Bicyclists: Don't resent them, thank them instead

Published in The Denver Post, May 7, 1989

It's that time of year again--the bicyclists are on the roads and the angry letters are on the editorial page.  Pedestrians think we go too fast and drivers think we go too slowly.  And everybody, it seems, would be happier if we would just pedal away and not come back.

We bikers are at a real disadvantage.  For although virtually all of us have experience driving cars,  there are many of you who don't ride bikes.  Plus, we know alot about what drivers think because they can get a good breath to tell us.  But we're usually huffing and puffing too much to say anything back. 

I would like to have some signs made up that say:  "You can stop honking now.  I realize that I am more than a hair's breadth from the curb.  What you don't know is that there is a pothole here that could swallow a small banana republic.  I will be around it in two more seconds, please be patient."

Not everybody honks; some indicate their displeasure by jamming into a lower gear and tearing past in the cloud of dust. 

Last year I rode my bike to work downtown from May through September.  And I really felt that, instead of resenting my presence on the road, those drivers should be thanking me.  Does it ever occur to them that bicycle commuters make their lives easier?