The Elusive May is Bike Month T-Shirt: or How I Got Hosed for Choosing the Bike over the Car

May is Bike Month. I'm not sure if you're aware of that or not, but it is. You can click here and get all the info, but suffice it to say as a bicycle commuter, I am participating. In fact, yesterday I got an email informing me that today from 11 - 1 at the West Steps of the State Capitol was going to be an event called the "Capitol Bikefest." It sounded exciting, but I work. Then I read further and saw that if you bring in a printout showing you are logging your cycling miles on the official website you get a free t-shirt. As you faithful followers know by now, I'll do a lot of things for a free t-shirt, so I was in. I did the planning: Lunch starts at 12:15; my prep (the period I don't teach) is immediately following lunch, so that gives me about an hour and a half to get to the capitol, get my free t-shirt, and get back to school. I asked Rachel if she could pick me up at school and pilot me on my mission and she replied in the affirmative. It was on.

Let me pause here and mention that I had already made one attempt to pick up a free May is Bike Month t-shirt. At the beginning of the month I looked on the official website at the frequently asked questions and was informed that the free shirts would be given out at special events and I should check the events calendar, which, of course, I quickly did. I saw many events scheduled for the month, but did not see any specific mention of the shirts, so I made the assumption that all of the events must have them. I saw that on Thursday afternoons at the Guy West Bridge (behind Sac State) is something called an "Energizer Station" which, according to the website provides refreshments for cyclists. After school I got on the bike and followed my google directions for bikes through some some South Sac neighborhoods and across a few shady walkways across drainage canals (and when I say shady, I'm not talking about the cool respite from the sun provided by trees and other things, I'm talking about the kind with trash, graffiti, and low visibility). Anyway, I eventually made it to the Energizer station only to find that the refreshments consisted of a pack of gummy snacks and a Dixie cup of fruit punch--which I'm not complaining about. It was very kind of the folks who put it together to provide anything at all. The real disappointment was the complete absence of Bike Month t-shirts. The trip wasn't a complete waste. I did get an official May is Bike Month sticker. I also saw two dudes jump off the bridge into the river below while their friend video taped them from the bank. (I just searched for it and found it. Here's the link).

Anyway, this morning I was thinking about my pending trip to the Capitol and I decided that having Rachel pick me up in the van and drive me to get my Bike Month t-shirt was kind of going against the whole spirit of May is Bike Month. I mean the reason it was created in the first place was to get people to use their cars less. I checked google directions and saw that the from the school to the west steps of the Capitol was a little over 7 miles. I did some mental calculations and decided that although it would be close, I could get make it on my bike. I would get there right around 1, when they were ending. I could probably even get there a little earlier. That was the way to do it!

At 12:15 I told my students I rushed my students out the door, I grabbed my bike, and I walked it through the throng of bustling teenagers scurrying to the cafeteria like hyenas to a kill.

I made it to the west steps with 10 minutes to spare.

I stopped to take it all in. There were all kinds of booths and all kinds of people. It was cool. I decided I had plenty of time to spare, so I stopped and took a few pictures with my cellphone.

My bike wanted its picture taken (I could tell)

To the left of this picture (stage right) was what I was looking for: the booth with the free shirts. Unfortunately, they were packing it up and carting it off. All that remained were a bunch of empty boxes.

On the ride back to school, I had plenty of time to reflect on the irony of my situation: If I had just had Rachel pick me up and drive me to the Capitol, I would be wearing my new May is Bike Month shirt right now. Instead, I chose to actually ride my bike to the bikefest, and I remain shirtless.