Leaf Paste and Bike Crashes

Now that we are well into autumn, I have to say that the daily bike rides to school are not quite as appealing as they first were back in September. For one thing, because of the shorter days (plus daylight savings), the ride home from St Faiths at 4:35 or is almost entirely in the dark. If you add in cold weather and rain, some of the trips home have been pretty yucky. I have loaded the kids up with reflective vests and bike lights (both clear lights in the front and bright red "blinker" lights in the back), but it's still not easy for them. Meanwhile, the bike path through Llamas Land that was so appealing ealier this year has now become rather treacherous. Here in Cambridge (as in New England) there are leaves falling off the trees, but because of all the rainfall, they begin to decompose almost as soon as they hit the ground, and after a few days they have turned into a sort of "leaf paste"-- even if you went at it with a rake or a leaf blower, I'm not sure you'd be able to do much. It's quite slippery and unpredictable. Both Ethan and Lydia are being very good sports about it, though-- no grumbling to speak of.

The other unpleasant thing that happened recently is that Lydia managed to get into a bike crash with another cyclist while riding to school in the morning (November 12th). There is one section of the ride on Trumpington St just before we get to the school where you actually have cyclists going both directions on the same strip of sidewalk. Not a pleasant thing (there is very little room for error), but the alternative is even worse-- it means crossing the street and using the combined bus/cycle lane. The bus drivers around here are a completely ruthless lot when it comes to cyclists (they don't really have any choice, since there is almost never enough room for them to swing out into traffic to avoid a bike). No way, no how would I ever let Lydia ride with the buses, and from what I have observed, virtually all of the kids who cycle on Trumpington do the same thing.

Anyhow, while riding along on the bike path, Lydia got a little too close to the oncoming cycle traffic and collided head-on with another lady coming in the opposite direction. I was worried at first that there might be a serious injury, but to my surprise, Lydia and the other lady picked themselves up, and there were no broken bones and no blood. At the time I said to myself "Whew", but at that point the other lady got her breath back and she really lit into me. She started with a long diatribe about how I needed to "control" my "incompetent" daughter, then enumerated all of the various body parts that were sore or bruised (rolled up her trousers to display her knee to me [nothing brusied or bloody that I could see]), then complained about her front basket (the top part had been dislodged -- easily fixed) and her fender, then grumbled that she had "just had her bike in for servicing", went back again to scold me some more about how I was "irresponsible" in relation to my daughter, etc etc etc. It was very unpleasant. Lydia of course was in tears the whole time; she said "I'm sorry" to the lady several times, but the lady was too busy complaining to respond. As a final measure, she insisted on getting my name and address (which I gave to her). I wasn't sure whether I would ever hear from her again, but sure enough, I got a letter in the mail repeating some of the nasty things she said on the 12th.

After the letter, which arrived in mid-November, I haven't heard anything more from the bike crash lady. We actually see her periodically during the morning bike rides now, on same section of the sidewalk as before. I am pretty sure she recognizes me as well (although she is careful not to make any sustained eye contact...). Our routine now for this stretch of the ride is that I ride in front of Lydia and she cycles close behind me-- hopefully if there are any more bike crashes to be had, it will be me doing the crashing and not her. Lydia doesn't really talk too much about the bike crash, but when she does, she has taken to referring to the other lady as the "woman who doesn't like children".