For those of you uncertain how to behave around bicycles:
- Don’t pass coming up to a stop. First, my brakes aren’t as good as yours. I can’t stop as quickly. When you pass me and stop, you’re taking away the margin I had given myself for coming to a stop. Second, you don’t know which way I’m going. I might be turning left, and now you’ve cut me off. I might be turning right, and now I can’t see to turn right. I might be going straight, and now you’ve forced me into cars. Wait five seconds, would you? Pass me when it’s safe.
- Pass me when it’s safe. I have no armor. Your mirror hurts. I have to dodge road hazards that you can’t see and aren’t an issue for you, so I don’t travel in a straight line. You don’t know what I’m going to do. I sometimes can’t tell that you’re passing, due to the lack of rear view mirrors and the fact that you’re going way faster than me. I might not know you’re there.
- Corollary: Give me room when you pass. I can’t believe Arnie vetoed the three foot rule, but there you go. What a fucking idiot, as events proved.
[NB: To be updated as I think shit up.]