round out my week of "wait-- what did I use to talk about before the A to Z challenge?" with another cycling story for you. Take it or leave it, and with a bit of luck, I'll be back to normal tomorrow. Or possibly the next day. Actually, I'll probably make some changes to my blogging schedule (yes, again) for the summer. Upon further reflection, I'm not sure why I think the universe needs to know ahead of time about my blogging schedule changes. Never mind.

So, I rode the train from Bike Texas again (I think I mentioned it once before, but taking the train one stop cuts out 50% of the uphills for my ride home) to my usual stop. Two other cyclists also got off at this stop, which has nothing to do with anything except that seeing other cyclists makes me happy. Anyway, we all sped out of the station toward the street, where traffic was massively backed up because the signal gates for the train were down (there's something wrong with the timing of the train signals in Austin). The train was just pulling out of the station, and so I had another of those moments that I always hope for: I weaved a bit in between the traffic that wasn't going anywhere and got across the street. Seriously, every time I come that way I hope that I can beat the train to the street, and today I finally did. Because once the signal gates are up, there is no way to stop traffic at this intersection, so it can be a long, long wait before there is a break in traffic again.

By way of aside, a pedestrian asked me for directions to a convenience store yesterday. And sometimes a driver will roll down the window and chat. It's really remarkable how being on a bike makes me more--how should I describe it?-- available for conversation, perhaps? Remember those "Life Takes... Visa" ads from a few years ago? There are times when I feel like I'm participating in life more than other times, and being available to chat with everyone who goes by is one of those things that makes me feel that way. Like I'm more in tune with the pulse of the city, kinda. I don't know-- it's just a weird feeling I get. I like it.

When do you feel the most like you are participating in life? (Nothing is too dull, I promise-- let's hear it!)