Chicks had a great ride today and while we were sauntering around hill and dale, Eileen said she found a chat board on the Net where motorists in Lancaster were posting about how awful it was on the roads for cars during the Covered Bridge Ride. There were over 4100 riders on the roads of Lancaster County with not enough support personnel, so things got dicey. Too many riders doing bad stuff.
I would have to agree with the motorists on this one as I wondered myself what in heck did the cars do. I saw some cars giving up and just riding in the left lanes for long periods of time.
I think we, as cyclists, now have to bike defensively and constantly try not to take over the roads. It is very easy in a group to get distracted and forgot about the cars. Or expect the cars to not mind riding behind us for long periods of time.
But with so many people texting and talking on cell phones, you have to bike with the notion that car is KING. For one thing, it is way bigger than a bike and way more deadly. I will repeat again and again, NEVER interact with a car when biking with me. We will simply ignore them, never clog up an intersection and get over fast when cars are coming up behind.
Maybe this is easier for chicks than guys. The guys can get confrontational with each other when a motorists gets nasty. Who knows??
I have an idea, next time you are on your bike, do something really nice for a motorist. An example, today on my way home, I got to an intersection, Washington and Darlington. Four cars were in line to cross in front of me. I waved the first guy, then decided to wave them all. They all had smiles on their faces.
So pay one forward and start a chain reaction. It just might help our image out there on the roads. Eileen said the hatred on that website was unreal. Remember your life depends on biking well. And on lessening the anger motorists now have towards cyclists.
It is easy to complain, let's take some steps to change that.
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