*The below is really just storytelling about a neighborhood and its kids and their bikes. There won't be anything informative or life-altering. It's really just my reflections on bringing back cycling in the suburbs.*
We've been having a lot of new experiences on our bicycle bus. Lots of kids come and go, and no one rides every day, save us, but we usually have a a couple of kids join us. One day, we picked up a group of 3 girls. N is a 5th grader who was a guest of the regular pair of sisters who join us. N's little sister was being worked up for a possible cancer diagnosis, and her mother had sent her to stay with family friends for a couple of days. She was thrown into the bicycle bus without any say in the matter and when I met her that morning, she was white with panic. "Are you scared?" I asked her. "No," she said, "I'm TERRIFIED." Okay then. I tried to puff up her courage a bit, and we set off down the giant hill, traveling more slowly than normal. We made it to campus without incident and N took a deep breath and began to focus on more important matters. "I like your bike," she said, "because it has hearts and apples!" It's the little things. A family of 4 has been joining us as we ride by their house at least twice per week. Both parents like to come when they can, and they have a 3rd grader and 2nd grader. Those kids are riding Diamondback bikes in their proper sizes, which are a major improvement from the cheap and too-small sized bikes the rest of the kids ride. But the Diamondbacks are still heavy what with their suspension forks and all, and they have no way to carry luggage or water. Mom rides an Electra and Dad has a Gary Fischer mountain bike. Mom and Dad take the backpacks and use a Camelback water system, which they share. I sent Mom a link to racks for her Electra, and she is looking into purchasing one. The pair of sisters L and G may get new bikes for Christmas. L rides her mother's big, fendered cruiser-type bike, which has a rear rack. She's been to Walmart, dreaming of which bike she would like. I bite my tongue, but I really want to tell her to look for a Specialized on Craigslist. The Hotrock can take a rack and has been a great bike for my older son. G is on a Barbie bike that is a mere 20 inches and she is a 5th grader. It is painful to watch her wobble to school with her knees knocking her chin, and her lunch bag swinging madly from her bars. The bike racks at school are now full to bursting with bikes and scooters. It's a welcome sight, but also gives me a pang of sadness. Almost none of the bikes are good for commuting. Most are woefully small for the rider. M is a kid who describes his dad as being a "bike racer." M was given a new lime green Specialized Hotrock to ride to school. The problem is that M is a 5th grader, and he is riding the 20 inch bike. It would fit my 2nd grader. He loves the bike; I know he does because he tried and tried to ride it, and lime green appears to be his favorite color. But wobbling home while having to carry your 35 lb backpack and Chromebook and lunch sack and eventually, a musical instrument wasn't feasible. So now he walks. He trudges along, laden with stuff and his shiny lime Hotrock sits, neglected in the garage. We live in an affluent area. Most of these kids are shuttled to school with zero effort of their own, and zero discomfort. It's a valet line in the car loop. A school employee opens your door, and you jump out. That's IT. That's the end of your obligation to get to school, kid. Meanwhile, the kids who are trying to get there by bike are doing it on the most ill-fitting, ill-equipped machines. Their parents would say a quality bike is too expensive; but they don't say that when plunking down the money for their child's new iPhone. This is not a problem I can fix, so I am learning to let it go... The new issue I'm seeing on our horizon is that of unhappy pedestrians. We had 6 kids and 2 moms bookending them on Thursday, and that's a lot of bikes. We live in a terribly car-centric area. Everyone commutes by car into the city, which means cars are heading down our mountain at around 50 mph. There is no shoulder, and no bike lane, and only one road and we all must share it. We were, however, blessed with extra wide sidewalks; they are actually called "trails" and given their width, I heartily agree. The problem is that pedestrians of all types - dog walkers, joggers, moms with strollers - often don't understand they aren't the only ones using the trails. They zig zag and walk on the left, or just take up the whole thing and walk right in the middle. This poses a problem. I really get the feeling that they think of bell-ringing as honking. No one has ever responded positively to it, that I can tell. So, rather than *ding ding*, before I pass, I call out, "Good morning!" They usually get the hint and either move over or hold their line. It's all mostly smooth until we hit the edge of campus. People really like to spread out really don't like to move over to let us through. I've mitigated this by calling out, "How are you, girls?" "I love that backpack!" "Have a great day today!" "What a cute dog!" and so on and so forth. But last week, the other mom in my bicycle bus caught a negative comment as she passed a woman pushing a stroller. The woman said, just loud enough for her to hear, "Just take the street!" Nothing else was said, but I've spent some time thinking about it this weekend. 1. There really is no safe way for us to take the kids into the street. It's dangerous, and instead of ticking off pedestrians, we'd be ticking off the drivers. Drivers are moving at a frantic pace, trying to get their spot in the car loop lanes. They would not welcome us on "their" road. The 2nd graders wouldn't handle riding in the middle of that chaos, either. Plus, they could die. So, that's out. 2. There is no state law against sidewalk riding. I don't intend to abuse that, either. Given the spacious, extra-wide sidewalks, there really is room for everyone. We just all need to be considerate of each other. That means pedestrians, stay on the right. That way bikes can pass you, and pedestrians coming the other way can move freely. We promise to let you know we are coming, and we will pass you at a slow speed. When the sidewalk shrinks, or there are too many people we walk our bikes. Simple as that. We intend to be considerate. 3. I think instead of arguing, I'm going to use kindness. The next time I hear a negative comment, I'm going to hit the brakes, jump off my bike and walk alongside the offender. "I heard what you said. So, you're displeased with me, now tell me why." I'll explain that we can't use the street, and that there's room for everyone on these wide sidewalks. Can someone really be angry because I'm asking them not to hog the WHOLE sidewalk? Are we REALLY inconveniencing you by passing you single-file at slow speed? Do you think your annoyance at having to be considerate trumps our right to keep our kids safe? Are you really so selfish that you would push 2nd graders into traffic so you can have the entire extra-wide sidewalk? I think that about covers it. If you're still reading, congratulations. That took some gumption! Ha! -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
