strangers without candy

i find that the bike, while also a force of protection as i can bike quickly by people trying to talk to me, is sometimes a conversation piece for strangers when i'm waiting for transport. sometimes this is fun but often it's sorta weird, as kooky characters try to engage me and i don't know how to react besides being polite and then reading my harper's. once a tiny, old, impressively wild looking lady gave me a long talk about how i should get rid of some of my gears, saw off the top bar, and bike on the sidewalk because the street is too treacherous. yesterday a fellow told me it was the "best workout there is. i mean it. really." and this morning, a man with tenative english warned me that i should not "drive" my bike in the streets of macarthur park because people are crazy and don't know how to drive. of course a lady as pretty as bianchi would get lots of comments, but i'm shy and wish she could answer for herself.