Bicycling etiquette

[JR]

Something that skews the demographic around here is that at least 50% of the local cyclists are immigrants commuting to work at local restaurants or factory jobs. They have a completely different ethic!

Kind of a funny story. On the annual Bike to Work Day, I stopped at the lemonade stand in front of city hall, set up by the director of transportation for my town. He had brochures to hand out - bus schedules, cycle path maps, rules of the road, whatnot. A few other cyclists of geekiness similar to mine were there chewing the fat.

I asked the dir. of trans. if he had any Spanish language literature. He says, "No. Why?". I pointed accross the street where dozens of riders were traveling in both directions on the sidewalk. I think Spanish literature is available now!

JR

[HarmsWay]

riders were traveling in both directions on the sidewalk.

Riding on the sidewalk is $110 fine here. Either direction.

Bob

[eddy merckx]

I've lost count the number of times people in cars have harassed me or the
group I've been with

I've been commuting to work on a bike for around 25 years with a few odd years off. I have to say that I get a lot more respect from car drivers than I used to in the old days. I think people used to assume that if you were wearing lycra, you were probably on your way to ballet practice.

One thing I have learned is the connection between muffler noise and harrassment. Locally, most of the drivers who hassle you happen to be driving lifted pickups.

I'm also more careful around the end of the school year. The newest drivers are brimming with wild excitement and hormones. I usually get a Slurpie or something thrown at me. Last year, I just got grazed by a handful of D cell batteries!! I think the kids just don't realize how much they can hurt somebody.

Eddy

[JR]

One thing I have learned is the connection between muffler noise and harrassment. Locally, most of the drivers who hassle you happen to be driving lifted pickups.

Well, since I'm sharing anecdotes...

I'm reminded of the Sunday morning ride with a small group of friends. In the mellowest part of town we were acosted by a jacked up pickup, horn blaring because we were slightly outside the bike lane. The blond on the passenger side leaned out the window, flipping the bird and shouting a blue streak of swear words.

We were otuside the bike lane because cars were parked there - outside the church. The woman's swear words were directed right at the Catholic Mass on Sunday. Priceless.

JR