Commuting by bike...

Even though it has been chilly in the last few weeks, conditions have been favorable for commuters. The streets have been relatively dry and after the rains we got a while back, the roads are not as gritty, glassy and full of oddities such as nails and washers etc. as they were last month. Therefore it was with a smile, that I got on my Bianchi this morning and I rolled silently out of my building and onto the street (I love the silence of fixed gear bikes, you feel like a ninja riding those things). I rolled up the road towards the store in at my usual lazy pace, practicing trackstands and skids at lights and enjoying the ride. Then something interesting happened: As I pulled off on a set of lights on Vancouver, a Toyota Echo pulls out beside me and quickly overtakes me. But as the coke can of a car passes by me I see something dropping off it from the engine compartment. Being a (sort of but not entirely) reformed car nut I immediately recognized the item as an oil filter, a Pennzoil one to be exact. It bounced off the asphalt spilling it's oil in a jovial way, seemingly glad to escape the hellish labour camp underneath the hood. The rest of the engine stayed in the car as it put-putted down the road spilling its oil in a steady stream onto the road. I felt bad for the driver as I knew that if he kept driving like this his engine would die a horrible smoke infested dry death somewhere in the downtown traffic. Therefore, I tried to get the drivers attention by whistling and waiving my arms like crazy...He didn't notice, but a Gentleman on a Honda Ruckus scooter decorated with about 50 yellow rubber ducks did, rode up next to me and I pointed out the car to him. Then he took off after the Echo, and a couple of lights later I saw the car and the scooter parked on the side of the road and the two drivers looking underneath the hood and scratching their heads. "Good good, they've got it under control" I thought and kept riding. Thinking that I've done my good deed of the day and so for the rest of it, I can be a total unrepentant jackass.
Ahh... the joys of commuting.