This year, I stood in my garage the evening before my last ride to work before the Christmas holidays and my bike stood there all plain and forlorn. Well - better late than never. I climbed into the attic and found the decorations, took a cold beer out of the frig and went to work. I decided to downscale this year and limit the decorations to a wreath on the handlebars and lights around the frame.
On my first and only Christmas Bike ride of the year, I realized the full measure of my negligence. It was early morning and quite dark. The Christmas Bike blinked brightly and cheerfully. I rode up to a stop sign and cars were coming from both directions on the crossing road, so I came to a complete stop. As I stopped, so did the car heading East and then the car heading West. So there were the three of us at a stand still, no one moving. The thing was, I was the only vehicle that had a stop sign. The two cars had the full right away. On any other day, they would have run me over had I even thought about crossing their path, but this morning, they stopped and waited patiently. I pushed off while the cars waited patiently and waved as I passed in front of their headlights. I couldn't see the drivers faces, but I'm certain they both smiled.
When I decorate my bike and don my Santa hat, I'm under no disillusionment, I raise my dorkiness level to new heights. So why bring that kind of attention myself? That's simple - it causes people to stop and smile - a pleasant interruption in our otherwise hectic lives and in a world of tragedy. Merry Christmas everyone!