A few years back, I was on a weekday training ride through the neighborhoods. I was tooling along on the right side of the road, when a minivan overtook me and passed a few feet on my left. Just as the rear of the van passed, my peripheral vision caught the tell-tale signs of brake lights. I instinctively grabbed for the brakes and it was a good thing I did, for the van made an abrupt right hand turn into their driveway.
I yelled out "come on!!", stood up, stomped the pedals and continued on my way. Now the street I was traveling on was a dead end, so after another mile or so, I had to make a U-turn and head back the other way. As I passed the spot, where a few minutes before, I almost got ran over, I heard someone yell at me. It was the offending driver's neighbor, a middle-aged man, who just so happened to be sweeping the sidewalk at the time of the incident and witnessed the whole affair.
Now, I have been riding a long time. I've had people yell at me countless times. Normally, I just shake it off and pedal on. However, this particular day, I was still steaming over the reckless disregard the minivan driver showed for my life and well being. I was in no mood to take being painted as the offending party. I spun the bike around, pulled up to where the black man stood on the sidewalk and stopped.
"What did you say?" I ask him.
He responded, "I just wanted you to know, I don't appreciate you yelling at my neighbor like you did earlier!"
"Did you bother noticing", I spat out, "that your neighbor turned right in front of me and practically ran my a$$ over?"
"Yea, but she had the right of way!" He remarked.
"How the H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS do you figure that?" I, less than coolly, retorted.
"Cause" he calmly explained "she's driving a bigger vehicle!!"
It was at this point in the encounter, when I came to the sad realization, that further debate was completely and utterly useless. This guy wasn't being mean or vindictive. He wasn't trying to pick a fight. He wasn't throwing out ludicrous statements for the purpose of stirring me up. NO!! As ridiculous as it sounds, this guy honestly believed it. The really troubling part of this encounter is that this gentleman is not alone in his convictions, but simply verbalized the sentiments of many.
I was reminded of this incident recently as the blogs have been a buzz about a Facebook cyclist hate fan page and the Doctor in LA being sentenced to 5 years for assaulting cyclists.
As the popularity of cycling grows, so does the conflict between cyclists and drivers. Drivers have grown accustomed to reigning supreme on our streets and have drawn the, unsubstantiated by law, conclusion that the roads are for them and them alone.
What are we as cyclists going to do to shift this paradigm?
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Seagulls on Ice
One really needs to question the sanity of commuting by bike when... 
... the seagulls are sitting on the water instead of in it!
... the seagulls are sitting on the water instead of in it!
Friday, January 8, 2010
A Chilly Welcome
They first week back to work after the holidays has really tested my resiliency and determination. The temperatures every morning have been in the low 20's with a pretty hefty dose of north wind. It would have been so easy to climb in my truck, turn the heater on high and escape frigid weather.
Instead, I not only rode every day, but I changed my route and effectively doubled my commuting miles at the same time. I logged in 70 glorious commuting miles!!
Instead, I not only rode every day, but I changed my route and effectively doubled my commuting miles at the same time. I logged in 70 glorious commuting miles!!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
A bicycle Theater
Today, I was faced with a troubling dilemma. Allow me to paint the picture.
I have been off work since before Christmas. Today was my last day off. I return to work tomorrow. I wasn't ready for the Christmas season to be over.
I traveled to Louisiana to spend the holidays with my family. While I had a wonderful time, I was not able to ride my bike the past 2 weeks. I really wanted to ride my bike at least once before going back to work. However, the temperature was on the low 20's.
As I said, I spent the holidays with my family. My parents do not have cable or satellite or internet. As a result, I was not able to watch "A Christmas Story", which has become a bit of a tradition on Christmas day.
So as you can see - I was in a bit of a pickle. After much wringing of the hands, I arrived at an amicable solution.
Solution: A bicycle theater
Feature presentation:
I'm still not ready to go to work tomorrow, but I was able to get in a 1-1/2 hour bike ride, while all the while extending the Christmas holidays and keeping a tradition alive.
I have been off work since before Christmas. Today was my last day off. I return to work tomorrow. I wasn't ready for the Christmas season to be over.
I traveled to Louisiana to spend the holidays with my family. While I had a wonderful time, I was not able to ride my bike the past 2 weeks. I really wanted to ride my bike at least once before going back to work. However, the temperature was on the low 20's.
