Discovery

When H decided to walk, he knew how and took careful precautions and went for the right incentives. He liked to know what was coming, and was a fan of patterns and routines. We would play on the riding toys in the driveway for hours. So many hours, that he was riding two wheels by the age of three. As a teenager, he's rides with a mountain bike team and gets himself to and from school. Same route everyday. He comes home through a park and then down the greenway a short distance. 

Sara called me. Who's Sara? I don't actually know, because we had never met before this call. I was getting on the bike headed for home to pick up my kids. Except she seem to be talking about my kids... 

[Incoming call] Hi yes, I'm Susan. My son? Which one? Who is this again? What did you say? Is he hurt? Can I talk to him? {frantically grabbing coworker to drive me to my child} What hospital are they taking him to? Can you take a picture of his bike so I can know how severe his injuries might be? Thank you Sara, I love you so much right now. I'm coming. Oh hi, yes, I'm his mom. Are you there? Can you hear me? No, he doesn't have any allergies. His name, diagnosis, current meds, yes. Tell him I love him. Thank you. I'll go to the hospital then. 

[text] It's important. Call me immediately.

[Outgoing call] What are you doing right now? Are you parked? There's been an accident, it's H. He was riding his bike home from school. They don't know the extent of his injuries, they're taking him to the hospital. Can you get there? I'm going to get R&T now and I'll meet you there. Where else would I take them? Once they hear he's in the hospital, they're going to want to get there. Yes, we'll figure out. I'll call your dad.

[Incoming call] Hey baby, are you ok? Yes, get in the ambulance with him. Hold his hand. {screams in the background that make me wince} It's ok, I'm coming as fast as I can. Do you want to wait there or go back to the school? {dropping phone sounds and then a new voice} Yes, I'm his mom. I'm coming there right now, about 10 minutes out. Yes, they're brothers, they're my sons. I'm coming as fast I can. 

[Incoming call] Hey sweet girl. Yes, I'm going to pick you up. Listen, something's happened. As soon as I get to the school, be ready. We have to move quickly.

[Outgoing call] Got a sec? I need a favor. Oh, you're driving. Can you pull over? Yea, I know it makes you nervous. Don't worry, I'll wait. Ok, Holden was in an accident. I'm on my way to the hospital, but I need to get R&T first. Can you meet their dad there? I understand you're upset. We are about to walk into a very tense situation and I need you to have a calm head. Yes, you can vent. You didn't hurt my feelings. Yes, meet me at the hospital and we'll figure it out. 

x

[at the scene] Hi, yes, I'm Susan. Can you give me one second and we can finish? {wrap my arms around my second son and feel the relief of a healthy, strong, breathing boy with a brave face} Ok, so where is the van now? Who is Sara? Were there others? Are there skid marks? How fast was she going? Why wouldn't she have stopped then? {wrestling with the bike rack} Here, it goes like this. Oh you have this rack too? Yea we love it. So he usually comes down this greenway path, and then crosses to the curb relief on the other side.  What van was it? Did she brake at all before she hit my son? So you didn't cite her? I need to get to the hospital, can I have the information on the report? Thank you.

Oh the Facebook of it All

An interaction on Facebook has me all worked up this morning. A friend made a complaint, and friends chimed in with shared frustration. The drivers who weren't actually experiencing the interaction were jumping to anger over the reality that bicycles are occupying space on the road. Here's what I'm thinking. I want to resurrect the human status of cyclists by sharing my experience, and also recall the legality of the choice. 

{Did I mention I ride bikes? You guys know this because you're here and probably got here because you know me personally or you ride bikes. Not everyone agrees with my choices, but we can at least civilly disagree.}

When a driver and I disagree about a lane use issue. The exchange is typically punctuated by honking. Sure, that's predictable, but I invite you to an experiment. Try this. Set your 3 year old in the driver seat of your car, obviously not running or in any way powered on. Just set the child in front of the steering wheel's horn button. Now, go stand in front of the car facing the same direction of the vehicle with it behind you. Wait, and then see what happens. 

Often in-motion lane use arguments are much more brutal: A bus driver passes and tips my helmet with the mirror of the bus, nearly spilling me into a rash of poison ivy in the culvert of the road. The mini van mama screams obscenities through an open window while honking and cutting into the lane in front of me to turn right. A one-ton truck driver discards the remnants of a fast food drink, including cup, and then accelerates heavily to leave me in a puff of exhaust. All of these examples have happened to me this year. Everyday I ride my bike, I have an encounter like this.

Please pause and think about the last time you were walking and somebody threw a drink cup at you, screamed obscenities, or just straight up hit you. What was that like for you?

