Move to Oregon if you want to ride a bike, Texas is truck country
Sometimes I just sit and scratch my head over how awful people can be once they get behind a computer screen (never mind a wheel). This just in from Houston:
HOUSTON (KTRK) — Houston police are searching for the driver who hit and nearly killed a man riding a bicycle early this morning.
The man on the bike was struck while pedaling eastbound on Clinton Drive about 2am. The driver
never stopped, leaving the cyclist lying on the road, bleeding from his head.It was actually a train conductor who saw the cyclist in the road and called 911 after stopping his train.
The first comment in this article says:
I have to admit I’m sick of seeing these bicyclist on the road they think you should look out for them, heck their just in the way.
Then we read:
We have special lanes for bikes or sidewalks yet these bike riders dont ever use them. I hate driving down memorial drive and having these people on the road when clearly there is a BIKE PATH.
and
tree huggin bike riders should stay out of the road, none of them obey the real bike laws anyway. Move to oregon if you want to ride a bike, this is truck country
Sigh.
–Erik Ryberg
April 1st, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Egad. “This is truck country”? Really? I mean, I know all stereotypes have a basis in reality, but this is getting ridiculous. It’s not as if a bike is a threat to a car/truck. You have to swerve three feet over? Big effin’ deal. What is it that makes drivers so intimidated by bikes? Should be the other way around. Weird, weird, weird.
April 1st, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Reporting from Oregon here, they’re right. No trucks, just bikes as far as the eye can see. In fact, cyclists often complain about swerving to avoid the brave few motorists on Oregon roads, and the angry will attack drivers with bike chains and wrenches.
Yeah, right. Sigh.
April 8th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
You know, I’ve noticed that those with the most visceral responses toward cyclists are those that have never ridden a bike on the road before.
I ride in flagstaff. I ride everywhere. Everyday. Right now, the snow is nearly melted and the bike lanes are covered with dangerous, slippery cinders. I usually ride right on the white line.
These people don’t see cyclists as people. Instead, we symbolize a social/environmental consciousness that they don’t like. It’s bullshit because I recognize that I am not doing anything positive for the environment when I ride. I ride my bike because I like to ride my bike. Period.
All this hatred toward bikers has nothing to do with us. They’re not happy with their own lives, stuck in traffic, stuck listening to crappy radio, and they need to take it out somewhere. They’re just jealous of all the freedom we have.