Tuesday Morning Rant

I just wanted to tee off for a moment on other cyclists. I know, as a minority, it is unpopular to criticize other cyclists. Cars and their owners are far safer to criticize, and often for good reason. But cyclists are by no means above reproach. Their are plenty of people who ride their bikes without respect not only to cars, but to other cyclists as well. It seems that there are plenty of cyclists that mount their bikes and immediately assume the mantle of moral supremacy. Self-righteous riders are the kind of people that have a total disregard for stop signs and traffic lights. They are the kind that talk smack to other riders for not riding the right bike. They ride with a chip on their shoulder that serves as a big "fuck you" to anyone or anything that has the audacity to interfere with their narrow and overly delicate view of the world at large.

Take for example an acquaintance of mine named Brian. Called a "fag" by some random bike fascist fashionista for having brakes on his fixed gear (read his own account here. Lord knows what the twerp thinks about newbie commuters riding their dusty department store mountain bikes to work. Probably thinks they should be rounded up like cattle and systematically eliminated so his hipster paradise where everyone shops at Urban Outfitter and masturbates to Keirin race videos can be finally realized.

Or how about the Portland bike activist (who happened to be, ironically, behind the wheel of his family car) who got hospitalized by another cyclist for telling him to ride more responsibly (read all about that unfortunate incident here).

News of Sunday night's confrontation circulated quickly among officers and reached Officer Robert Pickett, the bureau's unofficial liaison between police and Portland's biking community.

"It's almost kind of quintessentially a Portland thing," Pickett said, after reading the police reports.

Pickett, who said he works to bridge the gap between motorists and cyclists, called the alleged assault and subsequent witness reaction unfortunate. "It's too bad there's an 'us vs. them' dynamic," Pickett said.

Yeah, it is too bad. Because for every asshole who yells at me and/or nearly hits me in a giant SUV, I've had about as many incidents where I've nearly been clipped by another cyclist who thinks they are entitled to lifetime right-of-way. While I think the state law on the matter needs to be changed to permit greater flexibility in regards to stop sign and stop lights, a la Idaho (read on, thanks for the link, Burns), this doesn't mean I think people should totally disregard them. It's a dick move. Anyone who has ever cursed a car who cut them off and has gone on to do the same thing is a hypocrite. And if you've ever cut off another cyclist, you should really feel like an asshole. Everyone talks about the cycling community being such a wonderful place where everyone has each others' backs, then they get on the street and act completely different. It becomes a state of mind all about me, myself and I. Lame.

With the rising cost of gas, we are seeing more people hit the street and riding to work for the first time. A lot of these people mean well, but they ride like scared lemmings and are a threat to themselves and others. They act on knee-jerk impulses and often take left turns that land them clear in the oncoming lane. They ride down one-streets the wrong way, they take side walks, and they ride down the craziest, busiest streets with nervous impunity. This trend is unlikely to change in the near future, and it is up to other cyclists more so than any one else to help try and educate these new riders. But how can we do that when more seasoned riders behave with reckless disregard for not only cars, but for other cyclists? Its a tough question, people.

I've seen some seriously aggro pseudo-punks riding down the middle of the street for no other reason than they feel like they are once again entitled to not just part of the road, but the whole damn thing. Some cyclists in Minnesota have flaunted the part of state law that states that bikes have the right to one full lane. However, the same statute also says that if there is only one lane then the bike is allowed 3 feet of distance between it and the car. Hiawatha Bikes has an excellent page devoted to these laws- check it out. The bottom line is this- you can't just pick one part of the law and ignore the other part just because it conveniently works out for your argument. If that is how you choose to observe the law, you might as well vote Republican. Or just admit you don't follow the law and stop acting like you are enforcing it! At least that shows some conviction.

I could go on. If you made it this far, either you agree with me or you think I'm a hater. Trust me, I'm far from it. I love to ride and I often see some of the most humane behavior exhibited by people on bikes. But I can't turn a blind eye to the hypocrisy that is endemic in my local scene and beyond. I just hope that people can learn to respect each other enough to really consider the challenges that present all of us, car and bike alike. Because like it or not, we have to share the roads. No matter how much one side may wish the other side would just go away, it's not going to happen. So we have to negotiate the line we ride and try not to lose sight of what is important.

I promise to resume posting frivolous and outdated YouTube clips ASAP.