It happens to me every single day that I ride my bike. My humanity wants me to believe this type of interaction isn't normal and doesn't characterize the morality of the individual. I try to lift the interaction out of the well by responding with a super-big smile and wave, "Have a good day!"

(Would you shoot a person who is smiling and waving? It's my only defense on my 20-lb bicycle against a 3,500lb vehicle.)

This is a real fear. Regularly, cyclists are physically assaulted. A driver has pulled a gun on me while riding my bike. I happened to have been pregnant at the time.

People who ride bikes are people. In my case, I'm a mom of three kids. I manage a team of engineers for a major corporation. I also teach yoga for peace, and math to little kids. I pay taxes on my car, my home, and my income. 

When I ride my bike, I am not trying to take anything from you. I'm trying to get to work. When I ride in a peloton, I am not trying to prevent you from using the road. I'm getting a workout. Any delay you experience will likely be short, and I appreciate you waiting until it is safe to pass. 

NC HB959 - FOUR Feet Please

As a driver, I don't want to share my lane with anything else. The lane I am traveling in at the time I am traveling is mine. I feel the same way when I'm on a bike. I appreciate it when a driver gives a full pass by taking measures to pass me as if they are overtaking any other vehicle.

Wait for a clear view and passing distance, cross all the way into the other lane, and then cross back into the forward moving lane. 

Gosh this sounds nice. If we use this as a basis for passing, it becomes easier to understand a two column pace line. It's a shorter pass, and it's easier on the athletes. And man, yay. Thanks for being courteous. Well, you can imagine that rarely happens. You can tell when a driver also rides bikes.

A really exciting law change came up in North Carolina. House Bill 959 has granted us a number of safety protections. The first of these laws went into effect on October 1st, and allows drivers to pass bicycles or mopeds in no passing zones with at least 4 feet of clearance. 

The rest of the changes take effect on December 1st, and include a law requiring cyclists to have a rear light (in addition to the already required front light) or wear reflective clothing that is visible from at least 300 feet, the official recognition of the right hand turn signal, and harsher penalties and fines for drivers who cause a cyclist to run off the road, change lanes, or crash.

Are you ready? I'm ready.

A photo posted by @heartspoken.ninja on Mar 8, 2016 at 2:44pm PST

3 Feet Please

This is Steven. He's cool for lots of reasons, and one of them is his brass commitment to safety. He believes people should be able to ride bikes safely on the road. He and I share this belief.

Notice the 3' pole that points straight left off of his handlebar. This is how far away you need to be to pass a bike safely. Notice that this requires a passing vehicle to enter into the oncoming lane if they wish to pass. This is desirable. I wish to share the road with you, but not my lane. I'm in it. I'm going to go ahead and use it.

I am someone's Mom

I've written a lot about the aggression I experience from people who drive cars. When we are sitting in a cafe at breakfast, it is a way less hostile exchange. Less dangerous. All around, just a better time.

I had this idea that if I wore a jersey with the word "MOM" on the back, maybe people driving the cars around me would be less... awful? nasty? dangerous?

I pay taxes and I have a job. I'm a mom and I volunteer. I shouldn't have to claim my place in society just to have this space of road. I have to get tow work. I would otherwise be using this same space with a car.

And then Rachel, one of my most beloved soul sisters, made me this.

http://ift.tt/20fitKw

Golden Modes

This afternoon I'm receiving an Honorable Mention for a Golden Spoke award. While that is a super-great esteem from my peers, I'm motivated to do more in the next year.  Here are my next set of goals.

1 - Start more conversations with people about why and how they can get around in a smarter way.

2 - Attend the Bike Summit in DC in March.

3 - Go to more BPAC meetings.

4 - Organize a bike safety event for at least one school.

5 - Don't fall over in carpool... or maybe just don't blog about it.

In-fighting

I had an interaction with a retired military person of unknown rank this weekend. I was riding the right tire marking of the lane. He let me know that "somebody" called the cops on him for riding the lane, just as I was doing. One would think he was worried about me!

While seemingly concerned for the safety of himself and our group, he was blowing red lights. On this self-described casual ride, he pushed the pace to 23-25mph. He told me about how the two guys riding with him were also former military down there on vacation. I told him how I'm a single mom of 3 and when his guys stopped with me at the lights, I would catch him again. I can sometimes read a room, so I ditched them for my pretty sunrise pictures...

And then weirdly "somebody" called the cops.

The cop told me to ride the bike lane. He told me that outside the solid white line without any markings is the bike lane. We agreed at least that neither of us wants me to get hit by a car. This is a picture of that bike lane.

Why do you think we fight each other like this?