Disclaimer: the views expressed on this site do not nessecarily reflect those of my employer
Monday, January 20, 2003
Soon the world will be getting another Gentile! Are we ready? Hope all goes well for everyone Sam.
5:29:42 PM
Oops. I've asked for it. Lay it on thick folks.. it a hot topic these days. SUV bashing is a cheap shot and I should have known better. I didn't mean to offend anyone but those who actively harrass people on their bikes. Some of my friends even drive SUVs. So much has been said already - lots of good debates, documentaries, books, talk shows, flame wars... I'm not going to add any more value to this debate. I'm getting a lot of hits today though :)
Getting run off the road on purpose by any kind of car is a frightening experience. And my adreniline level was off the chart when I got home. If it makes anyone feel better I hate all cars, not just SUVs. SUVs are simply more car so there is more for me to hate. Cars are evil!!!
Ok folks? Its not SUVs per se. If you drive one, my condolences. But please remember, I'm not the road hog. You are. You need to exercise some courtesy because you are the one who is in the way. And the next time you think to yourself how annoyed you were when you had to wait 15 extra seconds for a safe place to pass me ask youself this: How much traffic is caused by bicyclists? How much is caused by cars? So who is really slowing you down and getting in your way? Cars are always in such a hurry to get to the next red light.
I have a 30 mile commute to work. I have a very fast and aggressive car. I used to drive 80+ MPH the whole way in the left lane and do nutty stuff like that. Then I decided that getting killed on the way to work was a dumb idea so I now drive slower and much less aggresively. It now takes me about 3.5 minutes longer door to door, and my stress level is much much lower. Just relax and enjoy the ride folks, and be thankful that you have a car. Turn up the seat heater and chuckle as you see my frozen butt pass by. No reason to kill me over it.
PS: someone said that riding a bike isn't safe. I beg to differ. Mile per mile, hour per hour you are about 4X more likely to be killed in your car than on your bike. I think we're up to around 40,000 deaths / year.
12:07:38 PM
I managed to get motivated enough to ride outside yesterday. I put in about 2 hours on the fixed gear.. I pretty much followed the Minuteman trail, past the statue, the park and eventually past the Old North Bridge. Its a beautiful route, filled with history, and it was so quiet and still and peaceful yesterday it was easy to forget all about people like Bush, Ashcroft and Rumsfeld.
Once I got back on the main roads it all came back. Why is it that whenever I get harrassed on my bike by a car its always a huge SUV? Why is it that people who yell at me and even swerve to force me off the road always have a "God Bless America" sticker on their car? Not only that, but my bike uniform is red white and blue! Why do people in sport futility vehicles hate me for doing my sport. I've been riding in this area for 20 years and I can say with certainty that it has gotten much worse in the past 3 or 4. Where is the hostility coming from? And why is it directed at me; a small, non-polluting vehicle taking up 1/1000 the ammount of road an Escalade takes up? Its moments like those that really bring into focus all the things I hate about this country. Its not "God Bless America" for these folks. Its "God Bless Me. God Bless oil subsidies, drilling in Alaska and sending my 18 year old son to kill some of those pesky Iraqis. God bless handguns, capital punishment and tax breaks for the rich. Sorry you're trying to train to race your bike on this road but I'm on my way to the mall so get out of the way or I'll run you over. And besides, my car is way bigger than yours so I win." And for some reason this got a NIN lyric stuck in my head: "Everything I never liked about you is kind of seeping into me."
