MLK

I ride my bike past the Martin Luther King National Historic Site on my daily commute. When the vision of our leaders is as bright as Dr. King's, it is worthwhile to find its applicability outside of the lives they lived. Riding my bike beneath his sculpture has allowed me to consider the struggle of cyclists in light of the Civil Rights struggle.

It would be wrong to suggest that a bicycle rights movement carries anything near the weight that the Civil Rights movement carries, yet there are similarities that are worth looking at.

One of the great debates -- for both struggles -- has been integration vs. segregation. The case of racial integration has been thoroughly covered. Regarding the integration of motorists and cyclists, there are arguments both ways. Some feel that cyclists and motorists should be provided with separate facilities while others feel it is safest for both sides when the two share the same roadway. The lessons to be learned are the same in both cases.

Both struggles have been hindered by stereotypes. Racial stereotyping is not unlike the stereotyping that occurs between motorists and cyclists. Instead of seeing individuals with differing beliefs and behaviors, we sometimes take a mental short-cut and make a snap judgement based on limited information. The brain is useful that way when we need a snap judgement, but our fellow human beings deserve more consideration.

Both require and ask for tolerance. The tolerance makes it possible for different groups and individuals to see each other as wanting the same outcomes, wanting the same respect, and ultilmately, recognizing that underneath the exterior, we are the same.

I wish to take nothing from MLK's Dream, but I dream of a day when cyclists and motorists can ride alongside each other on our roadways with mutual respect and the courtesy that allows us to safely reach our destinations. For many of my interactions with motorists, that day has come, but we still have a ways to go.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 18.7
Number of Cyclists seen: 13 (5 in AM and 8 in PM)
In-bound Route: Goofin' 9.6
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Above freezing with threat of rain

Courteous Mass Lifting

photo courtesy of Courteous Mass Atlanta (on Facebook)

January's Courteous Mass in Atlanta raised the bar by raising bicycles. The bike lift is a celebration of cycling that originated with Critical Mass as part of corking intersections. Since Courteous Mass doesn't cork intersections, if we didn't want to be left out of the fun, we had to come up with a Courteous Bike Lift. For this, we found a few spots out of the way of traffic where we could lift our bikes in mass. This photo was taken on the southeast corner of the 5th Street Bridge on Georgia Tech's campus.

As Dr. Drago puts it, "To complement the ride's cardio-vascular conditioning, the Courteous Bike Lift develops upper-body strength."

Courteous Mass Atlanta has a Facebook group. Announcements of future rides and reviews of past rides can be found here. All are welcome to join and to invite others.

Ride Summary

Round Trip Distance: About 7 miles
Number of Cyclists seen: more than 40 rode in our group and we spotted several others.
Route: Centennial Park, Georgia Tech, Colony Square, Krispy Kreme, Peachtree
Weather: Dry, clear and mild

Courteous Half-Dozen

 

Atlanta's November Courteous Mass did not issue Rain Checks. If you did not attend -- and you would have been in the majority -- then you missed the ride.

I had signed up a good number of participants, but the rain fall at departure time chased away everyone I had invited. I rode alone to Woodruff Park.

At the park, the plaza (shown above) that is usually packed with bicycles was empty. Everyone got chased indoors this evening. Instead of a Courteous Mass, we were a Courteous Half-Dozen. (Jeff's Photo)

We still rode. Jeff had his nearly famous bike stereo pumping out tunes, the horns and bike bells played to the music, and many "Happy Friday's" were passed out.

Ride Summary

Route:

 

Route Distance: 6.8
Round Trip Distance: 15.6
Weather: Raining before the start; no rain after the start.

Shades of Stop

I'm not sure if law enforcement officers recognize shades of stopping, but for me it is useful to distinguish between various levels of courteousness at traffic signals and stop signs. I'm interested to know where your riding fits on this scale from most polite to most rude. (Different behavior on different rides is expected.)

These are graded on a courteous scale from most polite to most rude:

10 - Complete stop, foot on the ground, drinking out of a water bottle. Performed when you're trying to get a motorist with the right of way to go through the intersection. Particularly useful when they are on the cell phone.
9 - Stopped for a red light, but the light doesn't detect the bicycle, no cars to trip the detector. Wait through a cycle of the lights and then proceed through red as if it were a stop sign.
8 - Stopped for a red light, but the light doesn't detect the bicycle, no cars to trip the detector. Wait only until traffic clears and then proceed through red as if it were a stop sign.
7 - Near stop, still clipped in. This is the conservative interpretation of a neighborhood stop sign or a right on red light as a yield.
6 - Come to a near stop, and then run a red light. Another interpretation of a signal as a yield sign.
5 - Slowing, then rolling through a stop sign. Slowed enough to make sure no traffic whose right of way would be challenged, preparing to brake to a full stop, but continuing to conserve momentum. This is the aggressive interpretation of a neighborhood stop sign as a yield sign.
4 - While someone is blocking traffic, profusely thank waiting motorists for allowing you to run through the red light/stop sign.
3 - Blow through a red light/stop sign with the benefit of someone clearly blocking traffic (as in corking).
2 - Blow through a red light/stop sign without slowing and thus surprising motorists and pedestrians.
1 - Blow through a red light/stop sign and nearly colliding with traffic that has the right of way.

