I'm writing this blog in response to a bunch of dirty looks I got last night while on my run in the city and also because my friend Tridad posted about a biker being hit in the city near our neighborhood because they blew through a stop sign. Now as a cyclist, I get pissed at cars all the time. They either honk at me for no reason, drive to fast, or try to run me over (at least it feels like this). And a lot of times I think that cars don't watch out for bikes. I'm sure you would expect me to write a post complaining about cars but I'm not. No, instead I'm complaining about bikers.
Now, I know that since it's nice out, everyone is biking a whole lot more and I applaud this. For the non-Chicago readers, Chicago is a major bike city. 9 years ago Mayor Dailey announced started his initiative "to make the City of Chicago the most bicycle-friendly city in the United States." He did a bunch of stuff like painting bike lanes and adding bike racks to make the city a bike friendly place. I personally don't do a ton of commuting on my bike mostly because I get pretty sweaty when I ride and I hate showing up to a place dripping in sweat. I also have been hit by a car on my bike when I was coming home one night (and for the record I had actually stopped at a sign but the cabie that hit me had not). I walked away from the accident with some minor road rash but was physically fine. It more just freaked my out. Knowing how people drive in this city I just get a little freaked out being on a bike near them. I do most of my riding in the burbs or in the middle of no where Wisconsin.
Now that I've established that I'm not completely against bikers, I am going to vent a little. Yesterday was a bad day for me and bikers in the city. First, I was driving home from a meeting and I turned down a one way street only to find a biker smack in the middle (riding against traffic). I slammed on my breaks and the cyclists flicked me off as he swerved around me. So I ask myself, why am I being flicked off when he's the one riding in the wrong direction down a one way street. Then last night I went for a run and on numerous occasions I would come to a cross walk and start crossing only to notice a biker about to blow through me. They always swerved as to not catch me and then added a dirty look as they passed me. Wait, why am I the one receiving a dirty look? You're the one that just ran a stop sign. Another time last night a cyclists gave me a dirty look as he passed me on a sidewalk, I was most likely not moving over enough or something (I'm not sure I had my headphones on so he could have been yelling at me the entire time for all I know). Again, why am I receiving a dirty look when it's against the law for bikers to ride on the sidewalk in Chicago in the first place. Sigh. This stuff pisses me off. I see cyclists do a lot of stupid stuff in this city. Most of them are lucky they haven't been hit and killed. I'm at the point where I say it's fine if you want to do stupid stuff on your bike but don't give me a dirty look in the process. Ride through red lights, go on the sidewalk, but don't pull your brattitude on me when I get in the way when your not supposed to be doing in the the first place.
In all seriousness, I really wish cyclists would follow the rules. Riding a bike can be dangerous. Accidents happen and we can't always prevent all of them and I get that. But it would be nice to hot hear about a car killing someone because a cyclists ran a stop sign or drove against traffic.
Ah the salmon biker. Because riding a half block to find a street going the correct direction is too much of a burden:
ReplyDeletehttp://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2009/05/smoked-salmon-lock-your-bike-dont-lox.html
What's great about it, those are the people not wearing helmets so they look cooler when the arrive at their hipster bars. These are the people who give cyclists a bad name and add to people's anger vs. us two wheeled movers.
Look twice, save a life. Motorcycles are everywhere.
ReplyDelete@Dave: I love that blog you posted! So great. The no helmet is a different issue all together. Helmets save lives. It's not a big deal and they cost $20 at Target. Get one. I wish it was a law.
ReplyDelete@K-Swizzy, Motorcycles aren't the problem. They follow the rules of the road most of the time and understand that if they don't, people get killed.