Bicycle

Recently I got into a debate online regarding bicyclists. (I know what's been said: Arguing on the Internet is like being in the Special Olympics -- even if you win, you're still retarded.) It was prompted by some vitriolic and overweening video about bicyclists some how standing up to ignorance and prejudice and this that and the other. I responded to the person that shared it that if more bicyclists followed the rules of the road and were more courteous then drivers would in turn be more courteous as well. Her response was to first ask if I wanted a medal for knowing the law, and then something to the effect that it's only commuters, recreational riders, and errand people that are to blame, and that true cyclists follow the rules of the road. My rebuttal was that I'd seen what I thought were true cyclists ignoring traffic signs, failing to use hand signals, and other wise being discourteous. She then chose to ignore me.

So I was reminded of this discussion, if you will, this past weekend. Friday evening while driving home Maryanne and I saw a bicyclist fail to stop at a stop sign posted on the bike bath she was using where it crosses a county highway, passing right in front of us where we had merely slowed for our yield sign.

We had also gone to Door County for part of the weekend, and while out driving Sunday we saw large number of what I would call cyclists participating in some large event. I can't answer to their actions around traffic signs and intersections, but I did see that as a whole they failed to ride single file near the shoulder of the road, thus making themselves a nuisance to motorized traffic.

So if the argument is that true cyclists obey the rules of the road and practice courteous riding, there must not be too many "true cyclists" out there, because I haven't seen very many of them.

Mood: Thoughtful
Music: The Traveling Wilburys: "Last Night"