Share the Road

It was a foggy, cold morning here in my little city. I can see why people say, when they can’t think straight, they are in a fog. It’s gloomy. It pushes warmth far out of reach. It’s difficult to see very far. When the fog finally lifts and the sun breaks through, it seems to brighten every living thing. At least that is the way it is for me. So this morning, when the fog lifted, my mind started to open up to new possibilities, and I decided to take out the old bicycle and ride it down to the library.

It began on what I call the jigsaw puzzle - a beautiful trail near my home that meanders along a lovely creek. Wildlife abounds on this trail. It is home to ducks, egrets, herons, king fishers, hawks, and more. I have seen burrowing owls, a lone coyote, a deer family, skunks, and I once saw a kit fox, although that was many, many years ago. Further down the trail and closer to the library, I have seen river otters, and a school of very large rainbow trout. Today, most noteworthy, I saw a turtle.

Once I completed my errand at the local library, I ventured out to the village following the bike path on the street towards my bank. This was an unfortunate decision on my part, which served to bump up my frustration level quite a bit. I am not sure the reason, but drivers are particularly rude to cyclists in our little city. There is a good reason our city council voted to put in a pedestrian crosswalk near my neighborhood that illuminates on the road and flashes on a sign when a button is pressed. Does it help? I don’t think so.

After my library stop, I took a route that is quite similar to our St. Patrick’s Day parade route (except I went the opposite direction). During that short jaunt, three separate cars stopped so close, I had to swerve just to get around them. If I had continued traveling in my path, I would have hit them. Make no mistake, I am fit, but I am not one of those speed racer type bikers, like the ones that wear those fancy, colorful outfits. No. In fact, I probably look rather silly in my velour sweat pants and long black jacket. It’s likely I look even sillier wearing my neon yellow bike helmet, which I wear unquestioningly.

Despite my outrageous attire, and by the time I reached my final left turn, two separate pedestrians used that aforementioned light up crosswalk with the correlating signage, so I felt fairly confident when I made my approach today. I have nothing to fear this time, I thought as I put out my left arm to signal my turn, no small feat for a novice like me. At this point I saw no one, as I balanced and turned to make for the safe sidewalk on the other side of the divide.

My head was NOT in a fog when I noticed this woman driving a mini-van coming towards me, refusing to stop. I had to squeeze my right hand brake to slow my momentum on the way down the hill before the turn to let her pass in front of me. As I rounded the turn after her, I breathed a polluted sigh of relief. Collision averted. It was a victory of sorts. I felt a little like a pilot after a crash landing, at least I was able to walk away, or in this case, ride away. Yes, I was a little off balance, but I made it to the safety zone.

Once back inside the boundaries of my little neighborhood, I thought to myself. I wish people knew how challenging it was to ride a bike on the streets. Even when there are bike routes, most drivers don’t really share the road (unless they are a cyclist). Cyclists KNOW how difficult it is to slow their momentum for a car, or a red light, or a stop sign, and most definitely for a left turn in traffic. When a cyclist stops, they must put their foot down on the ground to balance both the bike and the rider. That means lifting up off the seat and standing still to hold up the bike. After that, we must get the contraption going again, lickety-split. All the driver has to do is press the brake pedal. Seriously. Does anyone want to go home and tell their loved ones that they hit someone on a bike today? I doubt it.