Quote:
Originally Posted by ElDiabloJoe
Of course you do. If the shoe fits. me, not I. "...to pass in the same lane as me." But it's okay for them to sideswipe me, a vulnerable pedestrian wearing no helmet or other PPE? I guess it makes them feel like vroom-vroom a racecar passing a competitor or some other form of superiority? I have no idea why they do it, really, I just have experienced that they do do it. Am I to remain defenseless?
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Hey El Diablo Joe, I will not let you remain defenseless. Below are my personal observations (with comments), along with a question for the OP Laker14 as invited (whose post I sincerely appreciate and have learned from BTW):
In my (too many) years of experience, cyclists, upon encountering those on foot (even in an area designated for both bicycles and pedestrians and in the right-edge of the right lane) seem to generally have an initial territorial-like response, viewing the body of that slow-moving pedestrian as an annoying obstacle, and that person as an interloper to their roadway and possible impediment to maintaining their momentum, focus, etc.
See any similarity to the way car drivers react when they see one or more bicycles they cannot pass?
(Cyclists may assume to have a higher moral ground re fossil fuel usage, but for fun I'll share that spandex (like a multitude of daily-use items) is manufactured with fossil fuels/petroleum and not via spigots tapped into rubber tree plants; see:
The Environmental Impact of Spandex - One Green Planet )
So, my question to OP Laker14 as inspired the post by ElDiabloJoe is: What percentage of serious cyclists do you think are irritated when they encounter a pedestrian while riding the MMPs? And also, what percentage are so irritated that they might deliberately pass at a close clip?
I would not really expect you to furnish a guesstimate for the second question.
My guess is at least 90% are irritated, and maybe 25%-30% are even irritated enough to deliberately pass at a close clip, overconfident re their navigational abilities & reaction time and not realizing how severe a physical injury could result to the unwary pedestrian if the latter (a person with ability to make sharp movements and not just a static, annoying blob in the roadway) made the slightest unexpected movement that would result in a collision?
Edit: I'm adding a last paragraph to the OP because in re-reading, I think my post sounded antagonistic to cyclists. I didn't mean it to be that way. Maybe a little envious that I'll never be physically fit & confidant enough to ride with the "gather at 7am at Barnes & Noble" crowd. But if you have a response, I'd value your opinion.