Today I rode 3/4 of my usual route around Norfolk, coming home a little sooner than I normally would to avoid extended periods of sitting in traffic (it was a little after 5). I was really excited to test out my newest piece of "riding gear", my Patagonia El Ray shirt that had just arrived today! It's not a cycling shirt. It's not tight. It isn't fluorescent colored either. It is light colored, kind of a checkered pattern of green, light green and white and is supposed to help keep you cool and protect you from the sun while outdoors for extended periods. Kind of a hiking/camping shirt. It's a lightweight synthetic material although it feels like new cotton to me, and is long sleeved/collared and has snaps on the cuffs too. It seems to wick away sweat okay although I definitely had a nice case of sweaty back by the time I was ready to call it quits on my ride today. I'm ranting already and about a shirt, I almost hope no one really reads this crap. Anywho... so I feel great about this new shirt, cause now I don't feel it necessary to wear 2 layers of shirts while i ride (my long sleeve jersey shirt with my bright yellow vest over it). And the shirt is super comfy.
So I'm riding along and I see a couple spandex clad guys on road bikes up ahead coming toward me and as they approach I look toward them start saying hello and realize they are talking to each other, one guy looks at me and neither say anything or wave or smile or give me a peace sign, a thumbs up or any sort of acknowledgement to say "hey you're on a bike! we're on bikes! How's it going?" Maybe I'm old fashioned, maybe I read too far into things. But it annoys the poop out of me when I pass other people on bikes, especially grown men who are clearly out on a recreational ride and they don't acknowledge me. We're on bicycles. There's an unspoken (it's actually not that unspoken these days!) rule that you greet other people on bikes. I smile and wave at little kids on bikes, at elderly people riding trikes down sidewalks, at "homeless crackheads" on bikes, teenagers being obnoxious on bmx bikes, at anybody who's on a bike. It really makes me happy to see other people on bikes! So a couple turns later, I see another guy on a trek "hybrid" ( i hate the phrase "hybrid" btw, i feel like it gets abused in the bicycle industry these days. My bridgestone rb-2 could probably be defined as a hybrid just because it doesn't have drop bars and super skinny tires. It's just getting watered down. Why don't we just say utility bike or commuter bike?) and as he passes, he doesn't say anything to me either, doesn't look in my direction, doesn't smile, doesn't nod...nothing. I found this weird, and kept riding. I rode down Powhatan back by ODU and saw another guy wearing spandex on a road bike and didn't get the time of day, and by "didn't get the time of day", I mean I didn't get a nod, wave, smile, peace sign, thumbs up, hello, nothing. Oh well. I guess I shouldn't let it bother me. I have a different taste in bicycles than the majority of the other people who take their bikes/cycling in general maybe a little too seriously around Norfolk, maybe these people see my bike and see me wearing shorts that aren't "bike shorts" ( i wear my Rivendell Musa shorts over my Specialized BG comp bikeshorts) and no cycling jersey and they think I'm not "like them" and I'm not. They would certainly be correct to a degree. But we're all out enjoying ourselves on bikes! Why not acknowledge the fact that the people we're crossing paths with are doing WHAT WE'RE DOING?!?!?! and just WAVE or SAY HELLO?!?! How hard is that?!?! I did say hello to an old man who was out for a walk right after I got dissed by the roadie guy on Powhatan. I found this interesting. The old man who was out for a walk, I'm assuming for a little exercise, smiled, waved and said hello to me as I rode by and smiled, waved and greeted him. I was also acknowledged by a few people walking dogs, and at least one person on a porch that I said hello to, said hello back. So is it a classism thing going on? Is it that the guys I passed on bicycles today didn't acknowledge me because I have a beard and big holes in my ears and tattooed knees and am riding a bike that's almost 20 years old? I'm clearly not a clean cut business man out for a recreational spin on my modern carbon fiber status symbol. But to me, my bikes are status symbols as well. They are awesome! All of them!!! Except my fixed gear Raleigh Supercourse which will soon be parted and retired, as it has only been bad luck for me since it's come into my life, I won't get into that here. Anywho... I don't think it's even a matter of class symbol "that guy's bike is shitty" politics, I think people just aren't polite to strangers anymore. When someone walks by a the sidewalk, isn't it polite to say hello to them? When I walk places, I say hello to people I pass and I expect them to greet me in return. This is what everyone should expect. So everyone out there, when you ride your bike, say hello to other people on bikes. I, personally am becoming a big fan of the thumbs up and a hello as a greeting. People on motorcycles have an unspoken wave or point or greeting, Jeep people (usually Wrangler drivers) have an unspoken wave as well. (Don't believe me? Ride in a Jeep and wave at everyone else that's driving a Jeep and I guaranty 80-90% will wave back!!!!!) It's not hard for us all to be nice to each other!!! I'm done ranting about this for now.
There are a particular breed of people out there who throw caution into the wind and risk their own and almost everyone else' safety in their method of travel. We've all encountered these folks. They usually wear dark clothing and like magic, appear out of thin air with nothing reflective or illuminated on themselves or their vehicles: I'm talking about those people who ride the wrong way on the road. Against traffic. Why? Why? Why? Would anyone think this is a good idea? I've had people tell me that the older generations may have thought this was the safest way to travel by bicycle as you can see the approaching cars. I don't think I can make sense of this. But at the same time, 50ish years ago they put lead in paint and asbestos in insulation. Back then there were alot of things that weren't known yet about safety and weren't 100% investigated before being practiced. I had this conversation at my local bike shop recently about why riding against traffic is a terrible idea, and I started crunching the numbers and explaining to a younger guy that hangs out there regularly how much less time drivers have to react to seeing a cyclist in the road ahead when you ride against traffic vs riding with traffic. Please feel free to skip this boring math part...
So... If a cyclist is traveling at 20 mph riding against traffic that is going 45 mph. In reality, it's giving those drivers the same amount of time to react to the "obstruction" in their lane as if they were traveling at 65 mph passing something that is stopped/stationary in the lane ahead. Because the objects are traveling oward each other, the speeds are added. Reverse the situation and if the cyclist is traveling 20 mph flowing with traffic, that same traffic going 45 mph, now has more than twice as much time (2.6 times the amount of time to be exact) to react to the object in the lane ahead as if it were stationary, because the objects are both moving in the same direction subtracting the speed gives you the effective speed that allows for more reaction time (which is all that matters in this equation!!!!!)
This is simple math. Alot of people don't get this. Alot of people have trouble looking at situations like this from another perspective (THE DRIVER'S PERSPECTIVE!!!!!), which creates a VERY unsafe situation. It bothers me when I see people riding at night with no lights on their bikes. A rear red blinky light is a no-brainer to me. BUT!!!!!!!... I see people all the time with no rear blinky lights. Riding against traffic is a no-brainer to me as well. You SHOULD NOT DO IT! BUT!!!!!! i see people do it all the time. They almost always seem to pick out there darkest clothes and just go ride against traffic. It's crazy. I wish bicycle safety were taught in public schools. Elementary through highschool! If it is these days, maybe i should be a bicycle safety instructor. One last statement relating to this: Motorscooters are NOT bicycles, and if you ride a motorscooter in the BIKELANE going THE WRONG WAY!!!!!!!!!!! I'd like to kick you in the shins, 3 times in each shin. (for Joe B a friend who I rant to at work about stupid things like this all the time)
Until next time. Wear your helmet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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