Of riding bicycles

Skills of parking and driving through frenetic, tight passages, all the while maintaining clean and undamaged cars and scooters, can without much reservation be ascribed to the Taiwanese.

Thus, I am often curious why people so adept at driving motorized vehicles portray such awkwardness when operating bicycles. Almost as certain as I am to witness a bike being ridden in a swerving, drunken fashion as I am to be pushed and cut in front of by an old, short Taiwanese woman on her “I deserve a seat” dash into a bus. (That’s pretty certain, by the way.)

I used to suspect that a heavy-laden basket and seats set too low on the frame were the causes of ‘drunk fu’ bike-riding, but now, after being nearly plowed down by a basket-less bike, I point the blame at the riders themselves.

In the West, our saying, “It’s like riding a bike”, is encouraging; a way to assure someone that if he ever knew how to do something, he will always be able to do it. In Taiwan, I likely would wince at this saying. At best, whatever action it adorned would be unstable and unpredictable; at worst, erratically bobbing to either side of a spectrum and likely to crash.

[quote=“cyberN8”]Almost as certain as I am to witness a bike being ridden in a swerving, drunken fashion as I am to be pushed and cut in front of by an old, short Taiwanese woman on her “I deserve a seat” dash into a bus. (That’s pretty certain, by the way.)[/quote] :frowning:

Young, old, tall, and short Taiwanese men or women never cut me off on their “I deserve a seat” dash into a bus" because gentleman that I am, I let almost everyone get on before me.