sutter@osu-dbs.UUCP (10/18/83)
Just as I thought, all the real hard-core nutso-loonie drivers and riders
tend to congregate on the coasts. There are still some here in good old
Columbus, Ohio, but in general conditions for city riding are pretty good.
I think that a large cause of that is (like Roger {?} said a few msgs ago)
the faster I ride, the more respect I seem to get from the cowtown drivers
here. They just aren't ready for someone who is obviously passing the
Express busses during the rush hours on High Street. I have also found that
the more obviously outrageous the get-up (Flaming Obnoxious Orange jersey,
Lycra skin-shorts, etc.) the easier it seems for people to see me. It seems
to be a function of getting their attention first. This seems to work
similarly in a few other Midwestern cities I have ridden in, although it is
certainly not foolproof. After all, a CTA bus in Chicago felt it his civic
duty one afternoon to dump me over the curb.
I can't conceive of leaving my driveway without my Bell helmet tightly affixed
to my head. After all, that's what I make my living with, isn't it? I also
try to take as much of the appropriate, legal lane as I think I can get away
with, given the road width, etc. In really heavy traffic, I get really
nervous unless I have the whole right lane to myself, and all the Bozo drivers
around me know it. I am also putting off a change of work schedule (to later
hours) until I can decide on what kind of lighting system will get me there
and back alive.
Yes, incompetent, uninformed people riding their bikes on the left side of
the street really infuriate and bewilder me, too. How did that old wives'
tale get dragged along so long? Sigh...
Bob Sutterfield
sutter@...cbosgd!osu-dbs