Unsafe? Sometimes. Reckless? Maybe. Does it give cyclists a bad name? No more than speeding does motorists. On two wheels or four, everybody breaks traffic laws with the same calculation of risk, penalty, and "How much sooner can I get there?"
This creates another conflict between cyclist and motorist. It's not just the guy jumping his Cannondale off a curb into traffic that irks the latter camp; it's the thought that he's getting there faster that also galls.
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To motorists, it's a rebuke, a sign that the system isn't working: low tech beats high tech, smaller trumps larger, economy defeats excess . . . up is down, and black is white. And guess what, Seattle? Our increasing density is only going to make cycling more efficient for short trips. The city transportation department estimates that it's already faster to bike than to drive from the U District to the Pike Place Market during rush hour. Five years from now? Just try it.
Then there's parking. Talk about convenient. During the time it takes you to read this sentence, I've parked and locked my bike.
IN NO PARTICULAR order, here are a few useful cycling tips I've gleaned from years on the asphalt, some of the wisdom still embedded in my skin: (1) Assume all motorists are idiots. (2) Assume all cyclists are idiots. (3) No one ever signals. (4) If you're going to turn, or think an oncoming driver is even thinking about turning, make eye contact. (5) There's nothing more dangerous than a cab without a fare, which will invariably turn or stop in front of you. (6) Yes, you should generally hug the curb/parking lane to let traffic pass you. (7) However, when doing so, assume any and all car doors will suddenly swing open—hence the dreaded expression "I was doored." (8) Unless you're carrying a change of clothes, pedal just up to the point where you're sweating, then ease off a bit; you'll only lose a few minutes. (9) Yes, it's permissible to wipe your nose on your glove. (10) Anything beats riding the bus. The bus is for losers—unless it's raining.
AS THE CBC'S Scott Marlow says about cycle commuting, "It's not a religion." Amen to that, brother. Instead of viewing the bike as a vehicle to moral improvement, instead of treating motorists like infidels, we need to keep the roads ecumenical.
Certainly there are sins to correct all around—mine included. Here's another example from my bicycle diaries, this time on a particularly wet, foul morning along Western. Hating life for having foolishly opted not to bus to work, I do my usual illicit weaving until a left-turn lane, where I stop for oncoming cars, getting wetter and wetter by the second. Beside me, a motorist abruptly halts in traffic and rolls down her window. "I just want you to know that I'm a cyclist, and that kind of riding gives cyclists everywhere a bad name," she snaps.
Then, before I can reply, she drives off.
In her SUV.
Now I'm a motorist, too, and I also welcome the safe, dry insularity of the car (or bus) when the weather is awful. But it also cuts you off from the elements. By contrast, cycling is all about Puget Sound's briny odor in your nose, the burn of your legs, the warmth of the sun on your skin, and, yes, the sensation of rain pelting your face. It can be a drag, but seldom more so than stewing in traffic.
Aside from the fitness angle, apart from the environmental benefits, beyond the yadda-yadda-yadda of it, riding to work is generally fun—which is really the best argument for Bike to Work Day and beyond.
Speaking of enjoyment, there's more to two-wheeled transportation than mere efficiency. Regarding that apparent disparity between Navigator Man and you, the puny cyclist, remember that feeling you get while passing a line of gridlocked SUVs: It's called power.
bmiller@seattleweekly.com
