The "D"readed Bus.

My little part of suburbia only has a dozen or so bus routes, so they can get away with labeling them with letters. The KC Metro buses are more numerous by far, and are given 3 to 4 digit numbers. Anyhow, I used to take the "A" bus when I'd visit my wife at the college after work, and that was a long, slow ride. It was freaky-slow. "How could it be this slow?!" slow. "No motorized transportation could possibly be slower than this" slow. Then, I moved to Lenexa and I tried the "D" bus. Slow had a new definition.

No, the D bus doesn't take the most direct route, so it probably travels at least 20-25 miles after reaching my apartment to get me to my destination despite me having a 14 mile ride by bike via the most direct non-highway route I could find. Still, the D bus takes about an hour to complete the trip from the time it picks me up to the time it drops me off. I often pull out of my parking lot just a few minutes before the D bus passes by. It usually passes me before I even get a mile into my trip. I can usually keep up with it for about 2-3 miles before it drops me on the hill slog going north on Nieman. I'll often play leap-frog with it. It will stop for passengers and I'll pass it by. A minute or two later, it passes me, then stops up the road a bit. I usually take the left lane and stay there while this is going on. The bus and my bike are usually the only two northbound vehicles in sight.

Then, I break away at 67th street and take Carter to Merriam Lane while it continues north to Johnson drive, and goes east to the bus transfer station. In one final display of my intent to get downtown as fast as possible, I cross either directly in front of or behind the bus as I ride Merriam Lane through Johnson Drive. Once downtown, I can go in, grab a coffee, drink it, and come back out to wave at the same bus as it passes by. That, my friends, is how slow the "D" bus is. Add to that a slightly unpredictable schedule (driver may be a few minutes earlier or later than the posted times), and you've just figured out why I call this the Dreaded bus.

My wrist is still in pain and I don't feel like irritating it further. There is no bike, only Zuul. Now where's my coffee, darnit!?

Random Tunage:
Way Out West - Don't Forget Me (W.O.W. Dust Biter Mix)
Future Sound of London - We Have Explosive