In the lot in front of Roadguy headquarters, I frequently find myself parked next to one of the largest pickup trucks on earth. Its windshield wipers could flick away my humble vehicle like a bug, and it’s helped me understand what the numbers on Ford’s F-series trucks mean: An F-350 appears to be exactly 350 times heavier and more powerful than my car. Curious as to what might be hauled in the bed of such a behemoth (tools? boulders? enough lumber to build a house?), one day I decided to peek over the edge for a look:

It was a pretty cool-looking collection, really, and it would have made a great sculpture for a high-ceilinged loft. But then I had a darker thought: Maybe these wheels were all that was left of the truck’s victims – trophies to be hung on the wall like so many antlers. I felt a bit of a chill. Are relations between bicyclists and non-bicyclists that bad? (Doug Grow’s latest column — a tale of a plane, a train, a bicycle and a dismemberment — indicates that things might indeed be at a low point.) Roadguy readers, unprompted, have been weighing in, their frequent CAPITAL LETTERS illustrating the high emotions surrounding the topic.

An e-mail last month from Lisa had the subject line “To the Blonde driving a green subaru, 5:00ish, yesterday at Larpenteur,” and went on thusly:

“I have a rant as someone who wants to survive riding my bike to work. A woman gave me the head-shaking and finger-scolding for crossing the street on my bike when she was trying to turn east onto Larpenteur. She did have a green light, and that I guess means go, no matter what. I had the white hand to go, and thus the conflict.”

Lisa was crossing Larpenteur by the U campus, where the walk signal “lasts about 5 seconds. That gives you enough time to get to about the middle of the first of four lanes before it becomes the blinking red hand. Well, [the blonde] was bound and determined to make her left from the side street onto Larpenteur, and then the scolding began… I pointed to the light I was facing, and pedaled as fast as I could, to get OUT OF HER WAY. I later regretted not dismounting in the middle of the street to explain the meaning of traffic signals to her.”

I wish you had, Lisa, because it sounds like you were in the right. But not all bikers are on their best behavior. A.G., who says she tries her darnedest to respect bicyclists and not endanger them, posted this comment:

“My most burning question is this: Why do cyclists ride in the parkway with car traffic when there is a bike path that runs right along the road? …The road has no shoulder and there is no room to pass. It’s most frustrating for me since the bike path is right there! Isn’t it safer for EVERYONE if the bikers took the bike path? Is there an ordinance that requires them to use the path? Is there a reason for these cyclists’ need to lead a parade of parkway drivers at 10 miles an hour, or are they just too cool for the bike path?”

Roadguy is no saint on his bicycle — I tend to view a lot of signage as optional, for example — but I also prefer to be offroad when possible, and I try to make sure I’m not hindering anyone else’s travel regardless of what I’m doing. And when I’m in my car, I try to give the required 3-foot berth to bikes alongside me, and to watch for them in my rearview mirror when opening my car door.

But there must be more Roadguy can do to spread harmony among the many species of wheeled conveyances. Thoughts? Rants? Post ‘em below.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 6:05 am and is filed under Transportation conversations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.