slightly unusual morning ride. i had a fixed be-there time for once due to meeting, so it's the first time i've ridden in rush hour for a long time. enviro can was threatening wind but i didn't notice too much of it until i got to the other side. then it was a few k of the most serious headwind i've seen in a while, and little fluffy balls of hail started to come down part of the way into it. just as i re-locked the bike cage behind me, the wind suddenly doubled itself and the hail came in sheets; by the time i got to the main floor from the parking lot and looked out the window again it had stopped. i had the fastest shower in history and was in all kinds of time for my meeting.

went home at rush hour too. boy, am i out of practice at that. recommend it to myself as a re-motivator if i ever need one again. blocks of backed-up traffic .. . . i was all slightly awed, and then i remembered that oh yeah, this is just what the local radios call 'traffic moving steadily' during rush hour. YUCK.

i can't figure out 'filtering up'. if i'm a vehicle, i should act like a vehicle and just keep to my place in the line - but in that case, what's the point of going by bike? and i increase the congestion too since i have to put a foot down and then it takes me a bit longer than a car to re-start every time. on the other hand, i feel ignorant if i slide along the right edge of the road because now it's me not giving the cars 3 feet of space. i end up getting stopped anyway soon as i meet a car that's too far to the right to get past. then i'm pushing back in in front of a driver again, and i don't feel right about it. take the leftmost edge of the lane where there's the space between two rows of cars to play with, and i'm in an unkosher position as soon as traffic's moving again, unless i deke suddenly in front of some car on the left to get back to the edge . . . dilemmas.