I fought the law and the law won.

The light was green. Then it turned red. I biked across the street anyway. Afterall, the vehicle traffic hadn't stopped yet, so it was still safe.

Suddenly, a policeman, clad in the official (and kick-@ss) green uniform stood in front of me. Confused, I tried to bike around him, but he did not like that. "You stop when I'm standing in front of you!" he barked in loud, commanding German. "Identification?"

I started to shake. I didn't yet realize why he stopped me. In Germany, the police can stop anyone for no reason and ask for ID, and I thought he was doing this. "I have a copy of my passport," I stammered in German.

"That won't do you any good." Now I really started to freak out. "What is your nationality?"

As I said that I was American, he noticed my drivers liscence and asked to see it. He explained, "You ran a red light back there."

I feebly tried to feign ignorance. "I did?" It didn't work. And once he explained that I'd have to pay €25 on the spot, I started shaking even more. At this point, he lost his tough cop demeanor and started joking with me and telling me to relax. I coughed up the Euros and he wrote me a receipt.

"Next time you have to deal with the police, don't be so scared. We're not that bad! Auf wiedersehen." I hope I don't have to deal with the police again. And I really didn't think my first traffic ticket ever would come on a bike.