Are there other grades on this scale? Other behavior I've missed?

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 18.7
Number of Cyclists seen: 34 (8 inbound, 26 outbound)
In-bound Route: Goofin' 9.6
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Favorite temps in AM: So cool that it takes a hill or two to warm up when wearing shorts and single layer short-sleeves (about 55 degrees).

Atlanta Courteous Mass Oct 2008

 

Nick and Catherine are decorating their bike trailer while Tom and Carli await the start of the ride at Woodruff Park. Carli had a little more time to decorate than others, but many riders took pieces of the fluorescent flagging tape to dress up their bikes.

We got mixed up in lots of events that were going on in Downtown Atlanta.

As we passed between Centennial Park and Phillips Arena, we got re-directed by an officer working the traffic coming into the Atlanta Thrashers season opener.

In Atlantic Station, they were setting up for an outdoor food festival called Taste of Atlanta and were BARRED from cruising through. Actually, we were being courteous since this was Courteous Mass and decided to go around the restricted streets.

Then, we realized what a cruising zone Peachtree Street turns into on a Friday. There were cars everywhere and a big group of bikes stuck in the middle of it all. There was some event at the Fox Theater, but we couldn't tell what because by the time we got down to 5th Street, we decided to ride one block east on Courtland.

 

Courtland at Ralph McGill during Courteous Mass. Blue-domed hotel was tallest in Atlanta when I visited in 1969.

Good route and good company!

Partaking of the Pedestrian Privilege

 

Where multi-use paths cross neighborhood streets, I've found motorists generally expect pedestrians to come right on into the crosswalk. The runner in the photo hardly broke stride crossing in front of the approaching car. There was a stop sign on his side just like the one you can see facing the camera.

I call this the Pedestrian Privilege.

For most intersections, regular rules apply, but for "recreational facilities", motorists will allow strollers, dog walkers, school children, little old ladies, and even runners to pretend the pedestrian STOP signs aren't there.

I often observe that this privilege is also extended to cyclists. I treat the stop sign as if I were a vehicle. When traffic has arrived at the intersection before me, I stop, put my foot down and shake my head "No" if someone offers me the right of way (particularly if they are on a cell phone). Other cyclists will proceed quickly through the intersection once they see the motorist has hesitated much the same as the runner in the photo.

There seems like there could be an educational opportunity here, but I'm not sure if these intersections make a good classroom. On the other hand, what does make a good classroom?

I'm interested to hear how others approach these motorist/cyclist interactions and whether this provides a good opportunity to socialize certain safe and courteous behaviors.

The following may make a separate post, but it's another angle on the Pedestrian Privilege:

On Monday, another family joined ours on a bicycle Treasure Hunt around Intown Atlanta. The less experienced cyclists behaved like pedestrians. They would stand on the sidewalk at the crosswalk and step into the crosswalk to get cars to stop. The more experienced cyclists would act more like a car, waiting at the intersection for an opening and then proceeding once traffic was clear.

If each of us had big thought balloons over our heads that read "Pedestrian Mode" or "Vehicular Mode", we would be more predictable. A motorist approaching 7 cyclists scattered all over the intersection is justifiably confused and probably feels put out that we can't get our act together. It's certainly not as impressive as a group of cyclists that blends in well with the other traffic making use of the street. And, it's not as impressive as a group of pedestrians taking advantage of the crosswalk.

This is another interaction between motorists and cyclists, another opportunity to socialize safe and courteous behavior and to foster goodwill between the two groups, but again, if this isn't the best classroom, then what is?

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 19.5
Number of Cyclists seen: 7 in the AM, 23 in the PM - large proportion of commuters both ways.
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH trail with extensions
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: We're getting back to the sweet weather. Mild and sunny with just a slight breeze.

New Crop of Bicycle Commuters

Whether it's been gas prices, global warming, or falling behind on the car payment, more people are riding bicycles during my daily commute. I ride my bike to work because I want to be the change I want to see in the world. More cyclists is what I want and I like what I see.

I'd like it even better if this new crop of bicycle commuters would

• Ride on the street instead of the sidewalk.
  
• Take the ear buds out.
  
• Stay on the right side of the road.
  

