Comments on: Why So Serious?

By: nat

nat — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:11:54 +0000

You know, some of us just aren’t extroverts. I’m almost always happy, and with a song in my heart (or at least head) that i might even sing along to. I might be the most upbeat person i know. But I don’t often smile. And even when i don’t have headphones on, i’m about as likely to say ‘hi’ to a stranger as i am to sprout wings. Just because someone doesn’t say ‘hi’ doesn’t mean they’re not friendly–and even if they’re not friendly, that doesn’t mean they’re not happy. Some of us are introverts. We interact with others when we must, but that’s it. And, you know, some people can be happy without having to show the world (to gain validation of that happiness by others’ responses?–i dunno).

I’ve always been a little puzzled by this call for camaraderie between cyclists, like being on a bicycle trumps all other differences–I don’t feel camaraderie with the idiot riding the wrong way, i get pissed off. And the vast majority of cyclists i see are doing something stupid like that (wrong way, no lights, on sidewalk, not paying any attention to the traffic around them, riding right next to parked cars, running stoplights, etc.). Sometimes i take the time to point out how foolish/dangerous/inconsiderate their behavior is. Mostly i just shake my head and move on. Plus, I don’t feel any particular camaraderie with other motorists when I’m driving, so why other cyclists when i’m cycling?

And that’s without even considering the very real need to be alert and attentive while cycling (because some idiot driver might decide to pass a flatbed truck and the line of cars behind it on the left side, around a blind turn, crossing the centerline to do so, when the big truck has its left-turn signal on, and thus be coming straight at you on your side of the street as you approach the intersection to turn left–not that anything like that has ever happened to me, and certainly not this morning on the way home from work. grrr…).

By: Hashbrown

Hashbrown — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:29:17 +0000

Where i commute everyday, you get stereotyped as either insane for not owning a car and riding every day or simply having a DWI / OWI and you cant drive your SUV while eating a double cheeseburger / smoking a ciggy / and talking on the cell phone.

Its hard to smile all the time when people are expecting you to be carrying a case of blatz on your handlebars and wearing a trash bag to keep the rain off

By: DaveP

DaveP — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:03:35 +0000

I cycle for exercise,
I cycle to rid myself of the hum-drum tediousness of -The Daily Grind’,
I cycle because it makes me smile.

I just don’t cycle enough.

As I ride to work I look at those around me and wonder why the other -Gutter Bunnies’ (http://www.twinsix.com/gear/gear_t609t05.htm ) do it..
None of them smile; very few even acknowledge my wave or -Morning’, and for once it’s not just the Roadies, even those riding Mountain bikes and Hybrids are tight-lipped and scowling at the road ahead. OK, so first thing in the morning I’m not at my best until at least the second coffee and I’m sure only 5% of the population really want to do their commute.. So why do we ( they ) zone-out like the car drivers do? It’s often said that drivers travel in their own bubble, isolated from their surroundings, treating everyone else on the roads as just impediments to their safe and speedy arrival at their destination – what’s the difference? I see it as being a variation of infrastructure agnostic “Target Fixation”.

QED: On the way to work: traffic often stops to let me across busy junctions, busses give me space on narrow country lanes and even White Vans pass without trying to decapitate me with their rear-view mirrors. Should I be surprised that on the way home things are VERY different..?

By: Kaz Kougar

Kaz Kougar — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:53:10 +0000

Jun,
They say it takes more muscles to frown than it does smile so in theory those crabby, frowning commuters are distracting themselves from the cars all around them.

By: Owen

Owen — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:20:10 +0000

That’s a good word. Thank you for that. In my Canadian motown of bike hating motorists it’s easy for me to forget to smile as I commute.

By: Seamus

Seamus — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:29:09 +0000

We’re all different
You can’t expect us all to conform
to your ideal of comportmant behaviour.
Maybe that IS their smile?
The glas is always half empty.
And cracked.
And I just cut my lip on it.
And chipped a tooth

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:27:04 +0000

If my area had safer and better developed bike lanes and paths, I’d have a very good reason to smile. Other than that, having cars come within inches of my handlebars easily wipes whatever semblance of a smile my face may tend to have.

By: Honda Fairings

Honda Fairings — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:31:53 +0000

Making an effort to greet other bikers and be friendly is good. Just don’t be sad if they don’t even glance at you. Just enjoy the ride.

By: Jun

Jun — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:28:22 +0000

A commute is act of getting from a to b. Bike commute in a car culture is not the safest way to get to b. It’s OK to smile when you are aware of your surrounding. It doesn’t help you a bit much if you’re about to be terminated by a car flying over 40 miles/hr. Bike commuting is a task, not to be taken lightly. Safety first. When your all safe at home and tired, go ahead smile as long as you can for the rest of the day

By: Stuart M.

Stuart M. — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:35:03 +0000

Here in Japan where everyone rides their bike on the sidewalk, there seems to be a lot of confusion over which side of the sidewalk one should ride the bike on. Cars in Japan are supposed to ride on the left, so you would think bicyclists might keep to the left of the sidewalk. Noooooo, they come at you willy-nilly, fingering their cell phones and you have to shout at them to look up. It makes for a bad mood. Yes, I do ride on the road in some of the quieter neighborhoods, but there the bicyclists come riding at you when you are on the left side of the road! I think this disregard for any rules of the road is compensating for the Japanese attitude that bicycle riding is shameful and only people with no driver’s license or no money do it. I do ride very carefully around pedestrians and often exchange friendly words with them. I’m guessing they probably have a very bad opinion of bicyclists, so I’m hoping to show them we are not all bad.