What’s wrong with this picture?
PAgent offers up a very very timely post below as we approach the end of daylight savings time. Unfortunately, I’m betting the woman we spotted riding her bicycle Sunday night - among others - isn’t likely to heed his smart advice.
Now, I’m a bike supporter, even though I don’t ride myself. And I have no issue sharing the road (on the rare occasions I drive, that is) with the majority of cyclists out there.
But the woman riding her bike on NE Fremont Sunday night provided an object lesson in how not to ride a bike - no matter what time of day or night (but magnified 10X since it happened after dark, in my opinion. )
My son, his friend and I all spotted these concerns:
- No helmet
- No lights
- She was riding in the middle of the road alongside a huge dog on a very long leash (dog also had no lights; dog was on her left, not her right; and the leash was long enough where the dog could have veered into the oncoming lane
- She was intent on keeping up with traffic, and not necessarily willing to step aside for those going faster
- she was wearing flipflops
and the kicker?
Now maybe it’s just me, but if you’re traveling on a road that actually has a left turn lane and plenty of traffic - even at 8 pm at night - I’d think you’d want to be seen. To have your dog seen. And even if you’re not going to wear a helmet - can you at least put on footgear that will allow you to come to a partial stop should your brakes fail and/or your dog yank you off the bike? (Even my thirteen year old knew that flipflops + bikeriding in traffic = bad bad bad idea.)
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Couldn’t agree more, and this is why BikePortland is not seen as the greatest organization in my eye. Education should come before politicizing.
There’s always gonna be a segment of the Portland bike culture who find it difficult to follow any common sense. Possibly we should call them ‘Darwin Cyclists’?
Oh please, Steve. Are you going to contend that this rider was somehow not aware that a helmet is recommended for bicycling? That they were somehow oblivious to the fact that a light would improve visibility? This person was riding in an unsafe manner because they CHOSE to ride that way. There are people out there on whom additional education would be wasted. Why should we curtail BikePortland’s efforts on behalf of the cyclists that DO get it in order to try and help the willfully foolish?
Why is it that cyclists dont have to obey the rules of the road. Just because they dont pay gas taxes to use it, hardly excuses them from not following by the rules. Wonder what would happen if you took your golden retriever out for a run. You, behind the wheel of your 68 VW - no lights, down the center of the road - in neutral. Rover tethered to your front bumper with Jr.s jumprope? WEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAa