Are you "Angry Bike Guy"?

mimi smartypants:

...

PROBABLY ALSO NOT A TOUGH GUY

I have commented before on how my new walk/El commute is not quite as colorful or as urine-rich as my old bus/El commute, but I do often ride the train with one very weird dude. He is somewhat elderly, and shows up in full bike gear (helmet, rain pants, etc), presumably after riding his bike to the train and locking it at the station. Unless he’s even weirder than he seems and just likes bike gear. He has a routine, and one strange part of it happens when he gets on the train at the station. Lots of people get on the train at the last car, and then walk through the cars to get to other cars, which reduces your chances of missing the train while also maximizing your seating options, I guess. This practice makes this guy very, very angry. He usually stands and glares at the between-train-car door, giving it murderous smoldering looks while it slowly closes. Then he shakes his head, makes explosive sighing sounds, and not-quietly mutters something like “fucking ASSHOLES!” One time the between-car-door did not close all the way, and he went over and gave it an amazingly violent kick/shove with the sole of his foot.

Traveling between moving train cars is against CTA rules and not a great idea safety-wise, but this all happens before we even get moving. Nearly every day! Then the Angry Bike Guy sits down, takes off his bike helmet and ski hat, pulls out a large hairbrush, and sets about tidying his bald-on-top-but-long-in-the-back gray hair. Maybe admitting that he’s bald and getting a haircut would help the train anger? I do not know.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Zoetrope on January 15, 2013 at 6:38pm

Slow blog day for mimi whiney pants? Get a life and leave angry bike guy alone, because there's some angry bike guy in all of us.       

Permalink Reply by A.K.A Paul on January 15, 2013 at 6:55pm
Its not me, but it is a sobering reminder of how we all live in a fish bowl and we're just one click away from being the subject of someone's blog post. I didnt read any other of her writings but she painted an overly negative picture of this guy so I'm willing to bet she's over exaggerating her discription of his behavoir.
Permalink Reply by Tricolor on January 16, 2013 at 9:34am

On the red line north of town you don't see many but beggars and some of the despondent transients going between train cars.  Unless there's a stinker and someone gets in their car by accident and can't wait for the next station.  It must be different on other lines.

Permalink Reply by Duppie on January 16, 2013 at 10:12am

Good point. No matter how normal you think your behavior is, someone will think you're a freak (and write about it). Keep that in mind the next you call somebody a freak.

A.K.A Paul said:

Its not me, but it is a sobering reminder of how we all live in a fish bowl and we're just one click away from being the subject of someone's blog post. I didnt read any other of her writings but she painted an overly negative picture of this guy so I'm willing to bet she's over exaggerating her discription of his behavoir.
Permalink Reply by Beans on January 16, 2013 at 12:57pm

Beans = Happy Bike Guy

Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on January 16, 2013 at 3:05pm

People walking between cars don't set off my Angry Bike Guy: it's people who stand in the doorway.  They think that when they get to their stop, they'll get off faster!  Meanwhile, they make every stop the train makes take longer, as people have to negotiate whatever narrow space they leave between them.  Today, northbound on the Red Line, two Loyola students blocked the door and after Fullerton complained about how people were bumping into them trying to exit.  I piped up, pointed at all of the room in the middle of the car, and said that if they didn't stand in the freaking doorway, blocking the exit route, no one would need to bump into them.  They were shocked, shocked, that anyone would dare to comment on their rude and inconsiderate and clueless behavior.

That said, I didn't have my bike helmet on, and have a full head of hair.

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