Saturday, January 5, 2013

I guess you don't need a license to ride a bicycle

I was driving into town on Thursday, which was the coldest morning of the year.  I saw a warmly dressed rider traveling west on Broadway.  I commended him, silently, for getting out on such a cold morning (8F),   Commutes have been quiet since the 26th so I didn't expect this rider to keep up with me in my car, as usually happens on this stretch of normally busy road.  But he somehow kept getting past me, at lights.  Yes, he ran every red light he came to.  Now it was a cold morning but I didn't think that laws were relaxed on such days.  I could be wrong.

On my way home I passed a rider on Bishop Allen Drive. I  gave him plenty of room, as much as I hope to get from drivers (though never do).  I stopped at the stop sign at Norfolk, behind another car.  I gave the rider some room on the right, assuming he would come on that side. I guess he didn't want to stop at the stop sign so he passed both me and the car in front of me on our left and cut right across the intersection, missing the car we were stopped for.  I guess it was still too cold for paying attention to traffic signs.

I generally don't care what others do on their bikes but this kind of behavior reflects on all cyclists and while this is no excuse for drivers to take out their frustrations on cyclists, it certainly engenders disagreeable notions of what every cyclist is like.  And it's not how I ride.

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