Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Riding Responsibly...Wish Others Would? Do You? Will You?

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association is holding an event so that riders can, um, ride the ride and not just talk the talk on bike safety. Insisting that safety is everyone's responsibility, they're hosting a weekend ride tied to their Resolution to Ride Responsibly campaign. Check it out.

Got a pet peeve? (I'm talking @ other cyclists, not cars here). Mine is cyclists who--especially on trails--race along, come alongside at my rear wheel nice and close before passing without uttering a word.* Sorry, you might be the best bike-handler on the planet, but if I don't know you are there, and do something unexpected, we both end up in a heap. I've seen it happen, and it can be ugly. So I can see where pedestrians who--like it or not folks--share the trails with us, end up trash-talking all cyclists.

I have also had cyclists come up behind me at a red light--not a stop sign, a red light--who clearly had  no intention of stopping. Yup, almost got rear-ended by 'one of my own'. Folks, we owe it to each other to do what we can to stake our place on the roads, and one way of doing that is following the rules. What's that hokey phrase? Be the change you want to be?

Ok, now that I've sounded like your mom/ high school driver's ed instructor/media nanny, ride on. Ride safe. And have fun, cause it really is a blast, isn't it?

*or using a bell.

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