bicycle filters...

Cabs in San Francisco have always made me nervous.
The drivers go too fast and are impatient.
But I was so happy to see this sticker on the window
as soon as I was whisked away from the airport.
Right on.

I have mentioned before that when I travel
I tend to see the world through bicycle colored eyes.
Remember NY?

poor girls got something stuck in their rental bike chain/bike share business style

Every time I return to San Francisco I note how much things have changed in regard to bicycles and The City since I lived there.  Bicycle share bikes are in the offices of the places I am visiting for meetings, and more and more bicyclists are out on the more and more bicycle lanes.  But one thing that has not changed is feeling the excitement of tourists from all around the world as they hop on a Blazing Saddles bicycle and head towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Or men on a Saturday morning walking around with bicycle bibs hanging out of their pants as they pack their car for a race outside of The City that morning.

My eyes have bicycle filters.  As a friend whisks me through the city I take mental note of all things bicycle.  As I ride BART I take mental note of how the people are maneuvering with their bicycles in a crowded car.  As I walk down the street I note the dapper gentleman in a suit quietly headed to work on his bicycle.  When I am in San Francisco, my filters also flood me with memories - of me riding on these streets (with no bicycle lanes) and all the emotions I was filled with during my time in San Francisco, of H wearing those bibs hanging out of his pants on a crisp NorCal morning and all those races he went to with friends, of tourists passing by me as I commute home from work towards the Golden Gate Bridge and never get over my awe of how beautiful it all is.

My bicycle filters help me to experience my surroundings, whether it is enhancing my travel, or my everyday.  Taking time to observe, to absorb, to reflect, this is what makes the everyday a special day...