SAVE THE BIKE RIDERS

Although I have had a bicycle for years and have ridden it a lot at college and other places I never really considered myself a serious bike rider. The farthest I ever rode a bicycle in one day prior to this trip was 50 miles when I rode with my son for his cycling merit badge for scouts.

So here are a few lessons that I have learned over the last 1000 miles. Perhaps something here may be of value to you.

Most people are NICE. Some People are not Nice. Some people do NOT like bike riders and think they do NOT belong on the road.

A few thoughts.

·Bike riders pay road taxes just like people who drive cars do.

·Bike riders just want to “share” the roads like other people in cars do.

·Bike riders are required to obey traffic laws like people in cars are and if you have to slow down a little so you don’t run over a bike rider and smash him or her flat, that is ok.

·There are signs on many roads that say “Do Not Drive On The Shoulder Of The Road”. The reason those signs say that, is because the shoulders of roads are dangerous to drive on.

·The shoulders of the roads are covered with ROCKS, GRAVEL, GLASS, BROKEN BEAR BOTTLES, SCREWS, BOLTS, PIECES OF TIRE RUBBER, FISHING LURES, ETC, ETC.

·It Stinks sometimes to ride on the shoulder of the road.

·Bicycle riders are expected to always ride on the shoulder of the road.

·The shoulders of the roads are 4 feet wide every great once in a while but most of the time they are less than 2 feet wide. Many shoulders of the roads are between 6 inches to a foot wide and quite often do not exist at all.

·When roads are re-paved, many times the highway departments save money by running the asphalt only to the white line or slightly beyond the white line. When we ride on the shoulder bicycle riders are always fighting the abrupt edges of the side of the roads where the asphalt edges change. They are very common.

·The roughest part of the highway is always the shoulder. It is full of cracks, pot holes, broken asphalt, debris, frost heaves, etc.

·Our bicycle tires are about 1 inch wide and are inflated to about 80 to 100 pounds of air. We get to feel every little bump of the road very intimately.

·The Warning Bars (Rumble Strips) are always on the shoulder of the roads. It’s real nice to have a 2 foot wide shoulder with a 1 foot rumble strip right down the middle of it. You should try riding over those on a tire that is one inch wide and inflated to 100 lbs.

·My bicycle is about 25 pounds, a rider weighs around 175 to 200 lbs, and I am carrying 80 to 100 pounds of weight depending on my water load. That is a 300 lb piece of equipment riding on 1 inch tires. If you run off the edge of the road, MOST of the time your tires will dig immediately into the dirt or gravel and you will get a nice trip straight down into the pavement. Despite what people might say, it does not feel that great to smash into the pavement.

·There are guard rails on much of the highway. Most of the time the white line is about 6 inches to a foot away from the Guard Rails. While trying to stay on the shoulder of the road and not hit the guardrail and stay out of the road, if you touch the guard rails with your nice fat panniers, the guard rail will grab your panniers and jerk your front wheel into the guard rail and SLAM you immediately to the ground out into the road. If a car is coming – Not so Nice. If a car is not coming – Not so nice.

·A bicycle with panniers is about 2 feet wide, maybe a little wider. We need a little bit of space and in many cases we don’t get it.

·When the wind is blowing it is hard to control a bike.

·When you are grinding up a hill at 3 miles an hour with 85 pounds of gear on your bike and you are exhausted and worn out, it is not easy to keep you bike in a nice little straight line. You wobble. If a car does not give a bike rider a little space the results could less than optimum.

·When Semi Trucks pass full loaded bicycle riders, their wind foil from the truck can sometimes push a rider a foot or more off track and give him a pretty bad time.

So when you see a bicycle rider in the road, give them a little space.

Slow down if you need to and pass them when it is safe.

Remember, we are not your enemy; we just want to use the road also. We help pay for it too.

Thanks for your help and understanding.

With Love,

Dan Staples