share the road
I enjoy riding my bike. I like riding it a lot, and I like riding with my son. When we do it, we ride single file on the side of the road, trying to be as little a pain to cars as possible. We try to share the road. Every now and then we get an obnoxious driver who gets a little close, but for the most part it's not a big problem. I have a problem though, and it comes from the other side of the fence, so to speak.
I live in an area that isn't quite suburbia. It's more country-ish, though the suburbs are closing in quickly. There are lots of long straight two lane country roads, the kind favored by groups of cyclists out on a Saturday morning for their workouts. When I see them, I slow down and pass the line giving them plenty of space, but what bugs the hell out of me is the obnoxious ones. Those are the ones who can't seem to grasp the concept of a single file line, who don't want to share the road. They want to command it. They want traffic to come to a standstill, because they deem it necessary to ride 3 and 4 abreast. They don't care that cars half a mile back are slamming on breaks to stop from rear ending the line of vehicles crawling at a bike's pace when the speed limit is 55 mph. They don't care that people have places to be. They're on their bike and hogging up the road, dammit, and if you don't like it, you can find another road for your car. They are also the ones screaming at cars when you get what they consider 'too close' when if anyone is fueling the animosity thrown their way from the motoring public, it's the very same people.
Stay in your bike lane (if there is one) or close to the shoulder, single file, asshole, and nobody gets hurt! I have no problem sharing the road. I just want some of it too.
I live in an area that isn't quite suburbia. It's more country-ish, though the suburbs are closing in quickly. There are lots of long straight two lane country roads, the kind favored by groups of cyclists out on a Saturday morning for their workouts. When I see them, I slow down and pass the line giving them plenty of space, but what bugs the hell out of me is the obnoxious ones. Those are the ones who can't seem to grasp the concept of a single file line, who don't want to share the road. They want to command it. They want traffic to come to a standstill, because they deem it necessary to ride 3 and 4 abreast. They don't care that cars half a mile back are slamming on breaks to stop from rear ending the line of vehicles crawling at a bike's pace when the speed limit is 55 mph. They don't care that people have places to be. They're on their bike and hogging up the road, dammit, and if you don't like it, you can find another road for your car. They are also the ones screaming at cars when you get what they consider 'too close' when if anyone is fueling the animosity thrown their way from the motoring public, it's the very same people.
Stay in your bike lane (if there is one) or close to the shoulder, single file, asshole, and nobody gets hurt! I have no problem sharing the road. I just want some of it too.
John put this out here at 4:04 PM
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