Momentum USA Nov/Dec 2011
bells whistles thebigidea WRITER MIA BIRK clueless or RUDE commonplace When a person on a bike changes lanes abruptly or occupies a travel lane or fails to use a hand signal or rolls a stop sign or runs a red light we grumble we stereotype we castigate We note that the person wasnt wearing a helmet and didnt have proper blinkie lights ey should have been on the sidewalk not the road Or they should have been on the road not the sidewalk Recently a councilwoman said she wouldnt support funding Portlands public bike share program until she sees bike riders using downtown streets and sidewalks in a safe manner Extend this logic and well halt roadway funding until all motorists stop running red lights and talking on the phone Is it because almost all of us drive so we simply accept each others bad driving cell phone talking texting red light running speeding behaviors Or is it the dehumanizing impacts of the metal box as Tom Vanderbilt explained in Tra c Why We Drive the Way We Do And What it Says About Us Suggestions Lets all of us who ride become familiar with the bikeway routes in our towns and use them as much as possible And lets all of us who drive be very patient Lets not be too quick to judge or scorn those in front of us no matter how annoying their presence Enjoy the ride Mia Birk is the award winning author of Joyride Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet president of Alta Planning Design principal Alta Bicycle Share Inc and co founder of the Initiative for Bicycle Pedestrian Innovation at Portland State University For 20 years she has been transforming communities and empowering people to bicycle for daily transportation one pedal stroke at a time She and her two children live and ride in Portland OR MIABIRK COM AND ALTAPLANNING COM @ MIABIRK W ere almost home one evening ancé Glen driving Up ahead close to our house in Portland OR right smack in front of us in the travel lane on Hawthorne Street there is no bike lane is a young fellow on a bike No helmet headphones jammed in his ears Krypto lock in his butt pocket Glen throws up his right arm in frustration murmurs a few choice words A few blocks later we turn Why does this minimal delay trigger even a whi of ire Glen mind you rides a utilitarian bike on a daily basis and is a competitive triathlete Also a very calm human and a super swell guy Goodlooking too Honey I ask We got stuck behind a bus We had to wait for pedestrians We were delayed by a dozen di erent things Why does the cyclist piss you o Total time delay on our trip 20 maybe 30 minutes Total delay caused by the bike riding dude 20 seconds Because he can go someplace else Ah He means SE Lincoln the fabulous bicycle boulevard ve blocks a quarter mile away is is our street Why is he using it ere are some of course who couldnt care less that theres a fabulous bikeway nearby Strong and fearless we call them Folks who will ride wherever they want whenever they want and to hell with you for suggesting that every road isnt a bikeway Or perhaps the young feller just isnt aware of this excellent option I often wonder this when I see cyclists on SE César Chavez Blvd 39th a miserably congested four lane road I think Poor baby dont you know that the 40s Bikeway is just two blocks away and is much much better I want to hand them each a map or gesture with kindness Come with me and all will be revealed A third possibility the kid needs to get to someplace right on Hawthorne Going a quarter mile out of his way would make no sense at brings us back to Glens reaction which is in my experience 17 MOMENTUMPLANET COM NOV DEC 11
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