This one is a story on personal failure, but heck, maybe it’ll help me to improve.

A couple of days ago I was taking the subway and since there is a construction site on the line, parts of the trip are replaced by bus connections. So you get out of the subway, go to a bus, take the bus to where the subway resumes and continue.

It was a rainy day and I got out, along with the couple people travelling at night. Among these was a girl with a bike. She was taking the subway because it was actually raining pretty terribly and getting all wet kinda sucks and cycling in the dark while it is raining can be dangerous. She looked like an avid cyclist, with a “proper” bike, a cycling backpack, helmet and clipless shoes. Actually, it is mostly the latter at which you can judge how serious people are riding. In other words, she was definitely part of us, serious cyclists.

While getting on the bus, the driver started to complain that bringing bikes on the bus is not allowed and was trying to get her to leave the bus.

So of course I did the only possible thing… exactly nothing.

I could have told the driver that it is not a problem, that nobody has a problem with her and the bike, that there is definitely enough room, that it is a subway-replacement ride and this should include bikes, because what, should she leave the bike at the station and risk it being stolen? All valid points that I could have said, but I didn’t do anything.

Sorry, fellow cyclist.

(In the end, somebody else pointed out that there were people with bikes the day before and the girl was able to continue on the bus with her bike.)