There are many things in life that are imperfect and riding a bike on city streets is imperfect at best. I still like urban riding as well as riding in the country as there are many exciting and stimulating things that remind me that this is a real sport with real rewards and consequences.
I train people on the back of my tandem in San Antonio and Cynthia is my newest client and tandem buddy. She is new to cycling but is very fit and strong and is an awesome stoker. We start out from the KGS Bikes studio at six in the morning ablaze with lights and a great attitude. Since Cara, our other training buddy was not with us on the day in question we chose a new route for Cynthia which is called the Iron Cross.
KGS Bikes Iron Cross
Find more Bike Rides in San Antonio, Texas
- Image of Iron Cross Ride
Our goal was to get a great intense training ride and we were not disappointed. That is not the point of this post, however.
Stone Oak Road gets very busy during morning rush hour. When the traffic backed up behind a light, I chose to split lanes between the cars as they were stopped. This is something I have done for years and had no problems until today.
A driver saw us in the rear view mirror and thought he would be cute, and opened his door! I was only going about 10 mph, and uphill at that, so it wasn’t a panic situation, but people who rally against splitting lanes say this could happen and it did.
I did take note of the fact that he didn’t open the door enough for us to hit him, as the tandem would have done a number on that door. The driver was also nice enough to buzz us when he finally caught us a mile or so down the road. He blasted by going about 60, honked, and then weaved in and out of a few cars ahead so he could let them know how cool he was. I was so impressed… not.
The moral of the story is, I will continue to split lanes if traffic is backed up at an intersection. I want to get through that intersection quickly and efficiently and don’t think sitting behind cars waiting in line is a good thing. I also don’t ride on the right next to a line of cars because they do have a habit of squeezing me off into the ditch. For some reason, they don’t tend to want to run into other cars so the space between them stays open.
I invite you to comment on this and tell us what experiences you have had splitting lanes. FYI, lane splitting is only legal in California, and I am not suggesting you turn into a criminal, but this is my way of civil disobedience to try and make cycling safer. I will comment on rolling through stop signs soon.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Remind me to never go riding with you in rush hour traffic.
Hi Debra,
I appreciate your comment but hope you don’t mind if I disagree.
Keep in touch!
Kevin