“”Bicyclists on city streets are a nuisance.””
Many, many moons ago I practically lived on my bicycle. Some years, I could actually use it for work and college (small Community College near home & work) Even on my days off, I would ride a lot. I was also getting ready to bike down the coast of Kalifornia. It takes years to build up to something like that.
In every situation, I was ALWAYS looking around for dangers, human and otherwise. I would often just get off and walk, just to be careful. I never ran a red light. I biked as far away from the traffic lanes as possible. I always wore a good helmet.
While in many situations the bicyclist has the legal right-of-way, you have no metal surrounding you, and the metal of the cars is unforgiving. One of the most fun experiences was when I was in really good shape. I would chase commuter busses on the San Francisco peninsula. El Camino Real is a street that runs from South San Francisco to San Jose. The busses have to stop when a rider wants to get on, or get off. This one time, some younger people were in the back of the bus, and there is a big back window. After they noticed I would pass them when the bus would stop for passengers, and then the bus would pass me, they started cheering, urging me on. (no, I did not try to draft, get close to the back of the bus. Just another way to get badly injured). One time, I chased a bus so far, I lost track of just how far I had biked North, and the trip home was longer than I had planned. I will never forget those kids waving and yelling ‘come on, go!’ Come to think of it, they probably yelled for the driver to go, go after I passed the bus.
“In every situation, I was ALWAYS looking around for dangers..”
Problem is many drivers simply don’t register motorcycles or bicycles in their coconut and drive accordingly.