Pet Peeve

One of my pet peeves that I have about cycling in the city are THOSE CYCLIST WHO INSIST ON USING SIDEWALKS!!!!

Sidewalks are for pedestrians.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

pedestrian

noun
1.
a person who travels by foot

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.


Every time that I ride past a cyclist on the sidewalk, I always think to myself that they are making this hard for me to be on the road. Not all of the motorist are happy that they have to share the road with me. This just gives them motive to honk at me or curse at me or even throw things at me for being on the road.

As much as I like to see cyclists out there riding I just wish they would do it the right way. If everyone is doing it the right way and obeying the rules of the road we would begin to build strength by numbers. Out of all of the cyclists that I do past, majority of them are on the sidewalk so I do normally feel like the lone rider in the streets. But I still hold my ground and claim the part of the road that belongs to me.

I do understand why people prefer to ride on the sidewalk, they may feel it is safer. Which it might be for them. I know for myself that I feel safer on the road then on the sidewalk. Where ever you ride you quickly learn where the hidden dangers are and adapt to them. There was a period in my biking days when I would bike to school. I would bike on the sidewalk on the way to school. Many close calls on the way to school with drivers in a hurry to pull out of a parking lot of Tim Horton's. Then I would bike home with the traffic on the road and I never had a close call, I felt I was where I belonged.

But I do feel that if more people start to ride on the road where they should motorist will start to see that we belong and it isn't just the oddball who rides on the street. I know there are many commutes to work where I think of the WHAT IF all these cars on the road were BIKES.

That is what keeps me going WHAT IF........

Ten Commandments of Bicycle Commuters

Ten Commandments of Bicycle Commuters
by Jack Sweeney



Inspired by the recent post “Drivers’ Ten Commandments“, Moe and I came up with a set for bicycle commuters. Think of it as a revised, more irreverent version of the Cyclist’s 10 Commandments as published by the League of American Bicyclists:

1. Thou shall not ride on the sidewalk. The sidewalk is for amateurs.

2. Never ride the opposite way. You may crash against real bike commuters.

3. Obey all traffic laws when and where you can. It is really embarrassing to get a ticket on a bike.

4. Always carry a mini-pump. Calling your wife or walking the bike really sucks.

5. Thou shall wear a helmet. If you value anything contained between your ears, it’s the smart thing to do.

6. Thou shall carry repair tools. Even if you never break down, you might be able to help someone else in need.

7. Thou shall remain visible. Make your “Technicolor Dreamcoat” out of bright colors, lights, blinkies and reflectors.

8. Thou shall not stink! Keep a spare deodorant at work.

9. Avoid angry confrontations. A little calmness goes a long way towards changing a motorist’s mind.

10. Thou must smile. Remember, you’re on a bike, not stuck in traffic!!

What a Feeling

So this happened to me awhile ago...but it is something that I have yet to forget.

For those that know me, know that I bike to work year round, I do it because I can. This one day at the start of my commute one of the greatest feelings hit me. I didn't even leave my driveway yet, I make it to the end of the driveway and of course look both ways before merging on to the road. I live on a street that isn't busy at all, but today there's some traffic that I have to wait for. But today it was BIKE traffic. It made my day because usually you have to wait for cars and what not but today there were bikes now there was only 3 bikes that I had to wait for and it just made me think what if there were only bikes that we had to wait for and Bikes were the majority.

I Guess ONE DAY just maybe ONE DAY that will happen.

First Post

So this is my first blog.

There isn't going to be too much to this blog. Not really worth reading. But I think the goal of my blog will serve the purpose of keeping things near by when I want to find somethings that I have found on the Internet. I find myself aimlessly surfing on the web looking for what I don't always know, but I do always seem to find some interesting stuff. So I figure if I decide to blog about it than it will be right at my fingertips when I want to go back and quickly find those sites.

Majority of this Blog is going to be on BIKING, there may be a few other life experiences that I include and for those that decide to read it I hope not to bore you with my rambles, but if you enjoy them then read on.