I try to write posts for this blog once a day to keep up the post count. Lately I have been in a slump with not a whole lot of original ideas for articles. Something happened to me today though that I thought I’d share.
After my brief appearance in the critical mass ride I left to catch the MegaBus with my folding bike. Something I have done in the past. On arriving all I can think is that I should have gotten here sooner because there was a long line waiting to get on the bus. All I could think was I hope they did not oversell this bus like they do the china town bus. When I get up to the driver to give him my ticket he looks at me, looks at my bike, and then looks back up at me. I knew there was going to be trouble.
He says to me, “We don’t allow bikes on the bus.” Now, admittedly, I knew this. Heck, I wrote that whole article on it. I could not however leave my bike there all weekend, and not catching this bus was not an option. I had to bring on the tears.
I understand his position, “The policy is that bike are not allowed on the bus, folding or otherwise,” but every time I took my bike on the MegaBus no driver has ever had a problem, but this guy, for some reason, was different then all the rest.
Eventually he let me on the bus to stay warm and I left my bike outside, so he’s a nice guy. He came up to look for me and called his supervisor to check if a folding bike was alright, no go. So he brings me outside and I ponder my fate as I mutter something like, “This is just more bike discrimination.” When I get out there he explains his position to me again and I apologize profusely. At the time of writing this I am sitting on the bus heading down to NYC so you can guess what happened next.
Wish me luck on the ride back.
Albany Bicycle Coalition 