One of my stepdaughters recently took a new job. Her first day at work is later this week.
When she announced that she had gotten the position, one of her comments to me was along the lines of, "I want you to help me find a good bike route there."
At first, I wanted to celebrate--at least to myself--that she was making such a plan. Then I remembered that we have one car for our three-adult household, and she was simply being realistic about the availability of the car. "Smugness level = off."
We got to chat about the options today. Her first route choice was to ride from our house in Westport Road to the Kroger store at Hubbards and Westport, then get into Beechwood Village to cross Shelbyville Road at Bramton Road (using the traffic light). Her job is at one of the stores in the Shelbyville Road Plaza. The Google Maps "get directions" function shows this as something like three and a quarter miles, for a six- to seven-mile round trip.
When I drive my bike to stores there (I frequent the Feeders Supply location there, for example), I use New LaGrange Road to get to Shelbyville Road, then enjoy having Shelbyville Road almost to myself for a good while as I near the bridge supporting the Watterson Expressway and its access ramps, then usually occupy the left lane so that I can make a timely turn off Shelbyville. I will sometimes, depending on traffic volume, stay in the right lane until I reach Stonehenge Drive, then turn right into Beechwood Village and cross at the light on Bramton. This gives me a round-trip distance of less than four miles.
When I mentioned this route to my stepdaughter, she refused to ride that way. I tried to be gentle in asking why she objected to my choice, she responded that she gets irked at cyclists if she is on Shelbyville Road, so doesn't want to irk motorists.
I find her reaction interesting, and thought-provoking. Sad, too, as it's a theme I've heard elsewhere in society, sometimes cited as a reason why a person won't ride instead of driving a car.
Boulder, Louisville, and press coverage of crashes
16 years ago
2 comments:
If she gets 'irked' at cyclists, maybe she needs to refresh her knowledge of the rules of priority on the road. I'm guessing that the problem is an ignorance of the rules of 'first come, first served' and the requirement to yield to the vehicle in front until it can be safely overtaken.
I think it's pretty ironic that, as a motorist, she fails to recognize her own ignorance of the law, while as a cyclist, she dare not use certain roads for fear of that same ignorance.
That thought had occurred to me, as well, Ian. Thanks for expressing it better than I had in my mind.
Now, to figure out how to convince HER of this...
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