8-20-05 Rode for the first time in a while, 35 miles on my Lemond roadbike. Knee is still iffy but my leg no longer hurts.
Well, it was a fine day to ride, but as I rode I couldn't help but think of some words I read, papers found while cleaning up.
The theme was similar; one was from a columnist in an Arizona newspaper, one was from a New York tome, but they both argued for a crackdown on -- are you ready for this -- lawless cyclists.
No, that's not a typo. Bicycles.
Yes, bicycles. See, apparently those of us on bicycles are more of a danger, lest we violate a traffic code, than someone steering a two-ton automobile.
Keeping in mind these editorial rants on how lawless and dangerous cyclists are, I kept my eyes open while riding for lawless motorists. It went pretty good until I began riding a bit with two folks headed down Springfield Ave; some puke in a black BMW but between the three of us as we shifted into the left lane.
Why, I am not sure, maybe he was just eager to wait at the stop sign, but it was, as I put it, "rude". Except not only rude, but dangerous. In a contest betwixt bike and Beemer, there will be one clear winner. Why this moron's eagerness was, in his mind, a license to risk death and injury, one may never know, but he wasn't alone.
I greatly enjoyed my first ride in a while, but couldn't help but notice as the afternoon wore on:
1 Woman in a white SUV who failed to use a turn signal three times in a row in the space of a minute
2 vehicles that "floated" stopsigns and nearly ran me over
1 elderly woman in a Buick 4-door who rushed to get in front of me in the right lane, then sat there without turning on red, and didn't turn on green, either, until several people behind me began beeping
-- This same elderly woman came to a complete dead stop in the middle of a main street before putting on her turn signal
2 people driving with burnt out taillights
1 person talking on a cell phone whilst driving
2 cars that didn't hold their lane but veered towards me menacingly for no apparent reason
l landscaping/dump truck doing a k-turn in the middle of a busy, heavily-trafficked 40mph street 7 large SUVs parked on the curb on a main road in front of a residence, so nearly a whole block of street was reduced to half a lane, and
...1 landscaping truck parked, taking up a whole lane [traffic including myself had to go on the other side]
And this was, essentially, an uneventful ride! But it raises in one's mind the question: What about bicyclists warrants a crackdown while THIS sort of thing is being done by drivers in CARS, which are arguably more dangerous than bicycles?
As one enjoys the sights and feel of a nice summer ride, keep in mind that it is you, on the bike -- not the idiots around you who pay no heed to the traffic laws -- that newspapermen with loose lips and angry letter-to-the-editor writers who write before they think are out to get.
What a world.