I’m biking home, and I take a wide left, and a woman in a huge SUV shouts out the window to me, “Why didn’t you take the sidewalk?”
If this had not been something someone had shouted at me before, maybe I wouldn’t have been so irate. I shouted back, “It’s illegal!” Because, in Cleveland Heights, it is, in fact, illegal to bicycle on the sidwalk if you are over 18. This is because an adult cyclist on a road bike can go upwards of 20 miles per hour, and that doesn’t mix well with babies and puppies playing hopscotch.
The woman, however, responds immediately with, “SO??”
And then she’s passed me, and I catch up, and I’m steaming, so when I reach her I shout, “Why don’t you BIKE?”
“I do!” She shouts, and the light changes, and she’s gone.
And I’m frustrated, because, clearly she missed my point. I’m not saying “You would understand if you were a cyclist!” She chose to drive a car today, and I wanted her to see what it felt like to have one’s random transportation decisions questioned by a stranger. Why did you go in the left lane instead of the right? Why take Cedar when there’s less traffic on Fairmont? Why did you SHOUT AT A STRANGER?
People seem to think they have a right to tell another person how to commute. And it bothers me so much I’m still fuming about it now, over a week later. Much like that time some dude told me I should be in a lower gear, or that woman said I should get off and walk my bike instead of using a left turning lane, and that other dude told me I should be in a lower gear, or that other dude told me my seat was too low… people? When did it become okay to give unsolicited advice to strangers?
It is rude to give unsolicited advice to a stranger.
Context: I’ve been a bicycle commuter for over 20 years now. My decisions might not be the ones you would make, but they are MINE, and not made in ignorance. Unsolicited advice assumes ignorance, and it is rude to tell a fellow human they are ignorant. Also, it is likely wrong.
I used to get quite irate at people doing the speed limit, or under it. But you know what? I realized that I didn’t know their context. That person might have just gotten a ticket and was still sweating from the experience. Or this might be their first time behind the wheel! I don’t know, and as long as they aren’t breaking the law, it is THEIR decision, not mine.
In case you were wondering, on this particular bike commuting occasion, though I ended up going quite wide – I always turn into the marked shoulder when I go left onto Cedar to be out of people’s way – and I could easily have hopped up on the sidewalk right then, I even considered it, but I knew that at the other end of the block, the curb cut was high and in an awkward place. I decided it was safer to stay where I was.
BUT. That was my decision. The following are valid reasons to bicycle in the road and *GASP* be inconvenient to someone else:
- There are people on the sidewalk
- There are dogs on the sidewalk
- Don’t want to disturb that kid’s chalk drawing
- There’s a big crack a few yards down
- I dislike breaking the law
- I saw a bee
- I JUST FEEL LIKE IT
That’s the ultimate reason and answer. As long as someone is not breaking the law, how they choose to drive or ride is NOT YOUR BUSINESS.
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