Road Warriors

Although I've been spending most of my free time on horseback lately, on Wednesday Brian and I participated in a Bike to Work Week event that consisted of meeting over 150 other cyclist near the New Pioneer Co-Op in downtown Iowa City and then riding, led by a police escort and the mayor herself, to the New Pioneer Co-Op in Coralville. Once there we were greeted with a free dinner of tasty hummus pitas, strawberries, olives and natural ice-pops. In addition to food there was a free raffle (I won some Burt's Bees sunscreen and lotion). All the frivolity was accompanied by live music and good friends. After the bulk of the participants began to clear out, a small group of us adjourned to a nearby bar for a few drinks, although Brian and I called it a night before things had a chance to get raucous.

All in all, I think it is great that Iowa City is so supportive of those of us who take two wheels to work instead of four. There was an entertaining range of participants, and ample time to look at them since the ride rarely reached a cruising speed of more than a few miles per hour. Some people showed up in full kit with their race bikes. Some people rode in baggy shorts on full-suspension rigs. There was even a tandem. My favorite thing was looking at the selection of cool townies. I chose to bring out my trusty Jamis for the occasion.

I will say, however, that I noticed a number of things that left me wondering. For one thing, as the long string of cyclists wound its way through downtown Iowa City several times, we forced motorists and pedestrians to stop and watch us go by. I heard a number of angry comments from people who were not well pleased to take a moment out of their busy lives to gaze a the broad array of bikes in the street. I must say that although I think getting irritated over such a small delay is silly, on the other hand making people angry is not usually the best way to promote tolerance. I can't imagine anyone who was delayed getting home on Wednesday because of our ride would be happier to see more cyclists on the road in the future.

On top of that, I saw some cyclists behaving in a questionable manner. At one point the guy in front of me looked down, saw his shoelace was coming untied, so reached down with his hand, pulled it the rest of the way apart and then left it there, dangling dangerously near his drive-train. I took the first opportunity to get around this guy, not wanting to be caught in the tangle if he went down. Why he didn't just stop and tie his shoe, I do not know (like I said, the ride wasn't exactly a speedy one and he could have easily caught back up). At another point, a woman in front of me signaled to change lanes. She raised her right arm out to her side, bent at the elbow so that her hand was pointing up. Then she moved into the right lane. ??

And this brings me to the root of all evil between motorists and cyclists. Motorists are not the only uneducated people on the road. Many people who ride bikes make poor choices when doing so. They ride on sidewalks, run stop-signs, go the wrong way down one-way streets, use incorrect signals, and do things to deliberately agitate motorists. On the flip side, when I ride along conscientiously following traffic laws I am often honked at and yelled at by people passing in cars. Clearly, neither of these groups have any knowledge of the actual regulations that supposedly govern cyclists. When pedestrians and motorists have to deal with bikes barreling every which way on any strip of concrete available, who can blame them for sometimes being short-tempered?

Of course, as always, the answer is education. It seems like adding a mandatory bike section to traffic schools and license tests would go a long way to help motorist know how to treat bikes in traffic. Additionally, it seems bike stores could distribute some information to go with the bikes they sell, and cycling events could preface group rides with a few notes about proper bike etiquette. The truth is, until bikes and cars understand each other, there will always be conflict. Unfortunately for us bikers, miscommunication is far more likely to end with an injured cyclist than an injured driver.

Nevertheless, it was great to see all the cyclists out en-masse. And although a utopia where everyone commutes in their diverse and sundry ways exchanging only smiles and yielding with patience is still a ways off, I am impressed at the good work the Bike to Work Week people have done. I hope they keep it up.