I for one am willing to be courteous to cyclists on the road and give them their space and follow behind, below the speed limit, until there is room to pass them safely, for I have no desire to injure someone due to their bad behavior.
However I would really like a cyclist to explain to me why some, and most I have ever seen; do not observe the rules of stop signs.
If I am in my car and traffic is heavy and I am in a line of cars waiting to move up to the stop sign, the cyclists will not wait in line with the cars.
Instead, to me they do something very dangerous, and that is squeeze past the cars on the right side, then blow the stop sign.
Sorry but after that type of behavior they lost the respect of others.
So cyclists do you wait in the long line with vehicles at stops signs and traffic lights or do you keep moving?
Absolutely, I agree.
Let?s corner those cyclists who are already in oxygen debt and close to spontaneous combustion in the Florida heat between your noxious exhaust and my super-heated radiator while we relax in our air conditioned comfort.
By removing the slight cooling effect of the breeze they experience while in motion they may fall prey to heat stroke and with any luck collapse to the side of the road thereby saving us 5 seconds at the stop sign.
Be warned, once you start believing you should enforce the rules of the road on others you start down that slippery slope to aggressive driving and road rage.
But do not despair there is hope. The first step is admitting you have a problem. Recite the following:
Hello, my name is (insert name) and I am an aggressive driver. It has been (insert number) days since I last cursed/buzzed a cyclist on 30A.
I shall not cause any portion of my motor vehicle to enter the bike path without first coming to a complete stop.
I shall not pass my two wheeled brethren without allowing the prescribed 3 Ft safety margin.
Feel the anger subsiding?
As for me, of late I feel mysteriously drawn to the Dark Side. I must resist beachsteeler?s lament of ?staying on the road since it pisses off so many people?.
But I WILL not give in.
Hello, my name is pennstater and I am a habitual cyclist. It has been 63 days since I last cursed/flipped off a motorist on 30A.
(Editor?s note: The writer has not actually been on 30A in 63 days. Please read 5 minutes in lieu of the misleading 63 days above)
I shall not ?blow? or roll through any stop signs.
I shall not abridge the right of way of any behemoth SUV or their smaller kind.
I shall relegate myself to the lowly bike path forever doomed to circumnavigate the clueless, ipod equipped pedestrians who fail to heed even my loudest cries of ?passing on your left?.
There, I said it and I do feel better.
If I have offended any please accept my heartfelt apologies. Clearly this northeastern shut-in suffers from a severe case of seasonal affective disorder exacerbated by a prolonged absence from the healing waters of the Emerald Coast.
Ah the angst. Where?s a black pick'em-up truck bedecked with confederate flags and a gun rack with you most need it?
Happy New Year