The other day I was driving home from school when a biker came peeling out of a side street right in front of my car. I slammed on the brakes and slowed down to about 10 mph. He was wearing fancy bike duds so I assumed this wasn't the first time he'd ridden with traffic, but you never know. The skin tight shirt and biker shorts may just be for show. He then proceeded to ride right down the middle of the one lane of traffic, going somewhere between 5 and 10 mph, while a long line of cars stacked up behind me. I waited for about 30 seconds, assuming he would move to the side of the street - you know, into the bike lane. He didn't, so I honked.
He whips his head around, apparently shocked that there are actual cars on the street, and BLOWS HIS WHISTLE AT ME.
Yes, he had a whistle around his neck. Is this common to bike riders? I don't think I've seen it before.
He moved to the side of the road (which is all I really wanted) and continued to blow at me. Then at the next stoplight, he sailed past me on the left side and looked in at me, screaming, "WHAT?!"
I wish he had an email address or a phone number on the back of his bike because I'd like to have a little chat with him about car/bike etiquette. Rule No. 1 is, my car is bigger, heavier, and faster than your bike. I don't want to hit you, but if you come swerving in front of me and stay there, I might, and believe me, you and your fancy bike will be much more mangled than me and my car.
Second, don't ride down the middle of the street and then look all surprised and infuriated when the people in the cars behind you get a wee bit annoyed at going 1/3 the speed limit.
Third, Dude, the bike shorts do nothing for you.
4 comments:
Kelly,
Thank you so much for making me laugh. I know the whole incident wasn't funny to you but I just can't help it.
Love, Luanne
I salute you for driving in Boston at all. The streets there make me claustrophobic.
I recently had a bike rider yell at me to "get off the f*ing phone" when I was on my way to babysit for some friends in Georgetown. Yes, I know you're not supposed to talk on the f*ing phone while driving, jerko. That's why I pulled over and turned on my hazzards.
Oh I agree with you! I really hate it when bikers act like cars. This happens far too often, I just want to bump them with my car to remind them that they aren't in a car at all, and to get over into the bike lane!
I don't know about that whole whistle thing though, that's new to me.
Heyyyy....
As a biker who uses the bike lane whenever there is one, I plead with you not to bump anyone! Even psychologically. It's hard enough to ride a bike in a city without having people get mad at me for being a vehicle. Bikes are vehicles. I stay to the side, but when there is no bike lane, I have no responsibility to get off the road so people can pass. I stay as far right as I can, but there are things like Boston potholes that there's no way I'm going to ride into, and riding in the gutter is what caused an accident that broke my wrist once. I follow the rules of the road just as cars do. I use a helmet, I have lights, and I use hand signals. The biker in her story was certainly obnoxious and should have gotten to the right, especially if there was a bike lane, but there are only about 5 main roads in the Boston area that have bike lanes.
I've been hit by a car while on my bike, and it wasn't pretty. I ride defensively, but I was in the bike lane and she was coming out of a driveway. I had the right of way, and she plowed into me. She just ignored that there was a bike path there. That was twelve years ago, and my knee hasn't been right since. We both have a right to the road. Let's all keep an eye out for each other.
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