LETTER: More reasons to ride bicycles

Dear Editor,

Matt Cline gave several good reasons for getting on the bicycle. My 30 years of transportation cycling may be the exception that proves his Rule No 1. However, if you were encouraged by Matt to oil your chain and pump up your tires, there are a few more things you should know in your effort to improve your health, save money, reduce pollution and protect children.

According to Utah state law, cyclists have all the rights and duties of the operator of a vehicle. Every reputable bike-safety program teaches that following the law is the safest way to get someplace on your bike. Riding visibly, predictably and legally is the best way to insure you will get to your destination.

If your bike riding makes you feel like a prey item and the motorists around you are predators, then you’re doing something wrong. Motorists don’t want a ticket; they don’t want their paint scratched; they don’t want the delay of a collision; they don’t want to hurt you.

Bicyclists who think they are prey items make a host of mistakes that actually reduce their safety. The No. 1, collision-causing mistake is to ride on the left side of the road. That puts you where crossing traffic is not looking for conflicts, so you are not riding visibly or predictably or legally.

The next mistake is to ride on roadside sidewalks. While not always illegal, your conflicts with motorists at driveways and crosswalks put you in their way much more suddenly than the pedestrians they are expecting to look out for.

Once you reject these first two errors and begin riding on the right side of the road where you belong, you still need to purge the last remnant of the prey mentality and recognize you have a right to safely use the roadway to get where you are going.

Riding visibly and predictably means riding a straight line – looking, yielding and signaling before changing from that straight line. Don’t be a “gutter bunny,” weaving back and forth around parked cars and other obstacles.

Bob Bayn