March 22, 2013

• Random Acts of Seeming Kindness

  I don't often ride my bicycle on the paved streets, but when I do, I behave as if I were a legitimate part of the commuter traffic.  Meaning, I obey the rules of the road, taking my turn at stop signs, signaling my intentions, etc.  I believe in the rule of law (this probably isn't quite the correct use of the term, but for this rant I will use it as I choose) and thus believe it should be applied equally and fairly to motorist and cyclist alike.  Pedestrians are, of course, a class unto themselves and therefore have their own rules of the road.

  So, imagine my chagrin when a motorist treats me, an adult cyclist, like a child or a pedestrian!  Frequently I will be waiting to cross the highway, and a motorist will stop for me as if I were a pedestrian in a crosswalk.  Never mind the fact that I'm in the traffic lane.  The random act of kindness on the part of the motorist is a random act of thoughtlessness for my safety. 

  Picture this:  A motorist in a 4,000 pound car, with tinted windows, stops;  Cyclist thinks he sees the motorist wave him through; motorist was actually stopping to retrieve something he dropped and resumes his speed just as the cyclist pulls out in front of him.  Or, motorist stops and signals the cyclist to go ahead and the motorist behind the stopped vehicle pulls around the stopped vehicle.  There are so many scenarios where the person on the bicycle winds up splattered across a windshield because the cyclist failed to adhere rigidly to the rules of the road. 

  The other day a woman stopped for me and waved me through as I stood waiting for traffic to clear.  There was opposing traffic that didn't slow down.  I motioned for her to continue and she grew adamant that I was to go in front of her.  Finally, the opposing traffic stopped, seeing the argument that was transpiring between the motorist and me.  Now that I had two lanes of traffic standing still on a state highway, I felt obligated to cross even though I was NOT in a legal crosswalk and I was not a pedestrian.  At the very moment I had decided to relent and break the rules, a guy on a crotch rocket came zipping around the woman (on her right) at about 40 mph. 

  Rattlesnakes hold no terror compared to do-gooder motorists.  My dear readers, please, give cyclists their due.  They are due their piece of the road and you owe it to them to give them a safe distance even if that means inconveniencing yourself by slowing down until there is room to pass.  It's not nice to speed around them so closely that your draft pushes them off the road.  Similarly, it's not kind to blast your horn making a display of you assholedness.  But, do not think you are making up for all the jerks on the road by encouraging them to proceed out of turn.  The life you are risking by your act of kindness is mine.  It pains me to decline your generous gesture because I know you don't understand why I'm being so ungrateful.  Know that I'm grateful that you don't text whilst driving and accidentally knock me into the ditch.  I'm eternally thankful when you hug the center line as you pass to give me that extra bit of gravel free pavement.  And I love it when you make direct eye contact with me when it is my turn so that I know you see me. 

   

  • 12:59 am
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