BIKE: Re: Statesman Editorial: Cyclists: Be Careful

[Joe Moore]

Any cyclist that rides so fast that he can't avoid an accident on a shared
trail is in the wrong! I feel sorry for the mom and her child.
On the other hand, the same applies to us cyclist on the roads, but the
steaks are higher for us if a car goes to fast and can't avoid  hitting us.
The driver of the car may be wrong, but the cyclist is dead.

I avoid Hike and Bike trails 99% of the time.  I ride way to fast to feel
comfortable riding on one.  About the fastest one can safely ride is about
15 mph and have enough time to avoid un-predictable runners and pedestrians.
I've only ridden on a few Hike and Bike routes that are designed properly
for both pedestrians and cyclists.  The paths are 4-lane type routes where
the cyclists have the right-of way down the center lanes and pedestrians
have to stay in the right lane.
When I am out running, the majority of cyclists I've seen using Hike and
Bike trails are youths, or "weekend warriors" who don't have the riding
skills developed and/or are to uncomfortable enough to contend with cars on
the streets.
I am amazed that there aren't more cyclist/pedestrian accidents considering
how many of the riders I see on these routes are on low-end bicycles that
look like they are about to fall apart!
The weekend rider need somewhere that they feel safe and comfortable in
order to learn how to ride, or feel safe while they trying to enjoy the
scenery, or just have a good time being outside.

I think that we will have to wait another 15 to 20 years before cycling
comes of age. When gasoline and energy costs become prohibitive to drive the
car for short trips and joyriding and alternate forms of transportation
become the norm.

Regards;

Joe


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A. Gelfand" <agelfand>
To: <forum-bicycleaustin.info>
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 3:18 PM
Subject: BIKE: Statesman Editorial: Cyclists: Be Careful


> Anyone read this? I agree that the cyclist was very wrong here, if it
> happened like the writer says it did. However, I think it would have been
> more appropriate to address the offender specifically instead of sending
> out a vague yet strong message that cyclists are the inhuman two hundred
> pound enemy, squashing little children into the pavement (on a hike and
> bike trail?). Will the statesman ever print a letter villifying motorists
> who squash cyclists with 3,000 pounds of driver and steel? Also, if
sharing
> the hike and bike trail with walkers is so dangerous, then why are cities
> (like Round Rock) building more of these trails "for" cyclists? Cyclists
> mess up car traffic _and_ run over little kids on hike trails. Is there
> anyplace where cyclists can bike "safely"?
>
> Sorry for the bitterness, but I get harassed so frequently that I cringe
> every time the Statesman publishes crap like this than fans the fire of
> driver hostility, to the point where cyclists hesitate to follow the law
> for fear of getting "squashed.". When I read the "right turn only"
threads,
> I agreed that the cyclist should always move in the rightmost lane that is
> going in his direction, but I also have a lot of sympathy for a cyclist
> hesitating to move into a fast-moving lane of traffic. I have to do this
> twice on my commute from work. I "solve" the problem by riding during slow
> times, but sometimes even those non-rush hour motorists do not want to
pass
> me safely.
>
> I just got back from Lufkin's Pineywood Purgatory ride, which _rocked_. At
> no time during the 72-mile ride did a motorist honk at me or pass closer
> than a half-lane-width away. Most of the cars pulled into the left lane
> entirely. )I was told that the other 364 days of the year they go back to
> throwing beer bottle at the cyclists, but that's another story....) I
> wonder what the  Outlaw 100 ride will bring? It occurs to me that if the
> driver who killed that woman on the Outlaw 100 ride would  not have hit
the
> cyclist had she (the driver) pulled over to the left adequately to pass?
>
> Does this editorial need to be addressed by another letter to the editor?
> Can that be done without sounding like a child-hating jerk?
>
> Anyway, here's the letter.................
> ********************************************************
>
> "A bicyclist ran over my 9-year-old daughter as we were walking to school
> on the Shoal Creek hike and bike trail recently. He came down the hill
> behind us, too fast, didn't alert us that he was coming, and assumed he
> knew which way we would dodge when we finally heard him. He guessed wrong
> and ran right into my daughter. We're very lucky that she suffered only
> scrapes , bruises, and a lot of tears. I'm trying not to imagine the
> injuries a child could receive being squashed on the pavement by two
> hundred pounds of bicycle and rider. Walkers have the right of way on the
> hike and bike trails, followed by runners and then cyclists. It's always
> the cyclist's responsibility to pass pedestrains slowly enough to avoid an
> accident."
>
>
>
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