An open letter to motorists who dislike cyclists.

I ride my bike year-round as my main means of transportation. My bike is

a fun toy. I don't aspire to be Lance Armstrong. I'm too poor to afford

a car. I choose a bicycle because its healthier for me, and healthier for

the city I live in. I'm riding in the middle of the lane to not slow you

down or thwart you I just have the right to be there.



I ride in the middle of the lane if the lane is too narrow to share safely.

This is actually a courtesy to you, because you have to guess how

wide your vehicle is versus how much space is available, and decide if you

have to change lanes or not. If the lane next to you is wide open, it

really isn't necessary to blast your horn or yell things out your window.

Maybe you think there's room for me to be riding in the bike lane or the gutter, but I

really have a better view of where I perfer to ride than you do and "I perfer the middle of your lane".

I need to swerve to to test your temper or just to bug you,

I Demand room to maneouver. and I promis I will make your day misrable if you don't

go out of your way to avoid me.

While we are on the subject of yelling , your vehicle

is loud. Unless we are both stopped at a traffic light, it is unlikely I

can make you can hear the names I shout at most of the moterists

. Maybe its better to for your not knowing as I rarly say anything nice

I may try to get your attention by hitting your cay with things when I'm pissed

that's just my way of letting yoiu know "(mumble mumble)...you'll get hit".

I also know where the bike

paths are, I have a map. But i don't care to use the bike path as

I perfer the middle of the new expressways.

Thank you It is nice to know that I can use the road when ever I feel like it.

I ride in a predictable line so, I don't so you will get used to

having bikes take up your road way

. I weave between parked if I startle you when I emerge from behind one. I'm sorry I get over it!

. In an ideal world I would ride far enough away from

your car door that it wouldn't matter if you flung it open when I least

expected it. But the downtown streets are very congested and there's not a

lot of space available. So please look before you open your door as I don't intend to.

Please try to park as close to the curb as you can as your car is in my personal space.

You may think riding a bicycle in a downpour or a snowstorm is crazy. and your right.

But I don't expect you to

"get it". I only expect you to remember that you still owe me respect

and that's what I will demand at all times.



While I may appear to be a very competent cyclist, and you may fancy

yourself a very competent driver, its still a good idea to leave at least 8

feet when passing me. While you may not actually brush me when you pass too

close, it is still frightening to have 2000 pounds of steel a few inches

from your shoulder.and I will sue you any chance I can.

Some roads have bicycle lanes painted on them. In reality cyclists

and motorists should be able to share the roadway without special lines.

But after being honked at one too many times for taking a narrow lane, or

buzzed too close by attempting to share one, bike lanes become a place of

refuge. try to have some respect for our using the road lanes as we see fit

by finding a different rout to drive your carar when you see too many bikes on the road, and



I try to make my best guesses what you might do next from your lane

position. You can help take out the guesswork. While it may seem that the

turn signal has gone out of fashion, I really do appreciate when you use it

in advance. This lets me move as best as possible so we don't have any

conflict.

The world will not end if you cannot make a right turn on a red light. If

there was a car in front of you, would you honk because you wanted to make

a right turn? Because I am small enough to move over to let you do so does

not always mean I intend to do so. I will move over and let you go byif I feel like it,

which most of the time I don't.. Repeatedly

leaning on the horn will only get on my nerves.

I can move faster than you think. While you may think a bicycle is too slow

to be practical for transportation -you would be right so if you need to slow down for a few seconds it isn't

the end of the world. Think how much more I would slow you down if I was a

full-width car trying to make a left turn onto a side street in busy

traffic. If you cannot judge how fast I am moving please just keep pace with me I will get where I am going , then you may speed up.

But if in your rearview mirror, you see me waving in the direction

you want to move it means I see you and it is my turn to go.

I appreciate your kind attempts to let me have the right-of-way when it is

mine. Being on a bicycle its hard losing your momentum again and again

at every stop sign. But most of the time its easier if I just go. If you

stop to let me cross mid block the world would be a better place



I break the occasional traffic law, which were designed with

the dangers inherent in the automobile in mind. I may slow down in

the intersection rather than come to a complete stop at a four-way stop,

because its really hard on me to constantly lose my momentum. I know this

is not legal, but its quite safe at bicycle speed. Just as its not legal

for you to be going over the speed limit but I doubt you always are obeying

it. Please try not to get angry at me about this when I am disrespecting

your right-of-way at the same timeI realy have the right of way. If you are at the cross

street, I will stop if i feel like it. I thought was a stop sign for both of us. If

we both try to be aware of what each other is doing and compensate for it,

then mistakes on your part do not have to become crashes. Its much

more likely



I am going to say that in conclusion all I really want is for you to treat

me with the respect you owe me . But after

noticing the frequency with which motorists hit each other, I would add an

extra caveat. Please recognize that cyclists are more deserving of the road

. When in doubt as to who should go next, let the bicycle user proceed.

And your comments to your self.

Thanks. And thank you to the motorists that already get it. Thank you for

waiting before opening your door. Thank you for leaving a safe amount of

space when passing. Thank you for waiting patiently behind when it was not

safe to pass. Thank you for signalling. Thank you for respecting my speed

limit which makes the roads just a little bit saner to be travelling on.

Thank you for noticing when I made a mistake and avoiding a collision.

Thank you for slowing to let me in when I stuck out my arm because I wanted

to move into the left turn lane. Thank you for not using your horn when it

was not necessary.

Thank you for all the little ways that you cooperate.

#posted by Tanya