A Fine Example of Cars and Bicyclists Sharing the Road in Harmony

[Hammster]

I was out for a ride this morning on the busy boulevard in front of my neighborhood. A little "lay of the land" explanation of the boulevard. It's 2 lanes wide in each direction, plus left turn lanes every so often. Most intersections are traffic signal controlled. Posted speed limit is 35 mph but most people go at least 10 mph over that. Ok, that's the gist.

Anyway, I was approaching the intersection where I need to turn left to go into my neighborhood and so I wanted to go across both lanes of traffic and into the left turn lane. There was a good line of cars in the right lane, around 6-7 and as the last car in line was coming up toward me I stuck my left hand out and signalled that I wanted to get over. He actually slowed down and allowed me to change lanes in front of him. How cool was that? So, as I got over to the left of the 2 lanes and passed him as he was waiting for the traffic signal I waved to him and said thanks. He smiled and nodded. So, that was pretty cool. I was in a totally good mood all day after that.

Thanks for "listening". :D

[cookieee]

Your welcome. I'm assuming you went for a ride on your bicycle? Just kidding, I'm glad it made your day. We all need a nice day like that once in awhile.

[Robyn1007]

Ah, aren't those refreshing moments? I hope I have some of those when I get out for a ride tomorrow.

Quite unlike a ride I had last week where I took the lane about 100 yds from the left I was trying to make (1 lane each direction) and I thought the guy in the SUV behind me was gonna run me over! He might have lost 10 seconds on the whole deal. :rolleyes:

[Hammster]

Sending you some good bicycling Karma, Robyn. :D

Thanks cookieee. :D

[HejazSunKat]

To be fair, I think there are infractions on both sides. Yesterday morning I was out with a friend (she was driving) on our way to a farmer's market and we were on a 2 lane (one in each direction) country road when we came upon a virtual peloton, probably about 20 people on bicycles (in spandex and the whole kit) in the middle of the road.

[lindrusso]

To be fair, I think there are infractions on both sides. Yesterday morning I was out with a friend (she was driving) on our way to a farmer's market and we were on a 2 lane (one in each direction) country road when we came upon a virtual peloton, probably about 20 people on bicycles (in spandex and the whole kit) in the middle of the road.

We recently had a very in-depth discussion about this........

http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?t=106292&highlight=bikers

Just thought I'd save Hammster some time defending the cyclists. ;) :) :p

[Natasha]

Hammster,

As a runner, cyclist, and driver, I love stories like this! It makes my day too when I'm able to experience - and reciprocrate - courtesy like that. When I come across an especially considerate driver, it sometimes crosses my mind that maybe they're also cyclists/runners, which is why they keep a special eye out for us :) Not that other drivers aren't considerate -- you know what I mean though.

Happy riding!

Natasha

[Gumbeaux]

When I come across an especially considerate driver, it sometimes crosses my mind that maybe they're also cyclists/runners...

I know it's cynical but that's what I was thinking. This probably wasn't an average motorist but an avid cyclist who was driving a car. :)

[kim21]

Those were my thoughts, too...it was likely an avid cyclist who was driving the car.

Thanks for sharing your experience. It's certainly encouraging. I just recently moved to the upper Tampa Bay area...lots of traffic...ay carumba! However, the little town of Dunedin was just featured in the newspaper for promoting bicycling and advocating for businesses to provide bike racks. There are even some incentives for doing so. Dunedin sits right at the Pinellas Trail, on the gulf...it is a beautiful spot for a sunrise or sunset ride...ahhhh...

I'm wondering, too, does anyone have a tandem bicycle? DH and I are considering buying one and I'd welcome tips and ideas...best wishes, Kim

[Gumbeaux]

DH and I are considering buying one and I'd welcome tips and ideas...best wishes, Kim

I would borrow one to ride first see if you can handle peddling at the same cadence.

[Hammster]

Working backwards a bit from the most recent posts to Sunkat's.

Yes, tandems can make or break a marriage. LOL. Best to see if you can rent one from a cycling shop that rents those things. Or borrow one and check it out. Pedaling styles can be different enough to make a tandem a bad option.

I think the example the motorist set, regardless of if he were a cyclist is to be commended. Other motorists see this and might do the same down the road. And of course, I hope if any of the motorists were cyclists they saw what I did in order to change lanes and also in thanking the motorist.

And thank you lindrusso for pointing SunKat to that thread. I feel that since it was a country road, it probably isn't heavily traveled and that's why the cyclists felt they could ride as a group instead of single file.

As SunKat will likely read in the other thread, you really have to take the entire situation in context. Not defending the cyclists if it happens to be a heavily traveled road, as I don't condone that behaviour. It's too risky for the cyclist. But if it's a lightly traveled road that the cyclists use frequently to train on, they probably feel safe on that road and ride like that each time they are on it.
A question to SunKat. Did they get out of the way when you tapped lightly on the horn to let them know you were behind them? (I mean the person driving, of course. Using a generic "you" in this case.)

[TKay]

It's just nice when someone--anyone--shows some common courtesy. That person could have been cyclist or not. It really doesn't matter. It's just refreshing when people look out for each other.
As for the tandem issue, dh and I have one. I'm not a cyclist, but he's a competitive rider. I have no trouble keeping up with his pedaling. He's usually taking the brundt of the effort, of course, but me spinning my legs around and not always pushing very hard isn't really an issue--at least it hasn't been for us. I love going out on the tandem with him. It's the only way we can ride together. I could never keep up with him on my own bike (not that he'd leave me in the dust, but...), and I'm in no way prepared to deal with the traffic the way he is. So he just does the driving and it's all good.