A Wild Ride, Bike Commuting

by Kris Pitcher

One morning on my commute into work I watched as a middle aged cyclist took her position in the left of two lanes at a stop light on a very busy arterial. She was decked out in commuter gear but looked like she'd be more comfortable on the trail than in the middle of this major intersection.

I watched with trepidation as I anticipated what would happen next. As the light was turning green the "gentleman" in the pickup behind her laid on the horn. She hadn't had a chance to even turn the pedal. Her wheels began to turn and he laid into her with that horn.

Sure enough, the next light was red, she held her position in that left lane as she was about to take a left hand turn onto a four lane arterial. But as she did, her mouth let out a slew of comments to him that I cannot repeat. This time they were side by side.

She let him have it. Yelled like a banshee! He rolled his window down and shouted back at her from his brand new dark blue Chevrolet pick up with the license plate number...OK, I didn't get the plate number from the new plate tag hung in his window - but I wish I did.

I wasn't sure why this guy was so upset about her doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing? I wondered about his entitlement in his world and how she had impacted that.

Certainly we can exist in a world where we are not verbally assaulting one another on our way to work over our carbon footprint. I thought about the cortisol levels of each, of the stress of their mornings...of being a bystander.

Look around, look outside your four or six doors. Look along side your vehicle, check the bike lane before you make a turn. And by all means, share the road.