Be nice out there…
…because that cyclist that’s adding 5 seconds to your drive home could be me.
Namrita & I took off from Crank Performance yesterday after noon for a 45 min spin. Not even a hundred yards down the road a pickup truck accelerates around a blind turn to pass us (rather closely too) to get to a stop sign one position ahead of us. What is the point? What happens if a car is coming from the opposite direction? Then while at the stop sign the driver gave Namrita the stare down in the side mirror….who knows what that was about but Nam didn’t care for a whole lot and some words were exchanged.
We go left and the pickup truck driver goes straight. Now we are on series of short hills. Maybe 4 or 5 in a row and at about half way up I hear another truck, this time a big SUV (with a bike rack on top…you’d think they might be a little more respectful), accelerating past me. Again into a blind spot. The driver has no idea what, if anything, is coming in the opposite direction or if there is an obstacle or traffic on the other side, but rather than wait that 5 seconds until they can see what lies ahead they stomp on the pedal and go.
We ride on toward Chastain Park were a concert is starting soon. We realise that this is very dangerous for us and cut off down a side street. Lots of impatient drivers in a confined space not designed to accommodate them is not a good place to be on a bike. We either breath the exhaust by sitting in line or risk getting hit by someone making an erratic turn or even trying to look around the car in front of them to see how long they have to wait.
We get clear of the park, climbing up and over a ridge. On the descent I’m cruising at about 30 mph, which happens to be the speed limit. Namrita is behind me doing a little less. Some lady drives up on Nam at about 45 and honks for her to move. Normally we’ll give cars the right-of-way to pass, but when we are doing the speed limit they can wait. Not this lady. No one was going to slow her down. I didn’t see her pass Nam and barely heard the honk from behind me, but instinctively moved right. The lady comes within inches of me while I’m hugging the shoulder while we make a turn to the right. I raise a hand to gesture “What the *&^%????? are you thinking!” and may have even said it out loud. She returns the gesture. I was mad and if I had been on my road bike I may have chased her down (not going to happen on my mountain bike), though I have been there before and it doesn’t accomplish anything positive.
So on a 45 minute ride we came close to being run off the road at least three times. There were a couple other cars that could have given us a little more room when passing, but I won’t ask for too much. I do not understand the mentality of these drivers. What leads to the decision to risk my life to save 5 seconds on their drive home? Is it a “might is right” thing? Why this complete disregard for another persons life. Do they not understand the consequences of a collision between a bicycle and a vehicle or do they not care because they are not likely to be the ones laid up in a hospital for weeks or worse? Do they feel they can act in this manner because there is so little threat to an actually face to face confrontation? You don’t see this behaviour from people walking through the mall, but put those same folks in their cars and everything changes.
I know there are many complex answers to these question ranging from traffic congestion issues to social issues to individual psychology. Really though, what happened to do on to others… is this virtue dead? I’m not asking for a lot out there, but please do not try to kill me.
Eddie O