My picture post last night was just an experiment to see if I could use Adobe Photoshop Element’s automatically-generated web album feature on Movable Type. I’m getting really lazy in my old age and I balk at hand coding anymore. Anyway, I just pulled nine random pictures from the files to do my test and Heather noticed that one was a bike. (Victor on his 2002 Jamis Ventura, in fact.)
Once upon a time I was a cyclist, at least in the serious recreational sense. Then our bodies started falling apart, and the house started falling apart from all those weekends of complete neglect (Go for a ride, or recaulk the shower? Tough decision there!), and we obtained a houseful of rodents.
The rides also started to feel more dangerous. The area where we used to ride most was a pretty rural part of the county without much traffic, especially on Sundays. And we got on the road early, 7:30, 8:00. But as the development spread and the traffic picked up, I lost some of my comfort on the road.
I’ve only really been scared twice. Once I was in the parking lot of a 7-11 where I’d stopped for Gatorade, and a guy in a big pickup truck said something to the effect of “Cyclists don’t belong on roads and I should run you over,” but with a lot more profanity. I was with a group that day, at least. The second time was a Friday afternoon when I’d gotten off work early, so I’d gone out to do a few miles in the neighborhood before rush hour. This time a tow truck driver passed me, backed up, and then suggested that if I wanted something between my legs he had something better than a bicycle seat, but his tone was not exactly flirtatious. That was the last time I rode alone.
Mixed use trails are a mixed blessing…I like being away from scary trucks, but the trade-offs are the kids on rollerblades, the walkers with headphones, the unleashed dogs, etc., etc. I get a bit frustrated when I say “I’m passing you on your left” only to have the person then leap to the left, sending me off the path into the poison ivy to avoid running them over.
So now I pretty much only ride in parks with roads. I feel a little stupid putting my bike on a rack and driving 15 minutes to do ten miles, but it gives me the peace of remaining in one piece. For me it’s just recreation, though, so I can make the decision to ride only were I feel it’s as safe as it gets.
My brother lives in Austin, home of American hero Lance Armstrong. I understand Lance is routinely run off the road and a target for bottles thrown from vehicles. My brother uses a bike as his primary transportation (he’s a young starving artist type and can’t afford a car) and I worry constantly about him. My cousin, similar situation, commutes by bike up in Baltimore; he was hit by a car last year and ended up in the hospital with a bunch of broken bones and a new appreciation for helmets.
This summer, radio “shock jocks” in Raleigh, Cleveland, and Houston all broadcast some of that hysterical, cutting-edge shock jock banter about running cyclists off the road, throwing bottles at them, and other witty ways to try to kill them. The League of American Bicyclists is trying to fight back, and VeloNews had an interesting piece on the legal aspects.
But it isn’t the disc jockeys that bother me so much as it’s the people calling in to echo the sentiment of the driver in the 7-11 parking lot…apparently there are a lot of people out there who see targets on the backs of cycylists.
Posted by Nic at October 9, 2003 11:42 AM | TrackBackWow, that is so sad, Nic. I'll link to this tonight after work.
Mixed use trails drive me nuts, especially the more popular ones. Here I am doing 16-18 miles an hour, and a trio of girls decides (probably subconsciously) that now is the time to stop in front of me and take up the whole trail while. I've thus far managed to avoid the poison ivy patches.
I haven't had any really bad experiences yet, but I'm usually with a group, and they're usually guys.
I'll refer you to this, in case you haven't read it. I hope it makes you feel a bit better. Rural IL is typically a pretty friendly place to ride.
hln
Posted by: hln at October 9, 2003 02:08 PMHey Heather. I did read that post of yours and I loved it!
I am just a huge wuss about road riding...a lot of my friends here are still big roadies. Maybe it's because I'm so darn slow I feel like the biggest target. ;-)
You might like this: we used to do a regular Sunday ride in an area where they were building these McMansion estate houses. Now when I go through the area (rare--not exactly the houses our friends can afford) I have the smug satisfaction of thinking "I peed in your yard...and yours...and yours..."