{"id":161830887,"date":"2010-02-17T01:01:27","date_gmt":"2010-02-17T01:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=161830887"},"modified":"2010-02-17T01:01:27","modified_gmt":"2010-02-17T01:01:27","slug":"but-really-it-is-not-as-much-as-car-versus-bike-as-it-is-me-me-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.baltimorespokes.org\/?p=161830887","title":{"rendered":"but really…. it is not as much as CAR VERSUS BIKE as it is ME ME ME!"},"content":{"rendered":"

by gwadzilla
\nthe other day I got out on the bike…
\nit was not a training session
\nit was not a workout
\nit was just a way to get from POINT A TO POINT B
\nso often on this short cross town trek from my home in Mount Pleasant to my dad’s house in Bethesda I found myself playing chicken with the oncoming cars
\nit was not just frustrating… it was also dangerous
\nthere were cars swerving to dodge snow crossing the double yellow line coming straight towards me
\nfunny… the car drivers work so hard to avoid damage to their cars
\nif only they worked so hard to not risk injury to pedestrians and cyclists
\nso often a car driver will slow for a pothole in the road… while that same driver will not alter their speed when approaching the pedestrian or the cyclist
\n
\nASSHOLES!
\non my way back from my fathers I took a neighborhood route through Chevy Chase, Maryland on through Chevy Chase, DC then into Rock Creek Park
\nat one point I experienced an incident that summed it all up
\nI was going down a road that was plowed such that it was pretty much a one lane road
\nas I approached a 4 way stop I saw a car approaching me from the opposite direction
\nthey were closer to the curb on my side of the street than theirs
\nthey made no effort to move
\nI stopped at the stop sign and it became a stalemate
\nthey still refused to move
\nthey wanted to to get out of their way
\nthey wanted me to squeeze between them and the snowbank
\nall the while I held my ground in my lane where I should be
\nasking for one thing… my right to my space and some basic respect
\nwell… sure enough… they did not move
\nI had to ride through the small slot not large enough for me and my bike
\nas I passed… the driver not only made a face but they also flipped me off
\nOH MAN!
\nhad they made that face and gestured that way moments sooner they would have certainly gotten at least a snowball to the windshield
\nbut then this morning… well… in the car with my wife and family headed to drop the boys off at school we experience pretty much the same experience
\nwe came down a road that was plowed to one lane
\nour progress was blocked by a person with their hazards on
\nthe driver was out of her car blocking her shoveled space with lawn chairs
\nwe waited patiently with no emotion
\nthen once in the car the woman made a face and gestured for us to move
\nher sense of entitlement was absurd
\nwe had granted her time and space
\nbut now… now it is our responsibility for us to move
\nboth me and my wife gestured that she could pull forward and dip into another parking space that was shoveled out and carless
\nthen she could allow the cars that had been waiting to pass
\nyes she did nothing…
\nshe made faces and gestured
\nWHILE I CUSSED!
\nmy language was completely inappropriate with kids in the car
\nmy words went unheard by anyone by my wife
\nI went to open my door to get out and give her a piece of my mind… and maybe a snowball… then removal of her lawn chair from her parking space
\nbut… my door would not open because we were slow close to the pile of snow on the passenger side of the car
\nit was then that I was reminded of the issue
\nthe issue is not CAR VERSUS BIKE
\nthe issue is ME ME ME!
\nME FIRST! FACILITATE THINGS FOR ME!
\nnot me and you… JUST ME! ME! ME! ME!
\nto make the roads more safe for pedestrians and cyclists we do not need more laws… we do not need more signs
\nwe need to alter peoples sense of self
\nwe need to alter people sense of fairness
\nwe need to try to erase people’s selfishness and their sense of self importance
\nokay… on with my day
\ntime to put her behind me
\nthere will be others like her in my day
\nso there is no need for me to carry her with me
\nhttps:\/\/gwadzilla.blogspot.com\/2010\/02\/but-really-it-is-not-as-much-as-car.html<\/a>oldId.20100217010127515<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by gwadzilla the other day I got out on the bike… it was not a training session it was not a workout it was just a way to get from POINT A TO POINT B so often on this short cross town trek from my home in Mount Pleasant to my dad’s house in Bethesda … <\/p>\n

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