I love riding my bike, but this person has a point: Cycling is also a quick way to see some of the worst behavior that humans have to offer. A particularly gruesome thing for me is the amount of road kill I notice when I ride. It makes me sad.
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I am with you, but also all this shitty behavior happens all the time anyway, you’re just oblivious to it riding in a car (or sometimes intentionally or unintentionally contributing to it). I’d personally rather be aware.
Re-reading this post and it's a huge downer, so I want to reiterate that bikes are awesome and if we can get more people on bikes (or walking or rolling or taking the train or whatever) then we can have less shitty, destructive behavior.
Bicycles don't have speed limits in general in my part of the world with the silly exception of municipal parks 25km/h per the municipal code. There's no other vehicle traffic on park trails.
i just remember the first time it was pointed out to me, like oh yea right. that litter didn’t just magically end up on the on/off ramp or side of the highway. that came out the window of a car, purposefully or not.
Two of the most experienced touring cyclists I know (George Mack, a personal friend, and Mic Whitty, who has been on tour for 9 years) - say Australia is the worst place on earth for cyclists seeing road kill.
When I was a kid walking home from school (really rural area) there was a 70-y-o woman in a pickup truck who would literally swerve at me and laugh as I had to run/jump into the woods to get out of her way! Every time she saw me!
It's tough - every day my cycle commute gives me a greater appreciation for the natural world, and less appreciation for the human minority who are wrecking it in every possible way.
There’s a specific mountain road that I like to ride but the amount of alcohol bottles I see on the side of the road makes me feel like I’m in a lot of danger.
A lot more people driving around low level buzzed than we think. Go into any store selling those things at the start of the workday and watch who buys 5-6 nips to get through the day
It's not great at all but I do think the negative experiences stick with us a fair bit over the positive ones. I've felt like crap after a long ride just because some old guy randomly started yelling at me for existing on a shared path even though I probably had a dozen friendly interactions as well
In VA its still painful for me. Have lived in CA, VT and NY have never seen as much roadkill. It was really distressing/upsetting now i just say a little prayer. I see at least 5 dead things daily.
I remember the day i saw a platypus. I still do not understand how that animal ended up in someones front yard. I blame it on all the hunters/fishing people here. I was extremely distressed. Still have the image in my head. Dont understand how a platypus could end up here besides humans doing it.
I remember cycling home one night and came across a fox standing in the road. I stopped and we just looked at each other for a bit before he walked on. So magical.
Makes me want to start taking care of the bikeways. Picking up trash, fixing signs, moving branches and debris, hell, clearing snow. And ask others to pitch in. With all the bad vibes, we need to find ways to care for each other.
One of the mountain bike trails I ride (several times a week) runs through a park where a lot of our unhoused neighbors had sheltered. The city pushed them out - with heavy machinery tearing down the camps. But left all the trash. It's so depressing.
There's a local bike commuter who clears a path in the snow with a sledge towed on his ebike. I went and helped after the last snowstorm this year and it makes me want to organize around it.
@gravelinfluencer.bsky.social how many people do you think might throw down two bucks a month for an org that puts people out on bikes taking care of the bike network and rendering aid?
One weird one I've seen is on downhills I could be going the actual car speed limit and cars still feel a psychological need to pass a bike, safety or no.
Yup. I have a downhill like that near my house. Kind of curvy and I'll easily being 30 (in a 30) and cars will fly by doing 40. It's not even them underestimating my speed. Like you said, it's them feeling like they have to pass a bike.
They did a test where they put rubber animals in the road and counted how often people would swerve out of the way to avoid them, carry on/ignore, or the people who would swerve specifically to hit animals.
What shocked the researchers were how many people would go out of their way to purposely run over animals. And then they also noticed a massive correlation between the types of vehicles assholes drive.
Yes, those little animals hurt my heart. I have been able to help a couple turtles across the road. And yell at squirrels to just stay in the woods already.
My workplace moved to an area with more bicyclists, and I've been shocked by how impatient other drivers are with me for slowing down and giving space.
"Yeah guys, sure, I'm going to crush a person to allow you to get to your destination 3 seconds faster."
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And I agree! I'd rather be aware and I think it makes me a better person.
I knew a local politician lived very close so assumed it'd be removed quickly.
Next week, the badger was still on the road. That is when I emailed the county council.
Finally it was gone the next week
I feel like a total asshole if I lose one.
No one wants that shit on their lawn or whatever
i just remember the first time it was pointed out to me, like oh yea right. that litter didn’t just magically end up on the on/off ramp or side of the highway. that came out the window of a car, purposefully or not.
Southern Mass is just those 2 little bits sticking into Connecticut in Longmeadow and Southwick.
‘Within 95,’ ‘Within 495,’ North shore, south shore, the cape, the west.
:)
And springtime brings THOUGHTS OF ROMANCE!
Hence the GD USED CONDOMS 😡😡
But also, in an ideal world we're not confined to the same scraps of space.
I can't risk going down.
not pessimistic. people and drivers are this awful and worse.
He was mad at me for making him turn around but I saved it (which is part of the reason he’s my ex) 🐢
"Yeah guys, sure, I'm going to crush a person to allow you to get to your destination 3 seconds faster."