I want a jersey imprinted with an easy-to-read explanation that cyclists are supposed to be on the road.
On the other hand, I sympathize with the commenters frustrated with the many Boston bikers flaunt the rules of the road. This bothers me as a pedestrain (because I’ve almost been hit) and as a cylclist (because those people are giving everyone else [me] a bad name).
(via meaghan)
This is a great post, and a great set of comments from meaghan. I commute through Boston on my bike to work, from Quincy to Cambridge, regularly, and this post really strikes home.
When I lived in San Francisco I got a t-shirt from the SF Bicycle Coalition that listed a cyclists “Right to the full use of lane” on the back. While that law, in those words, may not exist everywhere, I know that when folks honk at me, and tell me to “get off the fucking road”, I have the law on my side.
But having that law on your side also entails being on the side of the law. While I will slip between backed up cars on Mass Ave during rush hour, I obey every single other law I can - just so I can back up any claim when some jack ass cuts me off.
In three years I’ve been doored, run into a parked car, run off the road twice, and almost got into an altercation with a motorist, all while following the traffic rules of the state I was in. And not to mention the numerous times that someone pulls out, or cuts me off, and I have plenty of time to dodge.
I love riding my bike. I’m not going to stop riding my bike. I am just glad to be at the forefront of the shift from SUV/Light Trucks that seem to be the majority of those that honk or curse at us, to low / no emission vehicles that will dominate our landscape soon enough.
