When one takes up a life of early morning bicycle commuting to work they should be prepared for meeting all types of people each day. Some are normal and some are not so normal.
There are the usual early morning workers that deliver everything from newspapers to groceries. There are other early morning walkers, dog walkers, runners etc. There is an occasional hooker. There are of course other cyclists. There are also encounters with wildlife.
Some of these early morning people appear to be sane. Others obviously are not.
A very common person to meet is the homeless person. I feel sad when I see them and grateful that I have a roof over my head. It is clear that many of them are mentally ill. There are others that impress me with their ingenuity.
There are some memorable ones. I almost ran over one on my bike once. He had chosen to lie down and sleep right in the middle of the path. He was on a bridge crossing a wet land. He had also chosen his sleeping spot right in a bend to make it even harder to see him. I came so close to hitting him. I must have been the first one that morning. I think I woke him up because later cyclists told me he was no longer there.
I don’t know why he chose such a spot. There were better places nearby.
There was one who had a bicycle that had a milk crate tied on the back. He also had stuff strapped on the front. When I would ride to work I would see him on his bike sleeping under an overpass. His feet would be hanging off the front of the bike and his back would be leaning on the stuff piled high on the back. He and the bike would be leaning against the wall. It was impressive. I don’t know how he did it.
It reminded me of that scene in the movie from Cat Ballou. The one where both Lee Marvin and his horse are drunk and leaning against a wall sleeping it off.
There is another interesting fellow I see who seems to be somewhat cleaner and more cognizant of what is going on. Sometimes he is actually reading what appear to be books. He carries two gym bags. He also seems not quite so hammered. I wonder if he is not actually homeless. Maybe every so often his wife just kicks him out of the house for a day or two.
The homeless people I see are generally men. But there is a woman I see fairly often. No matter the temperature she is covered with several layers of brightly colored blankets and wraps.
For the last several months one guy has set up camp in a most unusual place. He is right off the road and next to a retaining wall supporting a major road. There is absolutely no shelter. But it is very light because he makes is bed right under a street light. His bed is also just a few inches from the road. This seems to be a rather permanent camp for him. He has quite a pile of goods stacked against the wall. When I first saw him I didn’t realize it was a person. I thought someone had just dumped their garbage there.
It still seems to me to be a unlikely place to camp. Maybe it is far enough off the beaten path that he doesn’t get disturbed. I have seen him sleeping here in pretty cold weather and rain or shine. He is covered with several layers of blankets and what looks like rug remnants. There are some pics below.
The first picture was taken early in the morning when it was dark. The second was taken after work one day. Notice his belongings piled against the wall. On this day he was smoking and reading a sales circular.
A man’s home is his castle so I do feel a little guilty about taking his pic. To help ease my conscience I purchased some food for him while grocery shopping yesterday. I will leave it for him next time I ride by early in the morn while he is asleep.
