A musing after  the "Start Seeing Bicycles" ride in Kingston September 25, 2009:

I was sitting in Dominick's having coffee and waiting for 6 pm to join the bike ride - having just moved (shhhh...) to Rosendale, my bike was in the back of my Prius.  I watched, working on the computer, then at about 6:01 realized the group was gathering up the street outside my view. I scrambled, ditched the computer, got the bike, didn't bother changing my cumbersome clogs for good biking shoes,  joined the group of a couple dozen nice people, professional types,  including 7 or 8 confident, happy kids.  All serious cyclists who could drive their cars all the time but don't - active advocates - smart and fun and hip. 

I am a bike advocate but a really lame cyclist, having messed up my knees years ago on an exercise bicycle. 

Oooops, I immediately realized,  this is the bike with the squishy tires.  Thank God Michelle Garesche is prepared for most anything - she got them pumped in a heartbeat. 

The group assembled, a camera was found and photo shot, and the ride commenced...

I took a "quick" detour to my car realizing the need to change shoes and ditch a few possessions...  I have owned this great Prius for just over 2 months, and continuously discover new complexities in it (usually due to my failure to read the manual)... 

I pointed the key fob at the lock to open the car as I'd always done.... didn't work.. didn't work didn't work...seemed important to solve this problem before dark. 
ten minutes of pathetic fiddling later, one of the cyclists swung by and asked "Isn't there a backup key?" and of course there was, subtly embedded in the electronic device.  So I got into the car, but by then the ride was long gone. 

I took a solo spin on the bike around Kingston...  returned to the car and could only open the side doors, not the back....  wrenched the bike in sideways.... headed out Washington Avenue to go home.

In the dusk, as I turned the corner, I noticed a young man on a bike, with a little girl between 1 and 2.  He was holding her hand and lifting her up onto his bike  - no helmets, no reflective gear, no extra kiddie bike or cart. They were cycling because it was the only available means of transport, and my heart was in my throat as I realized the risk to kid and dad in our darkening streets.

I am a lame cyclist but an increasingly motivated bike advocate.