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I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike
- Aug 28 2008
- 5
It wasn't quite an epiphany — not even one of those light-bulb moments. Just a slow realization I'm surprised I hadn't made before. This was noon on a Saturday, in the slow lane of Interstate 5 — a thousand cars stretched back to Bakersfield and me going nowhere. And: A few days later, peddling my bike down Palm Avenue when a passing motorist yells, “get off the road!”
The two are only slightly related.
Because, here it is, cars are dumb.
Before you go all retired-English teacher on me, I realize cars are inanimate objects and, therefore, unable to literally be dumb. In fact, let me take that back. Cars aren't dumb. Just cumbersome and a bit selfish and inefficient as a mode of short-distance personal transportation.
Those aren't the reasons I ride a bike, but they don't hurt.
I ride because it's fun. Because there is something about the simplicity of a bike. It goes because I do.
Yes, there are things you can't do on a bike —carry the week's groceries, look cool cruising Blackstone Avenue, make out in the back seat. Then, there's the weather and the bad roads and the smells (last Thursday was a bad, bad day). But that's also part of the charm. You're not locked away behind metal and glass and conditioned air. You feel the bumps and wind.
Riding a bike screams, “This is an experience, take it in!”
And this summer, the number of new cyclists across the county has increased. All sorts of crazy stuff like that happens when gas hits $4 a gallon. People take buses. People take trains. People ride bike. Four in 10 say they've used public transportation, and walked or ridden more since gas prices have gone up, according to a recent AARP poll. Transportation Alternatives, a bicycling advocacy group, estimates that 131,000 people ride every day in New York, that's up 77 percent since 2000, according to a story on Fresno Bike Coalition's Web site.
And you can see it here, as the city paints more bike lanes. There's now lanes on Palm Avenue, north of Shaw. There are more bikes on the road, their lights blink-blinking in the distance, beacons from my brothers and sisters on wheels.
Granted, I've never been a car guy. I grew up in a small town, where everything is in walking distance. I was 25 when I finally got my driver's licence, so carpooling was a way of life.
But the allure of a car is a powerful thing. It is the ultimate symbol of American independence — a ticket to anywhere, at anytime. With a car and a tank of gas, you're never stuck. There's always the possibility of a new horizon, an escape. It's freedom — in very literal terms.
It permeates American pop culture. As cool as Steve McQueen was in “Bullitt,” the star of the movie was the car — a Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang 390 CID Fastback (to be fair, I had to Google it).
Even China, a place known for bicycles, tens of thousands of them, has taken to the car — some 20,000 new cars hit the road each day (thank you, Olympic news coverage).
But the president is fond of saying “freedom isn't free,” and it's true. Y'all can do the math, but with payments and insurance and registration, it's way more than the $4 a gallon you pay at the pump.
Now, don't take me as the voice for bike riders in town. There are plenty of those if you're looking (see: www.fresnobike.org, http://www.myspace.com/fresnocriticalmass). I don't wear Spandex out for a weekend ride, I don't ride a fixed gear, and I'm not up for storming the streets Critical Mass style.
If you are, they're meeting at 6 p.m. tonight on the East lawn of Fresno High.
I own a car. I drive a car. But I also ride when I can. I'm just a commuter, pedaling my way around town.
And car culture is like the Ramones, too tough to die — even though most of them have. People will do what they want and we shouldn't judge (unless they drive a Hummer).
After all, this is a “free” country.
But next time you're stuck in traffic, you'll forgive me when I say, “This, this is dumb.”
5 Comment(s) for "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike"
One thing I just can't let slide. . .
It is no less illegal to roll through a stop sign on a bicycle than it is in a car. We have the same rights as cars, but we also have the same responsibilities.
The one instance I should note, is that in my opinion, it is correct that if a red light signal will not change because it does not detect your bicycle, then you may proceed through the light as if it is inoperable, which means you stop, and proceed with caution. However, I would wait until you are sure you are not being detected before running the light. In court, your argument would be considerably weaker if you didn't even wait to give a chance for the signal to cycle through.
Keep in mind that most of the red light detection loops the City is currently installing, and some of the ones they have already installed (they are magnetic by the way, not triggered by weight), do in fact detect bicycles. (Thanks to cycling advocates.)
Good luck, ride safe, use a light at night, and always wear a helmet.
Every bike lane you see is there because a cycling advocate convinced a governmental agency to put it there.
What that means is, if you want it to be safe to ride a bike, you must somehow get to someone who makes the decisions to make it safe to ride a bike.
Government does nothing without being asked and little without being forced.
Get involved with cycling advocacy and write your congressman!
The problem is that some streets are just dangerous to bike on, and thats the streets with speed limits over 35. streets with 45 or 50 are extremely dangerous even with a bike lane.
Downtown is not to bad for bike riding at in some areas during the day. To me its where there is more automobile traffic when it's harder to ride, because you might be hidden from other vehicles by a larger vehicle and when that one moves out of the way the vehicle approaching might see you and it maybe too late.
Intersections are the really dangerous places. If there is a lot of traffic you have to watch out for cars that might turn in to you. But if you are on a bike and their are no cars coming and you can't get the light to change then you have to cross on a red, Stop signs are the same if there is no cross traffic and you peddle up to the crossing road, and you are going a walking speed you see no cars coming then why come to a complete stop, just go through.
But there are some dumb bicyclists who will ride on the wrong side of the road, you should ride on the right always, but sometimes it's easy to cross over to the left if you are going to be turning left at the next street.
But the best advice is to ride a bike like you are inviable and no one can see you, then you have to watch out for every thing that comes close to you, it's the safest way to ride, also a helmet, not so loose cloths and some sturdy shoes can help, I think it's funny to see people riding bikes with flipflops and sandals on, or even barefoot like they are riding on a beach. Also people who smoke and ride, breathing the automobile exhaust is bad, why make it even worst by choking on a cigarette. I need to get a medical mask instead of a bandanna over my mouth so I will not look like a terrorist for those bad air days, I did see a lot of other bike riders with some kind of mouth cover when those forest fires burned last month.
My daughter was saying that she would be scared to be a bike rider in Fresno because people drive too crazy. And then after a moment of silence she said what i was thinking, "shame."
Cool post.
My work is about 2 or 3 miles from my home--perfect biking distance. The only problem is, it's mostly on that road out of Kingsburg: Sierra/201/Road 400 whatever you wanna call it. There's sections of it with almost no shoulder--about 4 inches of pavement past the white line marking the lane's boundary, then it's soft gravel. Big rigs and folks driving fast through the country use this road. I'd love to be bike commuting, but I think it's asking for a nasty death. I see there's a little road work going on there. If they can get that road widened a tad, I might try it.