So, I had class last night. PC Hardware/Software repair. My computer was giving me fits and I was there until the bitter end. While I was in school, the rain had turned to a slushpile. No big deal. My bike has those cruiser tires so the ride from the station to home wouldn't be that big of a deal.
So, I leave the station, turn right towards Martin Luther King, Jr. park and take a side street that runs behind Park Street Market.
That was when the cop car headed right towards me and blocked my path. Now, it is my personal opinion that most cops are crazy. Who else would take a job where being shot at is in the job description? Anyway, this little guy gets out to inform me that riding at night without a light is against city ordinance. So is not shoveling your sidewalks yet we stood near at least three businesses that were flaunting that particular ordinance and he wasn't hassling them.
So, here we are, standing in the slush while he decided to run my ID to see if I'm a wanted felon or some such nonsense. I know he thought he was looking out for my welfare. He even told me that people had been hit by cars recently on their bikes. I assumed those would be the bike riders I see on a daily basis that are oblivious to their surroundings. I am so paranoid by cars that I have developed a spidey-sense about them.
So, in the end, I got to be half an hour late to getting home in the dark and the slush and have learned a valuable lesson;
Always bring a flashlight on my bike rides.
Oh, and a final note, this is downtown Kalamazoo where the streetlights are bright enough to simulate daylight and the only people on the roads were me and cops.
He stopped you on a bike??? Weird. I could halfway understand if he stopped you just to let you know about the law and then let you be on your merry way. The whole running of your ID is so unnecessary. Sorry you had to go through that, Doug. Though kudos to you for being all healthy and eco-friendly. :)
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