As I said, I spent the holidays with my family. My parents do not have cable or satellite or internet. As a result, I was not able to watch "A Christmas Story", which has become a bit of a tradition on Christmas day.
So as you can see - I was in a bit of a pickle. After much wringing of the hands, I arrived at an amicable solution.
Solution: A bicycle theater
Feature presentation:
I'm still not ready to go to work tomorrow, but I was able to get in a 1-1/2 hour bike ride, while all the while extending the Christmas holidays and keeping a tradition alive.
Friday, January 1, 2010
2010 - New Year Resolutions
Well, it is the start of a New Year, a new beginning, time to let go of our failures and shortcomings of the past and start afresh. I enjoy making New Year resolutions. Unfortunately, I have a bad habit of being too aggressive in my resolutions and as a result fail to achieve them all. I hope to remedy that this year by establishing resolutions that will stretch me, but at the same time are realistically achievable. So here we go:
Expand the practical use of my bicycle – I already use me bike for riding regularly to work. I want to keep that going, but now expand it to include other activities such as riding more to church, the gym and when running errands.
Go “car free” for one month – living in the area that I do, I won’t say that it is impossible to live “car free”, but it would be extremely inconvenient. That being said, I would be interested to see what it is like to go without a car for one month. Who knows, I may even try to post daily blogs chronicling the experience.
Complete an unsupported bicycle tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway – for my bike tour this year, I would really like to stretch myself and ride the entire length (469 miles) of the Blue Ridge Parkway. In order to accomplish this goal I will have to lose weight, train hard and be meticulous in my gear and packing.
Reduce my weight to 155 lbs – right now I am hovering around 170 lbs. I plan to improve my eating habits, reduce my beer consumption and increase my exercise in order to trim down to the 155 lb mark. To reward myself, I plan to purchase a brand new set (front and back) of Ortlieb panniers upon achieving this goal.
Build a “City Bike” – similar to what I did last year with my “Light Roadster”, I would like to expand my harem of bikes by building my own “City Bike”. The preliminary plans for such a bike are already bouncing around in my head. I will use this blog to bring you along on the entire design and build process.
Post to this blog at least once per week – I am already posting at this regularity and was tempted to establish this goal at two per week, but I am trying to be realistic here. I have a regular life and I do not want to put myself in a position where I compromise on the quality of my posts in order to achieve some arbitrary quota. Therefore, I am going to keep the goal at one and really focus on content and quality.
OK - So there you have it - my New Year Resolutions. On reviewing them, it would appear that I have once again, either overstepped or stretched the bounds of achievable. I'll keep them where they are keep you posted on my progress.
Expand the practical use of my bicycle – I already use me bike for riding regularly to work. I want to keep that going, but now expand it to include other activities such as riding more to church, the gym and when running errands.
Go “car free” for one month – living in the area that I do, I won’t say that it is impossible to live “car free”, but it would be extremely inconvenient. That being said, I would be interested to see what it is like to go without a car for one month. Who knows, I may even try to post daily blogs chronicling the experience.
Complete an unsupported bicycle tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway – for my bike tour this year, I would really like to stretch myself and ride the entire length (469 miles) of the Blue Ridge Parkway. In order to accomplish this goal I will have to lose weight, train hard and be meticulous in my gear and packing.
Reduce my weight to 155 lbs – right now I am hovering around 170 lbs. I plan to improve my eating habits, reduce my beer consumption and increase my exercise in order to trim down to the 155 lb mark. To reward myself, I plan to purchase a brand new set (front and back) of Ortlieb panniers upon achieving this goal.
Build a “City Bike” – similar to what I did last year with my “Light Roadster”, I would like to expand my harem of bikes by building my own “City Bike”. The preliminary plans for such a bike are already bouncing around in my head. I will use this blog to bring you along on the entire design and build process.
Post to this blog at least once per week – I am already posting at this regularity and was tempted to establish this goal at two per week, but I am trying to be realistic here. I have a regular life and I do not want to put myself in a position where I compromise on the quality of my posts in order to achieve some arbitrary quota. Therefore, I am going to keep the goal at one and really focus on content and quality.
OK - So there you have it - my New Year Resolutions. On reviewing them, it would appear that I have once again, either overstepped or stretched the bounds of achievable. I'll keep them where they are keep you posted on my progress.
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