Well, since last week Zhoukou’s finest have been cracking down on traffic scofflaws. Owning the road doesn’t mean you’re not responsible for what you do on it. There have been traffic police and/or crossing guards at every major intersection and some frontage road/bike paths. I’m still not sure if some know the rules at all. A cargo moto with a load of bricks will cut you off looking neither left nor right and a motorist will take the opposing traffic’s lane and head straight for you. Back in the day when there was little traffic it may have been understandable but that Zhoukou no longer exists, only the bad old habits. I don’t know what it will take to make most motorists and scooter operators view the law as more than a mere suggestion.
Having said that however, the old adage “when in Rome do as the Romans do” carries weight. After taking care to cross the street and go in the same lane direction for a few weeks back in the beginning and seeing no one else do it I started following suit. I had decided that here the bike path/frontage roads must be two-way. It seems like traffic enforcement is taking issue with that habit and making people go back to the corner and cross, at least when they’re watching. One stopped us last Saturday and since it was obvious I didn’t understand, he just waved us through.
It’s been raining, drizzling or misting pretty much non stop for the past week, probably due to Typhoon Hagupit making landfall and the rain coming inland. It was even a little breezy at times, rare for here. That plus my cold made for limited riding this past week. It still has only barely dipped into the 40’s a couple of nights so I can’t complain too much. I’ve been thinking of the Scandinavian saying “there is no bad weather, only bad clothes”, so I got a pair of wind pants and a windbreaker and that did the trick. I’ve also been very happy with my choice to always carry my bike up to our 4th floor apartment because it makes showering the crud off of it so much quicker and easier. To paraphrase, “she aint heavy, she’s my bike.”
