I am a daily bike commuter. I ride from east Nashville, along Davidson, over the
pedestrian bridge, through downtown and then take Church St. through midtown
then through the medical corridor to my destination on West End. I’ve been doing this for about five
years now. I know my route, its
quirks and the little tricks to make it safe and enjoyable.
Today
I was riding in the morning rush at about 8:45am. I was waiting
at a red light, (I know,
crazy right?) I was actually
waiting behind the 3rd car back. The reason is, those cars may be planing on turning
right onto the interstate ramp. I
don’t think it’s fair to make driver to have to navigate around a bike who
wasn’t there before they came to a stop at the light. If I were to pass them on the right and then block
their path; I would be creating a hazard that wasn’t there before they came to
a stop at the light.
And
then, here comes a no-helmet, pony-tailed, bearded dude riding a fixie whizzing
past me. He whizzes through
the light. He goes up to
next intersection where he is forced to stop by the traffic coming from the
other direction, off the interstate. My light turns green and I catch up to him where he is
waiting. By this time I’ve hopped up into the sidewalk as I cross the overpass,
because it’s a tight squeeze.
I say “what’s up" to dude and he asks me how things are on the
sidewalk. I sort of shrug
and tell him "it is what it is".
Then the light turns green and we both proceed. Now I cross the intersection and
head for the sidewalk again, right in font of the Hustler store. This is a busy stretch of road with
four or more lanes. There really isn’t room for cars to pass and stay in their
lane. I’m turning right real soon to get on a less busy side street. I’d rather just stay out of traffic, rather than
force the issue. My new buddy then
points to a newly installed sign that reads “Cyclist May Use Full Lane”. He was trying to tell me that I was
in the wrong by not taking the lane.
I
tried not to be pissed. I
mean, good for him, blaze a trail.
Fight the good fight.
Block a lane of traffic during morning rush hour and feel that you are
standing your ground. But, where I’m coming from, I’m
trying to act as responsible as possible. If there were pedestrians on the sidewalk I wouldn’t
ride there. If the street is
crowded and the sidewalk isn’t then that’s where I’ll ride. I think the policy should be ride in
the road when practical, ride on the sidewalk when sensible.
If
we really want to be taken seriously, as a mode of transportation that belongs
on the road with motor vehicles, then we have to make sure that we do not make
a nuisance of ourselves, anymore than necessary.
Where it all went down
Where it all went down
Okay,
second part. On my way home
I noticed that my rechargeable light
was running low on juice.
About halfway home it gave out completely. Then a car drove at me and tried to run me off the
road Rob Bironas style.
I was kind of freaked out. I mean either dude was fooling with his
phone and just forgot where the road was for a second, or he was seriously
trying to mess with me. Maybe he
was trying to teach the scofflaw cyclist a lesson for riding at night without a
light The problem was he came
really close to hitting me head on at a high rate of speed. He came across the middle of the
road and made me leave the pavement to avoid him.
It’s
enough to make me want to give up.
Maybe I should just drive a car everyday. No, screw that. Even with douche-bag cyclists giving us a bad name, or
idiot drivers trying to kill us, riding a bike to work is ten times more fun
and healthier than being stuck in a car everyday of your feaking-life.
