Bikes 20 Aug 2006 05:46 pm
back on the bike
Today Josh and I went a little over five miles on the tandem, stopping by Bagel Oasis on our way down to Ravenna Park. I’m still marvelling at the fine work that’s been done to spiff the place up. It turns out to be a pretty easy ride down through the park from 20th Ave all the way to 55th St; I like it a lot better than the alley that parallels Ravenna, even if it is mostly gravel paths. From 55th we took the main trail to Cowen, stopping for a snack beside the stream, and then had a little picnic in Cowen Park. I only wish I’d thought to pack the steam-powered toy boat I’d bought for Josh as an early anniversary present.
We tried 25th for the first time, figuring that a quiet Sunday would be a good time to give it a try. I didn’t care for it, but it wasn’t awful. There were a lot more potholes than I thought there’d be, though.
I said to Josh, “I may need to turn in my Introvert Card.” And it’s true — I’ve been enjoying chatting with the other bicyclists who come over to investigate our bike. Bicycle people are the friendliest, most pleasant people I’ve ever met.
on 20 Aug 2006 at 8:49 pm 1.jake said …
I can’t speak for all bicyclist, but I have to say, I find that bicyclists often are very introverted on the road. The demand their part of the road, and then run red lights, or duck across lanes. They may be nice to other cyclists, but on the road, they are often a menace to traffic.
on 20 Aug 2006 at 10:15 pm 2.Cam Sculpin said …
Jake, I’m disappointed in you.
First of all, you are confusing “introverted” with “stupid” or “aggressive”. That’s offensive. Secondly, bicyclists are traffic. I hope you are not implying otherwise.
As for the rest of it, frankly, as someone who is usually a pedestrian, I’m much more concerned about bad drivers.
Ah, the list of how horrible bicyclists are. Of course, I’ve been hit out of a crosswalk by an absent-minded driver; he shattered my tailbone, damaged my lower back muscles, and could easily have killed me. Last Thursday I was menaced by a driver who didn’t think I ought to be walking on the sidewalk across the exit to a parking lot and delaying his journey by two seconds. I regularly see drivers fail to fully stop at stop signs. They often zoom up my residential street as much as 25 miles over the speed limit. (I’ve clocked them with a radar gun.) They very often fail to correctly yield right-of-way to pedestrians; it’s not unusual at 25th and Blakeley to see a car try to turn right on 25th into an entire crowd of pedestrians and bicyclists. They have no shame at being seen talking on the phone while driving. I’ve seen them drive right through red lights and drive the wrong way down one-way streets.
And they do all these stupid and criminal things while piloting a dangerous hunk of heavy machinery. And of course that’s only the harm that they do by driving badly. Even the best driver of a conventional car is causing measurable harm.
People who drive cars are, on the road, often a menace to life. We as a society just don’t hold them as accountable as we should because almost everybody drives. It’s easy for one driver to sympathize with another. It’s so easy, in fact, that drivers seem to expect everyone to sympathize with them.
The occasional rude bicyclist is, by comparison, not that much of a problem as far as I’m concerned. And it is, in fact, the occasional bicyclist that gives cause for complaint. I live near a popular bike route, and I have yet to see a bicyclist run a red. (I wish I could say the same for the cars.) I almost always see them in helmets, too, riding at a reasonable pace and signalling appropriately. Bicyclists are generally good citizens and good neighbors.
I expect that bicyclists may be more aggressive in hipper neighborhoods in which youthful dicksizing is rampant. But in my opinion, anti-bike bitching like yours only helps drive that dicksizing among young adult bicyclists. Generalizations about bicyclists as some kind of two-wheeled Outsider Rebel Menace merely encourage teen and 20-something bikers to take crazy risks in the name of countercultural freedom.
on 21 Aug 2006 at 7:04 am 3.Jake said …
I did not mean to excuse bad drivers by discussing my experience with the average bicyclist in Seattle. I certainly hold a great deal of anger directed at bad drivers as well. However, the discussion in the post was about bicyclists.
