Are You Respectful?

This morning on my morning commute there is a certain intersection where I have to turn left and get no love from the light. I have tried, trust me. So as usual, I make sure I can make the turn without disturbing traffic. I take no chances and I try to be courteous to cars. An oncoming car had a light that turned yellow then red as I was turning. He honked at me and waved a no no finger at me. I just waved. It leads me to think of the example I personally set as a cyclist.









Here it is: I stop at 4 way stop signs (with a foot down and wait my turn) when there is traffic. If there are no cars, I will ride through the intersection. I will always stop at lights when red. The exception is early am when I know the light will not change for me. Three way stops I will not stop if I am on the side with no intersection.
There are not many intersections on my commute that do not recognize a bike. Roseville has amazing bike lanes and has gone so far as to hand paint a bicycle symbol on the pressure plates to show where to stop to get the light to change. Really cool stuff. Also, I am very fortunate that half my 22 mile (one way) commute is on the bike path. So I am only exposed to traffic and angry people 11 miles a day each way (Yes these pics are from my ride!).
We as cyclist have to do our best to set a good example. Some drivers are just angry people and the simple fact that we are on the road makes them mad. We can’t do anything about that except just be aware and safe. What we can do is be courteous and respectful so that traffic recognizes our rights to share the road.

Get involved in your communities to help build an infrastructure that includes bike lanes. Go to city council meetings, write your councilperson, and do volunteer work. We all can do something to help raise awareness to our rights as cyclist. The biggest thing we can do is to set good examples on the road.
Be safe!!

May Bicycle Month

May is National Bicycle Month. There are several events in our area to celebrate this. Powerhouse Century is this weekend.

May 21st is Bike to Work day and Department of Parks is giving us free parking to access the American River Bike Trail to ride to work.

"The Jedediah Smith Memorial Bike Trail runs 32 miles along the American River Parkway, and has consistently been rated as one of the best biking trails in the nation. By purchasing a Parks PASSPORT, for as little as $50, you can help support this region’s treasure. The Parks PASSPORT is accepted at any of our Regional Parks located in Sacramento County and all funds from the PASSPORT go to the operations and maintenance of our parks. If you purchase your PASSPORT in May through June, you will be entered to win a Trek 7000 bike, courtesy of Bicycle Works and you'll receive a coupon book valued at $250 from our sponsors Elliott's Natural Foods, Bicycles Plus, City Bicycle Works, River Rat Raft & Bike, Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op and others."

Coming soon an interview with Chief Ranger Steve Flannery about the bike trail. Good stuff!