Cycling awareness 101 - give peace a chance

[phrench_phried]

More on this: http://laist.com/2008/07/07/road_rage_motorist_vs_cyclists_on_m.php

Disgruntled motorists,

I feel your pain.  Or, rather, I'm sure I have at some point in the past.  It's a question of perception.  Some of the problem is that Americans tend to view bicycles as toys.  As in, "Get your goddam toy out of the road!"  Even before I was a

Comments

[garden_faerie]

I''m really not upset about bikers. REALLY. I think there are better routes to take rather than the 193 canyon. (think really tight corners that you can't see around until you are already around them with steep shale on one side with frequent rock falls and steep drop down the other side, no curb) This isn't something you speed on. However, it's not something that you want to take too much time on depending which way you are going, up or down. If you are too slow on the up you run the chance of overheating. Thus the road rage that comes with slow vehicles that will not pull aside!

The bikers don't cause me anger. And yea, some of them are nice to look at too! It's more the very tight feeling in my chest that if either one of us zigs when we should zag, someone is going to be hurt.

My perspective of road rage has certainly changed over the years. I don't drive in the city anymore and there is definatly a more aggressive attitude out there. Out here it's more the difference of the folks that are out for country drive vs. the folks that live in the country and have places they have to get to just like everybody else.

I wish being considerate was a requirement for a license and I'm not sure but I think I might wish that using a bike on city roads needed a license too. Maybe there would be more bike lanes? or even a decent curb so that both vehicle and bike had some safe elbow room? Maybe the cyclist could please be considerate too? Pay attention the approaching vehicle (with the four kids inside) and move a little to the side. Believe me his safety is more on my mind than he can imagine.

[phrench_phried]

I don't think I've ever been up there. The only thing I can say is that cyclists will probably pick that route for one or several of three reasons: First, it's pretty. Second and more important, it's physically challenging (the turns are a challenge on the downhills too). And three, it's infrequently traveled by automobiles. Cycling around cars is dicey, so it's better if they're are fewer of them.

In fairness though, it's probably not the kind of route I'd choose unless there really are very few cars through there. Do you think it's very popular with cyclists? More than other Sierra routes?

[garden_faerie]

It's not a daily or weekly route, it's more a holiday route.

I had one other comment about the "share the road" thing. The road is there because of the taxes motorists pay for license and registration and (*cringe*)petrol. Cyclists aren't required to pay anything but they do get to use the road.

[phrench_phried]

I'm pretty sure that most of the cyclists have registered automobiles that they drive fairly regularly; they've paid their share. Even if they don't, property taxes, federal income taxes, and others all contribute to the roads (maybe to the tune of about 5% on non-federal highways). Considering that cyclists don't consume petrol nor cause wear-and-tear to the asphalt, they've easily paid their way in other ways. Keep in mind though that your registration and fuel taxes (especially sales tax) go to fund a whole slew of things, a lot of which you probably don't even take advantage of like public transportation.

[garden_faerie]

There is no public transportation where I live.

[phrench_phried]

That doesn't mean you're not paying for it.