One Clydesdale’s Journey

I can’t emphasis that statement enough. In an earlier post I talked about sharing the road with bikes; a common problem so prevalent that you see the bumper stickers all the time about it.

But what you don’t see (at all as far as I can recall) is any bumper stickers about cyclists following the rules of the road.

And there needs to be!

I can’t tell you how many times, whether I’m in my car or on my bike, that I see people on bikes completely ignoring the rules of the road and just doing there own thing.

This list in my opinion is endless, but the big ones that I see all time are; riding on the wrong side of the road, riding on the sidewalk, blowing through stop lights and stop signs like they aren’t even there and getting off traffic as if it was obligated to stop for you.

Physics is hard to deny or fight; when it is car versus bike, the car will almost always win. And the losing side can be very, very ugly and painful!

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a perfect saint when it comes to this stuff, I stumble once in a while myself. When I’m riding through my neighborhood which has stop signs every other block, I don’t necessarily come to a full and complete stop at each one (it’s just too hard getting all this mass moving again). I do, however, always slow way down at each one of them (see previous comment about physics) and I do come to a complete stop if there is a car coming.

I can even do the stop and go (as long as it’s not for a long time) without unclipping. So at 4 way stops I can come to a stop and let the car (who has the right away) proceed first.

That never happens!

The driver (being so conditions by other cyclists) is convinced that I should go first and will sit there and either stare at me, or will way me through.

I’ve also gotten yelled by at least one person on a bike for “cutting them off” when I started to do that same thing in my car. Bad idea on their half; I yelled backed and they didn’t like what they heard I assure you of that.

Bottom line of all this rambling; let’s all just follow the rules of the road (and watch out for each other as well) and the road will be a much safer place overall.

I now step down from the soapbox.

Later,
John W.
A Clydesdale in training