Once I tried to admonish a cyclist for running red lights. It didn't go so well and I'm sorry I had confronted him. He's still riding, but I fear this tactic could stop others from riding. I don't call out cyclists running red lights anymore.

Still, we want to socialize the ideas that lead to safe and courteous cycling. How best to do this?

I had written not long ago about "Sowing Flowers". Perhaps the best way to set the tone is to set an example. Be the change you want to see in the world.

One of the places I've found this works best is at a stop light. When I'm in front of another cyclist, they usually will not come around me to run a red light. When they are in front and run the light, they often notice that I haven't followed. It's a simple message: there are people on bikes who stop at red lights.

So we begin another school year and the training of a new crop of bicycle commuters. What sort of teachers will they find?

Sowing Flowers

Each ride is an opportunity to plant seeds in the minds of the motorists, pedestrians, and other cyclists we encounter. Yesterday's ride was an example.

Although I've been riding bicycles in Atlanta for nearly 30 years now, there are still many roads I've never been down. Some roads I avoid, but the real reason is there are hundreds of roads and we tend to stick with our favorites.

When we do explore new roads, we often find the pedestrians and motorists are unfamiliar with cyclists. These encounters on remote and little traveled roads are opportunities to make good impressions.

People on the street are often the most fun. When they see a group of cyclists in bright colors, it's almost like a parade (if not a bike race). They stop to watch and whoop and holler as we pass. I like ringing my bike bell because that is even more unexpected than several guys closely following each other on a bike. This always gets a smile from the kids.

The motorists are more mixed. Some are ultra-cautious and trail behind us matching our speed for the length of the road we're on. We'll hug the fog line and try waving them around, and then when they finally catch up at an intersection, we'll sometimes find an elderly couple with thick glasses and cautious smiles.

Every now and then we do hear the occasional "I'm back here and about to come around" tap on the horn. The belligerent horn and the "get off the road" attitudes are rare, but we do what we can to allow traffic to get around us.

It's nice talking with motorists in their cars. Not many roll down their window at a stop light so we can greet each other and chat about whatever. Just being able to connect human to human plants seeds of goodwill.

When we stop for water, we're an easy target for casual conversation with passerby. Whether we're clearly out for a recreational ride or clearly headed into the office, the common denominator is we're having fun. Fun echoes all around us and others want to join in the fun. I think this aura of fun and the laid-back approachability of most cyclists engages people. We're planting seeds.

We're careful not to block traffic, or do anything unexpected. Most motorists simply want to pass us safely. Most pedestrians just want their space respected and to share the fun. And cyclists that ride with us understand we want to earn the respect of everyone we share the road with. That's the best way to sow the seeds that blossom into goodwill toward cyclists.

Poor Etiquette

Over the past few days I observed poor etiquette on the part of both drivers and cyclists. The motorists first.

In two separate incidents, a motorist pulled into the left lane as we were stopped to turn left at an intersection with a main road. The first time it happened, we weren't sure if the driver was turning right or left. There was no signal. I hope they realized their mistake when a car approaching from the left tried to turn onto the street and found this motorist sitting in their lane. At least it blocked traffic from that direction so it was easier to get across.

The second time, I heard the car coming around in the left lane and signaled our left turn. It didn't matter. They were still thinking they could pass us. When the traffic cleared, we made our left and the motorist just stayed in the left lane until they were around us.

I would guess the second motorist thought they had time to get around us and mis-judged our speed. In the first case however, we had been waiting for several seconds at the stop sign for traffic to clear. Not sure what was going on inside this head (or maybe it's being generous to assume something was going on inside their heads).

Yesterday on my way home, three cyclists came up behind me at the light. They were chatting amongst themselves and seemed to be OK cyclists except for one guy who pulled up to my right on the sidewalk. I watched him as the light changed to see if he intended to come around me on the right or just use the crosswalk to remain on the sidewalk. There was a bike lane at this point, so I didn't see the point of using the sidewalk.

Two blocks down the street, the bike lane has ended and a line of cars are waiting at a 4-way stop. Two or three of them are signaling a right turn, so I pull up behind the last car in line to take my turn. The three cyclists are still behind me until the sidewalk guy makes his move to pass the line of cars on the right. I told him the car was about to make a right as if he missed their turn signal. He replies "It doesn't matter", and proceeds to pass the motorist just as he was about to make his right turn. The motorist slams on his brakes and is clearly perturbed.

Perhaps this cyclist had his brain switched off, but I failed to see the point of this. Were they simply trying to get in front of me or is this how they always ride? I didn't find out because we turned different directions at the next intersection.

I guess the right approach to handling this is to try to set a good example. People need situations like this to learn what is accepted behavior and as long as no one gets hurt, I guess we're OK.