Get Over Bike Lanes Already
Oh heavens! Someone is blocking the bike lane in front of me! Quick! Let me take a photo and blog it!
Seriously, fellow cyclists, you know why people think we’re weenies?
1) The clothes. For Pete’s sake, yellow lycra?
2) The incessant whining.
Look, “Share the Road” goes both ways. I don’t like whooshing into traffic to avoid a double-parked UPS truck, but I can also chalk that up to the price you pay for being able to get a goddamn package from this place. For every oblivious a-hole trolling for a parking spot at 5 mph there is a hard-working tradesperson who needs a quick in and out on a busy street.
Living in a city means making tradeoffs. In our nonstop complaining about being forced to veer around cars’ blind spots, I think we’re developing a major one of our own. Personally, I think bikes are a much better way to get around town than cars, no matter the weather, and I bloody hate when someone’s parked in the bike lane. But we are a tiny percentage of the vehicular population in D.C., and I think it’s time we stopped acting like that gives us superpowers. Let it go and just ride.
Photo by Flickr user tvol
4 Responses to “Get Over Bike Lanes Already”
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September 19th, 2008 at 11:09 am
But might not cyclists become a bigger percentage of the vehicular population in DC if biking in the city was easier and if cyclists were treated as if they had a right to be on the road as well? Since we all know that bicycles are a more environmentally friendly and space-saving form of transportation, shouldn’t we be doing everything we can to encourage it? I don’t actually bike in the city myself (I’m a walker/bus-rider), but maybe I would if I felt like it was safer.
September 19th, 2008 at 11:40 am
I’m with Andrew on the double-park thing. It’s jut not a big deal. It’s actually not even illegal to double park in a road with NO bike lane while loading and unloading for short periods of time. And frankly, I’m glad, because sometimes it’s a necessity. You want to carry your groceries from three blocks away from the closest parking spot? How about a piece of furniture?
It seems even less offensive to double park when there is a bike lane - since it leaves the travel lane open for cars, and yes, for bikes too, who can swing into the travel lane easily enough. Just pretend for a minute you’re on one of the 98% of the roads WITHOUT bike lanes.
It’s about sharing the road, remember? If anyone can honestly say they’ve never double-parked while loading or unloading something, I’d be very surprised. Everyone will need to to that at some point. Get over it, stop whining, and go around the car.
September 19th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Amen to Jamie. This veteran urban biker says: Get over yourselves, people!
October 14th, 2008 at 12:26 am
I never ride in the bike lane anyway. Like any sensible cyclist, I just take the travel lane, and let the drivers catch my vapors.
Hush. No whining…