A few weeks ago, I went cycling with a coworker. The initial thought was to go biking on roads, like I usually do, although it turned out I had misjudged her comfort level with cars and the plan was changed to a local bike path. While we were discussing the initially planned route and possible new ones, a few coworkers were listening in, and the conversation turned into how annoying cyclists were for drivers (my response: get over it), as well as the safety issues cyclists introduce on the roads, and whether they belong there at all.
It's easy to defend cycling as a commuting choice -- it's cheap, it's green, it gets cars off clogged roads. I have a hard time feeling much sympathy for any driver complaining about having to pass a bike commuter. However, it's more difficult to justify the type of riding I do. I'm out on roads with cars, but it's purely recreational and, well, selfish. Society doesn't benefit from me being out there, and it is creating a potentially dangerous situation on the road, although most of the danger is to the cyclist herself, of course.
Sure, bicycles secured the right to the road in the late 19th century (Thanks, Wikipedia!). But we work in the field of public health, so the argument that something should be allowed because it's been allowed for a long time doesn't hold water with us. Companies put lead in children's toys for a long time, that doesn't mean it's okay. I guess at the end of the day I would argue that I'm just taking advantage of laws meant to protect bike commuters, and the protection of those commuters is to the benefit of general society.
At work, I just briefly covered the societal benefits of bike commuting and geared the conversation more towards how to drive around cyclists. But I kept thinking back on it, and I still have the nagging feeling that maybe I DON'T belong on the road, since it is a purely selfish activity. Not that I'm going to stop, mind you. But it is selfish and inconvenient to others. Given my propensity for pleasing people, I'm pretty impressed with myself that I ride anyway, even through shouts of 'GET OFF THE ROAD' and 'BALL SACK'.
I leave you with this youtube clip: Cyclist Pranksters
Why would your form of recreation be any less than the person driving to the movies, to the spa, out burning gas on a Sunday sightseeing drive?
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog after seeing a comment on TE, so this is a really late response, but as a bike commuter who has lived in both very bike freindly and unfriendly cities, I think that habituation of drivers to bicyclists really improves safety. I live in a college town right now, and I have way more near misses in the fall than at other times of the year, because that is when there is always a new influx of drivers who aren't used to looking for bicyclists when they make turns or open doors.
ReplyDeleteSo, I totally agree with Kim in that you shouldn't feel the need to justify your recreation any more than a car driver does. But, if you want one anyways, just tell yourself that your presence on the road is training drivers to get used to and to accomodate other bicyclists, both recreational and commuting.
Really, it's a numbers game, the more bicyclists that use public facilities, the more those facilities have to be able to accomodate bicyclists, and the safer that makes everyone.
And shame on your collegues for working in a public health field and not being supportive of something which improves people's health.