I've got a bikeYou can ride it if you like
It's got a basket
A bell that rings
And things to make it look good
I'd give it to you if I could
But I borrowed it
--Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd)
Actually, I don't own a bike. In fact, I don't think I've ridden a bike more than a hundred yards since I used to bicycle to Holiday Hill Elementary School growing up in Grove Park.
Seriously. In college and law school I usually walked to class or took public transportation. In the Big Apple I commuted no differently than any of the other eight million residents. I'm pedestrian by nature, but unfortunately now have become caught up in the harsh reality of driving. I blame a lot of that on living in Jacksonville (the largest city in the country).
I also admit that I don't think it would be the best idea to put my daughter on the back of a bike to get her to school in San Marco every morning. However, I've been fortunate enough to walk to work most of these past two weeks due to the Spring Break schedule.
But that's not to say I don't admire the bicycle culture, the environmental ideal, the spirit of individual energy bicycling brings. Which is why I want to give kudos to Bike Jax and all that is being written, lived and experienced by those who promote and shout out to the world the life of two wheel (and two-legged) transportation.
I just read with admiration the profile on Bike Jax of Jennifer McCharen. And I'll look forward to reading about the others who couldn't imagine any other method of commuting (this includes you Casey "Mark Condon" Welch).
But as I read about Jennifer and her jaunts around Brooklyn and Manhattan, I couldn't help being reminded of two (of the countless) stories of people who have lost their lives around this world fulfilling their pleasures and enjoyment getting from point A to B on their bike.
On June 9, 2005, Elizabeth Padilla was riding through Park Slope, on her way to work at the Brooklyn Bar Association, when she was struck and killed by a delivery truck. My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting her once and I remember when our friend told of us her passing, my wife tearing up immediately over the senselessness of this death. My friend, along with others, have since founded a memorial to Elizabeth to celebrate her life by sponsoring runs and bike rides through Brooklyn each year.
Just over two years later, Sam Hindy, son of one of the founders of Brooklyn Brewery, died while riding his bike over the Manhattan Bridge. I read about this on the New York Times website the next morning and couldn't help the feeling yet again of the senseless loss over this tragedy.
I immediately wrote to an old college friend and begged him to be careful, knowing that he had just traded the subway for the bike as he travelled each day to work from Carroll Gardens to Manhattan. I was scared for him, I'll admit.
All of this to say that I can't help but encourage, over and over, those who choose alternative modes of transportation to get on and around with their lives. But as I have absolutely no faith in drivers, I can't bring myself to join the two-wheeled generation. On foot I feel in control, as naive as that sounds. On a bike, I'm terrified.
My best hope is that education and proper city planning and development will encourage and command the symbiosis that is the undeniable varied methods of transportation on this planet. The automobilephile must look after the motorcyclist who must look after the bicyclist who must look after the pedestrian.
Bike Jax and the like are the future of Jacksonville. Sure, we have to save the world through energy conservation. But we also have to save the individuals through caution, care and respect.
3 comments:
These are important concerns. I recently read the Florida traffic rules governing bicycles. After doing so I've started behaving more like a car on my bike. Bicycles are considered vehicles under the law, after all. I think most road cyclists who are serious about it do this anyhow, I don't think about it all that much, I just enjoy the ride.
In Jacksonville I get lazy and use the pedestrian-free sidewalks a lot. In NYC you'd get a ticket in a heartbeat for that. But I think it's important to follow traffic laws as a cyclist, if only for the sake of educating drivers. I think as the number of cyclists increases drivers will learn to respect us and understand how to share the road with us, but we have to be dependable partners to some extent. If all cyclists knew and followed the same traffic laws it would make that integration easier.
But I'm still probably not going to wait for red lights unless I have to. Or wear a helmet in Riverside...
First, I corrected the spelling of your name. Sorry about that.
Second, I should have mentioned, as you pointed out, that the respect for the road (and its rules) flows in both directions.
I admit my frustration when I see a bicyclist blow through a red light or a pedestrian slowly cross against traffic when cars are coming. But my frustration stems more from how that one egregious act will set drivers and others against the entire alternative transportation community.
Like the philosophers say, humanity is defined by the act of a single person.
The true problem resides in availability of literature. At Zombie Bikes and Burro we have pamphlets that I took from a previous job at a bike shop to distribute to anyone and people have read them and thanked us. The booklet is called Street Smarts and it has everything you need to know and to defend yourself from the law. A majority of police are very ignorant to bicycle laws, proclaiming over loud speakers to a us to get on the sidewalk. To motorists, I ask, what is the second word in that compound word? Praise the pedestrian!
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