Problems With Cycling

I had a very educational conversation this morning.  Our clean up crews at the Cardinal Harbour Triathlon yesterday had missed one stretch of road and I got a call from a property owner.  He was upset and had reason to be.  It was my responsibility to make sure everything was taken care of and it was not.

I drove out and picked up the water bottles as well as any other trash I could find.  After I had finished I gave the property owner a call back to let him know I had taken care of it.  We had a long talk.  It was a very civil conversation in which he expressed his issues with cyclist and triathletes.  When Ironman announced their bike course they changed the daily flow of life for the people that live along it.  We all get a little bent when someone else does something that causes a change in our lives we don't like.  I don't think the races are the major concern (other than the trash issue).  A few days a year is not that big of a deal.  No more problem than traffic issues of any other event whether it be a Christmas Parade or the events associated with the Kentucky Derby.  The concern is the daily training that brings so many people to the roads on the course.

He had some good points and some that in my opinion were not so good, but I thought the best thing to do would be to relate them to you.  It seems that more and more people in this area are having problems with cyclist.  If we do not address some of these issues they will only continue to grow.

The first thing I want to address is the comment that many of the stores along the Ironman route are very upset with all the cyclist, because they will stop and go to the restroom or want water or ice for free and they make no money off them.  I have also heard this from one store myself.  During the race on Saturday we had an athlete who was sick and was having an emergency.  He was given a hard time when he stopped at a store and wanted to go to the bathroom.  This is a problem that I do not understand.  There is no reason that any store along a heavily traveled training route is not  making a profit from the cyclist.  Next time your out on your bike stick a couple of bucks in your jersey pocket and support the local stores.  When you need something and are driving past one of these places on your way to or from training stop there and get what you need.  These stores should not only not be upset with us they should look forward to the summer months when training is in full swing, so their revenues will increase.

The next issue is the most common and the most difficult to deal with.  Cyclist are just a irritant.  We are always slowing traffic and causing congestion.  The bottom line is that we do get on peoples nerves.  Of course tractors driving on the roads get on my nerves.  They are now talking about allowing golf carts on the roads in Shelbyville.  I am already prepared for that to irritate me.  In other words we all have things that bother us on the roads.  Our goal has to be to minimize our contribution to road rage and just rage in general.   The obvious way to do this just be as considerate as possible when we ride.  Some people will still not be satisfied, but it will help with some.

As you can tell there are good reasons why people get upset with us.  Every one of us has been driving down the road and seen groups of cyclist riding in a manner that would bother non cyclist.  The problem is that because of this issue people have developed many misconceptions about people who ride.

The first is that cyclist have no real right to the road.  The truth is that bicycles were recognized as vehicles and given rights to the roads before the automobile was invented and we were sharing the roads with horse and buggy.  Every court recognizes bicycles as a vehicle.  The pro of this is that our right to the road is not arguable.  This also means that we are subject to the rules of the road.  We are know not to be the best at following these rules.

Another misconception is that cyclist do not pay taxes to use the road.  Many athletes drive to areas to train.  We all travel long distances to race.  The amazing thing goes back to the demographics of athletes.  Here are some facts from Triathlete Magazine.  The mean household income for a triathlete is $161,300 and the median is $122,600.  Of course there are plenty of taxes paid on this money.  87% of triathletes have four year degrees and 43% have post graduate degrees.  Many of these people have offices or businesses in the counties where they train and pay taxes there.  More and more athletes are moving to areas where they train and pay property taxes.

I bring up these last two points to show what misunderstandings we have to overcome.

The funny thing about this entire situation is that we and the people we piss off could actually come to some common ground, but both sides are too convinced of their point of view.  They would like us off their roads and we would like safer places to ride.  We both think that our local governments should be on our side, and the truth is that the governments are stuck in the middle.

Every government is trying be seen as environmentally friendly and promoting healthy lifestyles.  The majority opinion is that cycling fits into both of these categories.  I just looked up bicycle advocacy on yahoo and got 5,680,000 hits so there are plenty of groups dedicated to the cause of cycling.  Many people who do not ride still support the healthy and green aspects of cycling.

It seems that with the above facts we would have the upper hand in getting bike lanes, wider shoulder on roads, or other safer ways to ride that would also be less intrusive to others.  The problem is that budgets always rule and there is just no money to get these changes made.  So for the time being what we have is what we are going to have.

The problem is if we do not get better places to ride soon and keep making more and more people mad the numbers will turn against us and we will have restrictions placed on cycling.

I have no brilliant ideas on how to improve this situation, but I have watched it heat up over the last year and know it must be improved.  The Louisville Landsharks have adopted 1694 and clean it several times a year.  The first year they pulled appliances and everything else out of the ditches down by the creek.  A few weeks ago when the clean up took place there was just your general trash fast food bags, beer bottles, etc.  This is great thing to give back to the area, but we need to find more ways to not only limit our intrusion into peoples lives, but to also become a value to our communities.

I am sure I have achieved making everyone mad with this.  All I can do is relate the facts as I see them.  My position is being stuck in the middle.  I need athletes to compete in races which means I need athletes out on the roads training.  I also need places to put on races, which means I need as small a number of people living in these places mad as possible.

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