Sidewalk Sacrifice

Riding of my longboard these past few days, I’ve had more close calls than I care to admit. And not just coming from the *forbidden angle* either.

Yesterday, riding down the street in the bike lane, I was going about the same speed as the van next to me. I was actually looking into the side view mirror of this van, keeping constant watch on his lights for signs that he might turn.

But he gave neither a turn signal, or even a slow brake warning, and turned right, in front of me. I’m not sure if he saw me or was even aware of my presence. But he turned right just far enough in front of me to avoid any kind of accident, or even my having to slow down. Still, that turn left me with a funny feeling that I’d been lucky. Again.

Then, just a few blocks down the same road, a car coming the other way wanted to turn left. He had been waiting to turn across the oncoming traffic of this two lane road for a while, and apparently decided to just go for it. But a car next to me honked, I believe on my behalf, to get him to stop turning. Sure, he blocked traffic both ways, but at least he didn’t turn into me.

To tell the truth, so much of skating on the road is unclear. Who saw who? Why did they honk? I’ll never have the answers.

Then, just this morning, a car in front of me stopped for a bicycle that was already stopped for him. As a result, I ran into the back of his car. I hopped off my board, and had to grab his spoiler to stop and steady myself. But this guy probably didn’t even notice. As evidenced by the way he let his car roll back a fraction of a meter, after he let the bicycle pass.

It’s one of the problems I’m having with commuting by skateboard. If I ride on my snubnose, then using the sidewalk really is tough. At least in my neighborhood, the concrete is so uneven that you really can’t get a good ride on it. In places, you *have* to pick up your board, the cracks are so bad. Hence taking the bicycle lane, which is smooth and easy. Except there you have to deal with cars that never see you.

Which is why I wish I had my carbon series back. With its big, inflatable tires, it’s the only board I know that can handle the sidewalks as smoothly as I might take my snubnose on the bike lane. I hate having to choose between the two, but really, how much better will conditions ever get in this imperfect world?

Still no word on my Carbon series, although Evolve probably has the board by now. I’m scared that the repair could take as long as if I ordered a new one. Months. But I suppose only time will tell. In the meantime, I am now very tempted to spend money on the car horn kickstarter. But I have a sinking feeling that it would be simply throwing my money away.