Accelerate Out of Danger

I pump the pedals from my hips and the streetlights double their tempo overhead. I fly down dark Brooklyn side streets on my bike, and I remember, once again, why I love riding so much.

A rumble and rush of stinking air buffets me from behind, and an instant later a garbage truck roars by, inches from my handlebars.

I don't even pause, I don't flinch, and I don't get angry, because any of those would only slow me down.