When I spend time in the Adirondacks, I go on and on about how much I love riding my bicycle there. But I do 90+% of my riding here, in suburban Philadelphia. It's kind of a different experience however you cut it.
The biggest differences between Adirondacks and suburbs are the number of intersections and the number of cars (yes, mountains and trees and lake too). The intersections kill your speed, and you hope that the cars don't kill you. I've been doing this kind of riding for over 10 years, so I have a pretty good idea of how it all works.
When I ride I'm inspired by Prince Humperdink from
The Princess Bride. When he's told to be careful because something may be a trap, he replies, "I always thing everything is a trap; that's why I'm still alive." Every day when I ride there's something happening that could kill me, but because I know that and am looking for it, I'm managed to have not made contact with a car in 15 years and probably 30000 miles of riding.
I make that sound routine, but it isn't. Not only do you have to deal with traffic, you need to look inside the car and see if the driver is paying attention or talking on the phone or looking down or not looking at all. You can put all the flashing lights you want on a bike but if someone isn't looking they won't see you.
There's always a difference of opinion, sometimes vociferous, between cyclists and drivers. It's more extreme in the city, where the cyclists and drivers tend to be distinct groups. In the suburbs, most if not all of the riders are drivers as well, so the lines of battle are more gently drawn. The overall divide is that drivers think cyclists ignore the rules of the road, which riders think that drivers think the road is just for them. This plays out in a number of ways.
I think the biggest point of disagreement is over stop signs. Drivers insist that cyclists routinely run stop signs. This definitely happens from time to time. I know I've done it accidentally a couple of times and have seen it when I'm driving as well. I don't, however, see cars as being any more law-abiding. Very few cars come to complete stops at stop signs, especially at 4-way stops when there are no other cars around. I will say that I'm more likely to come to a full stop at one of those in a car than on a bike, because it's a pain to come to a complete stop on a bike. But I never intentionally blow though an intersection.
Here's the thing drivers- in almost every case where you don't want us there, we don't want to be there either. We're not doing this to spite you. We don't like having you crawl behind us any more than you like the crawling. And by the way, if you've going 15 miles an hour behind me for a minute instead of 25, your arrival will be delayed by 24 seconds, and if that somehow matters it's your fault and not mine. And here are a few other things that go through my mind when I'm riding
- Passing me on the left and then immediately making a right turn in front of me is not very neighborly
- I can't read your mind. Many cars have devices that let you signal to others when you are turning. Yours must not be equipped with those.
- And by the way, if you remember your driving test, you're supposed to signal when you pull out from the curb
- Do you really need to honk? Do you think I don't know you're there?
- Nobody forced you to get such a big car. I'm sorry there isn't room for you to pass me yet
- Making 3-point turns block the road for everyone, not just cars.
Honestly, when I come to a 4-way stop and behave responsibly, drivers almost without exception wave to me to go first. I make sure to not only wave but say "Thanks" so they can hear me. It gives me a bit of faith that I'll be able to continue riding without incident.
