While riding to a restaurant over the weekend a woman in a large American car screamed at me out her widow "OUT THE BIKE LANE!" I think she meant, "Sir, you should be riding in the bike lane since it's provided as a safe means of segregating pathways for drivers, cyclists and walkers instead of biking in the oncoming traffic lane like you are right now." For the sake of clarity I really wasn't riding in the lane of oncoming traffic. Or, to be fair, I was in that lane, but it was just to get around a delivery truck that had the bike lane and the car lane, so (like the cars I was riding with) I went into the oncoming lane for a moment to get around the parked car. I realized that it's become somewhat acceptable for people driving cars to yell at cyclists who are out of the bike lanes. I thought, "Well, she has a point. There IS a bike lane." But I don't yell at walkers when they stroll off the sidewalk an onto the street. I think I'm still just getting used to the privilege of having bike lanes. It's okay, soon I'll get used to it and begin feeling entitled, just like the lady who yelled at me feels when she drives her car on the trillion-dollar network of roads and highways all over this country.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Out of the Bike Lane
While riding to a restaurant over the weekend a woman in a large American car screamed at me out her widow "OUT THE BIKE LANE!" I think she meant, "Sir, you should be riding in the bike lane since it's provided as a safe means of segregating pathways for drivers, cyclists and walkers instead of biking in the oncoming traffic lane like you are right now." For the sake of clarity I really wasn't riding in the lane of oncoming traffic. Or, to be fair, I was in that lane, but it was just to get around a delivery truck that had the bike lane and the car lane, so (like the cars I was riding with) I went into the oncoming lane for a moment to get around the parked car. I realized that it's become somewhat acceptable for people driving cars to yell at cyclists who are out of the bike lanes. I thought, "Well, she has a point. There IS a bike lane." But I don't yell at walkers when they stroll off the sidewalk an onto the street. I think I'm still just getting used to the privilege of having bike lanes. It's okay, soon I'll get used to it and begin feeling entitled, just like the lady who yelled at me feels when she drives her car on the trillion-dollar network of roads and highways all over this country.
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