Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Random Commuter Exchange


Interesting exchange this morning.  Me, on my bike in the left turning lane at the red light at the bottom of Fell, preparing to turn left onto Marine.  A couple of cars are ahead of me.  My lights are flashing, I am wearing my yellow biker uniform.  It's still darkish, but not raining.
A car pulls up beside me.  I always have a sixth sense when somebody is going to talk to me out of the car window... anyway, was already expecting a comment when dude, about my age rolls down the window and  says:
"Did your mama not teach you that cycling in traffic like that is dangerous?"
Proud to say that I didn't miss a beat - usually I do ;-) - and responded with:
"Life is dangerous!"
Under different circumstances this could have turned into a lengthy philosophical debate, however, after his response of:
"True, but riding in traffic like that really is dangerous", our lights turned green and we went our merry ways.
And I kept thinking about this all day...
  • Dude was friendly.  One could see the comment as a passive-aggressive version of get off the road, cyclists have no business to mingle in traffic... but I didn't pick-up that vibe.
  • Dude was genuinely concerned about somebody taking their chances and riding in traffic.  Yes, how else would I bike commute but in traffic.  Reality check, there is no continuous bike route from my home to my work in Burnaby.  It certainly would increase cycling safety to have more cycling infrastructure, but if I wait for bike lanes to be built before daring to hop on my bike...I might be too old to cycle.
  • Dude was concerned about me at a relatively low traffic time in bucolic North Van...Hey, he would have really been concerned seeing me 30 min later navigate to the left hand turn lane across three lanes of traffic on Boundary before turning onto Lougheed.  
  • It be interesting to see statistics on the dangers of a sedentary life style over the dangers of bike commuting regularly in Vancouver
  • He has it all wrong...it's not cycling that is dangerous...it's the cars around the cyclists ;-)
But perhaps, his comment was just a cute pick-up line


Friday, January 11, 2013

Moron Of The Day Award

It's a toss up for the Moron Of The Day Award on the  bike commute home yesterday:

The Translink bus driver going north on Gilmore in the left hand lane turning west onto Lougheed  had it nailed until the unshaven, unkempt dude in a white van told me to get onto the side walk...

The bus incident was gnawing at me most of my ride home. Here is what happened:
I am going north on Gilmore. Traffic is heavy and I am attempting to cross two lanes to position myself in the left hand turn lane. I get cut off a few times despite signalling (it is still light outside and beautifully sunny - visibility is not an issue today), but finally make it into the lane beside the turn lane. Signalling to move left into the turn lane when I notice the aforementioned bus in my rear view mirror barrelling down the left turn lane (probably in an attempt to make the advanced turn signal). When I see the bus I abandon my lane switch. Got a car behind me that wants to make the light. Cars on the right of me moving through the intersection... Bus slows down and I move into the lane (signalling again and just about to give the bus driver a little thank you wave when she honks her horn at me (angrily). WTH. Stopped at the green light now yielding to traffic before turning left. Checking behind me to see what is up with the driver. She is gesticulating wildly and I mouth "where do you want me to go?". Ok, I probably startled her, but I certainly didn't force my way into the lane. She slowed down and I took that as indication that she is allowing me to merge.

Lets think about this for a moment...if I as a bike rider cut off a bus, who do you think will come out as winner?  Correct.  No matter who has the right of way, I will always lose.  Dear bus driver woman, please consider this next time you think you have been wronged by a bike rider.  

You know what irked me the most after the incident and after getting over my fear of being re ended in a road rage incident ?  We took the same route west on Lougheed and then north on Boundary.  I caught up with you when you parked your bus somewhere on Boundary to wait for the schedule to catch up...You weren't even in a hurry or late on your schedule...you were just annoyed with yet another bothersome cyclists.

Tell you what... I have been riding, driving, walking and running accident free all my life.  Considering that I am in my 5th decade, that should account for something.  I am a law abiding citizen, pay my taxes and obey the traffic rules.  I even stop at stop signs, slow down on yellow (am I the only one?), come to a full stop before turning right on red and stop for pedestrians.  3-4 times a week, rain or shine, I take my life into my hands and cycle to work.  I prefer riding over driving for various reasons and only take the car if I have groceries to buy for my family or I don't feel up to fighting the weather.
My commute is about an hour long each way and involves several dangerous intersections, heavy traffic, steep hills, pot holes, debris on the bike path,  the Second Narrow Bridge and streets with no considerations for cyclists.  The reason I have not been injured yet, is not your good driving, it is being constantly on the alert for drivers disobeying rules, not stopping at stop signs, turning right on red without yielding to me, turning left without yielding to me, opening their car doors into my path, swerving out of a parking spot without yielding, cutting me off when turning, passing me scarily close.... You get the picture.  Those dangers are not the exception, they are the rule and reality of cycling on the streets of Metro Vancouver.

I know that cyclists have a bad reputation: they don't signal, they pop up right beside you, they ride without a helmet, they don't have lights, they run red lights, they don't obey the rules...Ok, hang on, do you in your car obey the rules?  Today I witnessed two people stopping at stop signs...that is a record as I usually just see drivers roll through stop signs.  So, when driving becomes civil again in Vancouver, when you stop killing pedestrians and cyclists, then we can start taking about the bad cyclists out there...but they might be dead by then.

Until that time, I just hope that in your hurry and rage, that I won't be your next victim.

As for the moron in the van telling me to get on the side walk, you will see a lot of change in our car oriented culture in the future.  Single occupancy vehicle traffic in our city is not sustainable in the long term.  The changes implemented over the last few years by forward thinking, bike riding Mayor Gregor Robertson are only the beginning. Better get used to alternative methods of transportation and bike riders sharing your lane!