As far as bicycles being traffic, I completely agree…bicycles are traffic, and thus the riders of bicycles should follow the the laws of road, just as automobiles do. When I called them a menace to traffic, that includes other cyclists. To be clear, I’m not talking about the occassional cyclist, either. I would guess (though I have not collected any hard data) that 60% of the cyclists I encounter as a pedestrian or motor vehicle operator, tend to ignore several of the traffic laws as a matter of course. Most commonly, these involve running red lights, running stop signs, splitting traffic, and failing to yield. I would agree that there are also several bad drivers (and don’t get me started on the average motorcyclist in Seattle), but, through experience, I have come to expect the average cyclist to NOT obey the laws.
It might be neighborhood specific, I agree. It might also be a question the type of riding that is being performed. I suspect somebody out on a recreational ride might be more inclined to obey the laws than somebody who is commuting by bicycle, and since almost 90% of my time on a motor vehicle is spent commuting, it is likely my sample set is largely taken from other commuters.
I certainly didn’t mean to offend by indicating that I saw it as a case of introversion. In fact, my belief that it is a form of introversion that causes this behavior is more charitable than applying the labels of “stupid” or “aggressive”. I believe the cyclists are focused inwards during these commutes. This makes them unaware of how their actions affect the other people in traffic. I suppose the could be apathetic or inconsiderate, but I like to believe people are generally good, both cyclists and motor vehicle operators alike. Their actions are not out of willful malice, but out of some other facet.
I would also posit that “anti-bike bitching” such as mine is important. I think my comment is clear that my issue with bikes is when they don’t follow the laws of the road. I’m not just randomly and blindly attacking cyclists. I’m stating a specific issue that I have with many of the cyclists I encounter. Perhaps the average cyclist doesn’t recognize the effect he is having on other members of traffic. I’d like to believe that over the possibility that he knows and doesn’t care.
on 21 Aug 2006 at 9:21 am 4.Cam Sculpin said …
my belief [is] that it is a form of introversion… I believe the cyclists are… unaware of how their actions affect the other people… the average cyclist doesn’t recognize the effect he is having on other members of traffic…
Please do not equate introversion with obliviousness. That is offensive, Jake, and it is incorrect. Introversion is a social orientation, not a social, cognitive, or perceptual disability.
Please cease to assume you understand introversion. You don’t. Do not expect me to educate you — I have better things to do with my time, and I will have no further discussion with you on this point.
As for the rest of your complaint, try again when you have something like data. (Though not in my journal, please.) Until then, it has confirmation bias written all over it, and I see little reason to believe that it’s correct.
It certainly doesn’t match my experience in north Seattle’s small business districts. A couple of years ago, after hearing a canned rant about what lousy road-citizens bicyclists are, I got curious and started watching the bicyclists on my way around town. This, mind you, before I even thought of touching a bicycle. And what I found was that, except among a few young men near the UW, it just wasn’t true. By and large, bicyclists were riding responsibly and without taking dangerous or illegal risks. That “average cyclist” I saw was doing very well.
The one questionably legal act I saw often was that bicyclists would slow, rather than fully stop, at a four-way stop. That’s not uncommon among operators of any vehicle. Only once do I recall seeing it done in a way I considered risky.
on 21 Aug 2006 at 10:15 am 5.Jake said …
You are correct, my understanding of introversion was flawed. I apologize for operating under a misconception of introversion (I was taught it meant disengaged, with no other nuance really associated with it). I certainly did not mean to be offensive or to attribute baser characteristics to people inclined towards introversion.
Vis e vie bike behavior and habits. We’ve had different experiences, and thus have come to different conclusions.
on 21 Aug 2006 at 10:16 am 6.Cam Sculpin said …
Thank you for your apology. I accept it.
on 18 Sep 2006 at 2:14 pm 7.mike said …
i always run red lights and stop signs, why would i waste more energy than needed to stop when im usually going slow enough to see whats down the road or waiting at the sign.
but i wouldnt cut out infront of a car so they have to use there brakes, (although i can imagine some drivers probably hit the brakes because they dont grasp the concept of movement on a bike, and that im only in there lane for a second)
Afterall i want to be alive at the end of riding.
as for 4 way stops, say a car is on the left, wanting to go straight, and im comming down the other road to his right i usually cut behind the car so he can keep going and i dont have to slow down. because most cars never come to a complete stop at signs anyway.
When i drink, i ride my bike, and i even stop at lights for a break if my vision isnt all that well. I dont like taxi’s
i drive.. i have a car, im thinking i dont want to fund oil wars in iraq and around the world so i might just let my license expire and quit driving because most drivers are (to put it nice) idiots.