Bay to Breakers and BART
Or, how my day was ruined by a moronic bureaucrat.
Today I rode my bike to BART at my normal Sunday morning time, arriving just before 8:00 for the 7:54 am San Francisco train. At the fare gate the petty bureaucrat sitting there refused me access with my bike because she had been told that "No bikes are allowed on the trains until 8:00 due to Bay to Breakers."
Bay to Breakers is a race in San Francisco that is held every year and this year, for some reason, BART had extra trains running in the morning to allow runners to get there on time. The race actually
starts around 8:00 am and there were exactly ZERO runners on the train I rode on, without my bike that is sitting in the BART station in Dublin. Even worse, by the time the train arrived at its second stop in Castro Valley bikes were then allowed on that very same train I was refused access to. All because a petty bureaucrat had her head shoved so far up where the sun don't shine she couldn't see where she was going. There were NO NOTICES on the BART web site, or posted at the station. In fact when I checked the schedule it shows
BIKES ALLOWED! I suspect it was a snap decision by some low level moronic weekend manager actually. I sent a complaint to BART via their web site but I don't anticipate an answer, after all it's going to be read by yet another bone headed bureaucrat who never uses public transportation and has no conception of a bike as anything other than a recreation toy, which it is NOT, it is my primary mode of transportation to and from the train.
I had a run in with another of these over paid and under worked petty tyrants a couple of weeks ago. There is a nonsensical rule on BART that says you can't take your bike on the escalators. There is also a rule against strollers and large rolling luggage. Guess which of these is the ONLY one ever actually enforced? You got it, the "toys" we foolishly try to use as transportation! Anyway I ran into a BART employee who tried to tell me not to ride the escalator at Embarcadero station. I argued with her and rode it anyway. I refuse to ride that urinal they call an elevator at that station, especially since it lands you outside the fare area and you have to reach around your but to scratch your elbow to get out of the station.
I do hate it when petty bureaucrats abuse their little bit of power. Jerks and fools all.