Maynard, like O'Grady and some others, have hit the bike paths rather than continue to share the roads with distracted motorists, in spite of the limitations of bike paths. So sez Maynard:
"The bike paths are crowded, particularly on weekends, with clueless, self-obsessed citizens, oblivious, unwilling to admit that others may also be enjoying the path today. When they have to share the path they get testy, certain they’ve been slighted.
Why, they’re just like drivers, oblivious and unwilling to share the roadway. No, they aren’t just like drivers. They ARE drivers. They’re drivers - disguised as skaters, dog walkers and cyclists.
They’re drivers; they’re just not in their cars. So they probably can’t kill you."
I've only known of one cyclist killed on a bike path by another "unarmed", i.e., car-free person. That was in Calgary, Alberta, where a cyclist and jogger collided and the cyclist got the worst of it--possibly with a little help from a concrete abutment. Problem is, I see little hope in finding servicable "bike paths" leading around the Bandelier Loop or up into the Jemez, as I once happily found running along the North Sea cost of Holland as I rode from Amsterdam to The Hague. I'll therefore stick to the roads. Frankly, I paid for them.
2 comments:
Hi Khal!
The paths here are terrific. Lots of people think Boulder is cycling paradise, but I'd rather ride here. The paths run under the streets so you don't have to stop. They run along streams and rivers and creeks. During the week, they are quite safe and on the weekends, as soon as you get a few miles from the center of the city, they are okay.
Those old Hondas and other older Japanese bikes are reappearing on our streets, no kidding. With fuel so expensive, there is incentive to spend a few bucks to get that old nail operational. Some of them are cafe'd out, in the same style as the fixie community and by the same folks. I'll bet the m/c wrecking yards across this Great Nation are busier than ever as people resurrect their old bikes. It's cool, I think.
Always great to hear from you. Thanks for excerpting my piece...
Maynard
PS the version I submitted is tame indeed... but POSITIVE!
Great to hear from you, too, Maynard. Let's not wait another decade or longer!
Post a Comment