Captain Mellow Checks In: Selfish Me...
I was doing a fast cruise along the mean streets of Claremont the other day; the same streets that have become purple and sticky from all the dropping, popping Jacaranda flowers over the past couple weeks. When I spun past this old flower and vine-bedecked Volkswagen bus sputtering along, I suddenly realized that it had been some time since last I received any collection of words from Captain Mellow. I borrowed an old cattle prod from a neighbor up the road (don't ask, don't tell) hoping I could put it to effective use in coaxing a little update about goings-on in the daily life of the good Captain. The following is what he sent:
"Hello good readers. I apologize for the long delay, the great expanse of time that has passed since last I checked in, though I offer no further explanation of reason why. I will tell you that I have been riding, and those rides, as they usually do, lead to thinking. Sometimes those thoughts stagnate in dead ends, other times they flow with the miles and lead to revelations. Well, there was one typical day, one particular ride (purely within the confines of the town limits) on which a couple incidents occurred which set my mind along a certain thought track. Let me explain those incidents.
Case #1: I was heading down Street 'A' toward a signal-controlled intersection with Street 'B' where I needed to make a left turn. Traffic was light along this part of Street 'A' as it always is so there was no trouble getting over into the left turn lane. As I waited at the signal a driver also coming down the street pulled in behind me. Also waiting at the signal were two pedestrians (women, if you must know). They were on the curb to my left and would be crossing Street 'B'. A car was coming up Street 'A' from the opposite direction. There were others around, mostly drivers on the cross street, but in this scenario they were all uninvolved bystanders.
Okay. The light turns green for those of us on Street 'A', the pedestrians step off the curb, and I push off into the intersection. The driver coming up towards the intersection signals his intent to make a right turn and, seeing the pedestrians at the half way point, stops to await their passage. So with these various players now interacting in the intersection who would you assume to be the last to claim the right of way? If you are like me you probably said the driver in line behind me. You probably believe the pedestrians to be first in order, followed by the driver turning right, then me, and finally the driver behind me. What happened next clearly must show that belief to be ill-informed, for the driver behind me gunned his engine, cutting past me, in front of both pedestrians, and the other driver, in complete disdain for the inconsiderate way we held him up from his all important task, forcing him to loose those precious few seconds of time, never to be regained. My "what an idiot" exclamation was a little louder than expected, causing the pedestrians to look my way in sympathy, the other driver continued to wait, and things got back to normal. We did learn a valuable lesson about "right of way", and for that we thank you, driver-in-a-rush.
Are you still with me? I have one more.
Case #2: There is a popular city-owned park located in the nearby hills. On any given day, it draws people from all around. To meet the demands of all these people, the city decided to build a parking lot, and since the park requires upkeep and maintenance the city decided to charge a user fee. This fee looks a lot like a parking fee, because it only applies to people using the parking lot. In reality though, the fee covers the cost of maintaining such a large expanse of open space. Many of the parks' users have discovered that if they park a little further away, down the street, they can avoid the fee entirely and, luckily for them, there is a nice stretch of bike lane to accommodate their cars.
Over the years I have discovered that it is best not to run into the backs of cars, it damages things that you don't want damaged (not to mention the cars). Anyway, whenever I ride up this street and reach this area where cars are parked, I considerately (or so I thought) move to the left a good safe distance. Sometimes I move even further out, because the drivers (and passengers) of those cars are often found walking along the roadway in their comings and goings between the park. Does everything sound pretty normal so far? If you are reading this, I can assume you are a cyclist, and you think that it does. Lo and behold, the error of our foolish ways. Apparently it is okay for drivers to leave their cars in the bike lane, but apparently not okay for riders on their bikes to go around those cars. In doing so we are holding up other drivers attempting to find space in the bike lane for their own cars. Selfish me; and selfish you if this little incident rings a bell.
I leave you with those two incidents, evidence of my selfish ways, and implore you to consider the needs of our more hurried brethren on the roads."
Signing off for now, Captain Mellow.
So, there you have it, a quick check-in from the Captain. It seems that after all this time, he is still learning the error of his ways (although if you ask me there is more than a little bit of sarcasm in his words).
Case #1: I was heading down Street 'A' toward a signal-controlled intersection with Street 'B' where I needed to make a left turn. Traffic was light along this part of Street 'A' as it always is so there was no trouble getting over into the left turn lane. As I waited at the signal a driver also coming down the street pulled in behind me. Also waiting at the signal were two pedestrians (women, if you must know). They were on the curb to my left and would be crossing Street 'B'. A car was coming up Street 'A' from the opposite direction. There were others around, mostly drivers on the cross street, but in this scenario they were all uninvolved bystanders.
Okay. The light turns green for those of us on Street 'A', the pedestrians step off the curb, and I push off into the intersection. The driver coming up towards the intersection signals his intent to make a right turn and, seeing the pedestrians at the half way point, stops to await their passage. So with these various players now interacting in the intersection who would you assume to be the last to claim the right of way? If you are like me you probably said the driver in line behind me. You probably believe the pedestrians to be first in order, followed by the driver turning right, then me, and finally the driver behind me. What happened next clearly must show that belief to be ill-informed, for the driver behind me gunned his engine, cutting past me, in front of both pedestrians, and the other driver, in complete disdain for the inconsiderate way we held him up from his all important task, forcing him to loose those precious few seconds of time, never to be regained. My "what an idiot" exclamation was a little louder than expected, causing the pedestrians to look my way in sympathy, the other driver continued to wait, and things got back to normal. We did learn a valuable lesson about "right of way", and for that we thank you, driver-in-a-rush.
Are you still with me? I have one more.
Case #2: There is a popular city-owned park located in the nearby hills. On any given day, it draws people from all around. To meet the demands of all these people, the city decided to build a parking lot, and since the park requires upkeep and maintenance the city decided to charge a user fee. This fee looks a lot like a parking fee, because it only applies to people using the parking lot. In reality though, the fee covers the cost of maintaining such a large expanse of open space. Many of the parks' users have discovered that if they park a little further away, down the street, they can avoid the fee entirely and, luckily for them, there is a nice stretch of bike lane to accommodate their cars.
Over the years I have discovered that it is best not to run into the backs of cars, it damages things that you don't want damaged (not to mention the cars). Anyway, whenever I ride up this street and reach this area where cars are parked, I considerately (or so I thought) move to the left a good safe distance. Sometimes I move even further out, because the drivers (and passengers) of those cars are often found walking along the roadway in their comings and goings between the park. Does everything sound pretty normal so far? If you are reading this, I can assume you are a cyclist, and you think that it does. Lo and behold, the error of our foolish ways. Apparently it is okay for drivers to leave their cars in the bike lane, but apparently not okay for riders on their bikes to go around those cars. In doing so we are holding up other drivers attempting to find space in the bike lane for their own cars. Selfish me; and selfish you if this little incident rings a bell.
I leave you with those two incidents, evidence of my selfish ways, and implore you to consider the needs of our more hurried brethren on the roads."
Signing off for now, Captain Mellow.
So, there you have it, a quick check-in from the Captain. It seems that after all this time, he is still learning the error of his ways (although if you ask me there is more than a little bit of sarcasm in his words).
My habitual solution to this dilemma is to accept the fact that the bike lane isn't there for my convenience or safety. Instead, I adopt the position that my bike and I are just another vehicle and occupy as much as the traffic lane as prudent. I view this as an excellent, teachable moment for my fellow "drivers". ;-)
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