wabbit

We always hear about cyclists being dissed, harassed, etc. How about some GOOD stuff- like encouraging moments which show hope for the future?

A few weeks ago I was out on a ride and I was passed by a car, the passengers were a dad and his son. The kid was about 13. As I passed them, I saw the kid looking at my bike, and then he stuck his head out the window and gave me a big grin and a thumbs up! I thought great, the kid's into bikes, maybe he has a GT and does mountain biking (mine's a road bike). Sometimes we see another guy with HIS kid out on road bikes- the kid is about 10 or so. The dad is obviously a pretty serious roadie or maybe a racer, and he and the kid are doing a pretty good clip!

I see that and I think at least the kids aren't sitting at home playing dorky video games or vampire games ans stuffing their faces with Cheesies and being little rug rats. It's always good to see and I always wave encouragingly at kids when I see them out on bikes- BMXing, whatever.

Any positive moments lately? Doesn't have to be about kids on bikes- just positive, bike friendly moments. Share with us!

John E

My elder son, a freshman at a community college, often spontaneously hops on his (or his brother's!) bicycle or heads out for a jog. I was his age when I discovered serious cycling and physical fitness; there may be hope for him, as well.

On the road, no one has honked at me or tried to intimidate me for at least a couple of months.

Precision Pedal

People in my town are always waving and I get the ocasional "nice bike" comment. It is really cool in comparrison to a big city.

wabbit

I get nice comments too from time to time, or people looking impressed. Last week on the way home froma ride we stopped by the local BMX/skate park where our neighbor works with the kids. They love him. He looks like David Welles. There was some kind of big event or competition going on. SOme of the kids are really amazing! I always like going by there and watching them do their stunts. Anyways, we stopped and watched for a while and talked to our neighbor. I thought the kids would be "ehhh.. look at the ROADIES." But they were really impressed, one of them said, "Nice bikes!" Our neighbor said it was because we were friendly and not snotty.

Arsbars

I work at a LBS and I think the greatest thing is when parents come in and ask a MILLION questions about the different bikes for their kids and how they would benifit from a road to a mtn to a bmx and get them everything they need with out complaining. I love to see parents going out of their way to push the sport for their kids

webist

I get a real kick out of folks who haven't seen me in a while telling me how good I look and how much weight I've lost. It is especially rewarding when they ask how I did it and really want to know more about my cycling. This happens to me frequently and I love it.

Alan Perkins

While blasting down a favorite road of mine, every once in a while, I will get the "honk-honk" and a thumbs up signal from passing traffic.

It always makes my day.

Pete Clark

99% of motorists treat me very well.

In fact, I get better treatment by them on my bike than I do while in my car!

Andy Dreisch

I have had very few nasty incidents in nearly 10K miles of commuting. In fact I've recently been the object of attention (even admiration?) -- particularly with school kids at their bus stops -- when I zoom by with my NiteRider flashing light blaring away.

Feldman

Tandems are good for smiles from drivers and peds; my wife calls it the "good humor bike."

wabbit

Yeah, every once in a while I get a 'thumbs up' or approving nod from a motorist, that's always nice. Or some pedestrian will say, Cool bike. Also, someone in my neighborhood has a bumper sticker that says, "Share the road."

Joe Gardner

Only 99%!? I would guess that i have an "incident" on my bike with a car once a week. That leaves thousands of other cars that passed me, or that i interacted with on my bike the same with without incident, well above 99%!

If i had only 99% of motorists treat me well, i would give up cycling

As for postive moments, last week i was Ole'd (sp? Ole! Ole! Ole!). I had a huge grin on my face the rest of the ride. After the ride home, i mentioned to some riding buddies that i was Ole'd (o-laid) on todays bike ride... for some reason they wanted full details!

Pete Clark

Ole!

Pete Clark

"Ice Cream."

Ahhh....

John C. Ratliff

I had a good ride today; it was sunny, and with no rain I had a very nice afternoon ride. I rode where I had "dechained" on Saturday, which caused a zero-speed fall when I couldn't get my foot out of the pedal--embarrassing, but no problem. I'm riding my "good" bike, a Trek 1420, until I get the problem with the Schwinn figured out (probably a weak derailure).

But what I really wanted to say is that this forum is one of the most positive things to happen for my bicycling. There is always encouragement here, and people to bounce ideas off. So to those who are contributing here, I do need to say, "Thank you" for your encouragement over the last six months.

John

The Speaker Guy

Yeah, Tandems are best for PR . Although if I'm riding the tandem solo at least one guy yells out:

"Hey, you lost your rider!"

Well it's old, but at least it's good natured.

Michel Gagnon

I ride very often with my children (oldest either on her bike or on trailercycle; youngest in trailer).

One great moment was when we went to Cap-Saint-Jacques (35-40 km from home) by bike one day, so they could play in that park. Shortly after we arrived, another of her school buddies arrived there with her parents. Nothing unusual, except she lived across the street from us... and they went there by car.

Lots of excitement when she went back to school on the following Monday and kids had to tell what they did that weekend. The other one explained what she did... and then Ève said: "the same, but we went [i]cycling[/]".

From her incredulous teacher, it seems she was beaming, and that quite a few others were jealous.

Regards,

John C. Ratliff

I’ve got to tell you about my a part of my homeward journey via bicycle. The last segment of my ride is on a three-lane road. The road is straight, but descends a hill (on the homeward voyage). The roadway travels past several small businesses on my left and a school, as I ride to the right side of the road. Trees line the roadway at the top, but are less noticeable as I travel down the hill. My route takes me down the hill, and take a driveway onto a sidewalk on the left side of the road close to the bottom of the hill. A bicycle pathway intersects the sidewalk about 35 feet (10 meters) down the sidewalk, and I can peel off to my left onto the bicycle path. The path immediately descends to the creek bed, and parallels the creek upstream. At first the path goes by the creek where there is only small brush and the riparian zone has no trees. But then it stops being pavement, takes an abrupt right on a wooden, elevated pathway with guard rails on each side, and benches in places too (left goes over a short foot bridge, to open play fields in back of the grade school). This pathway leads uphill a bit, then to breaks markedly to the left and there is a short downhill. The path continues up the stream for almost a mile, but a pathway leads away from the wooden path, up the hill to a culdesac which runs into a road close to my home. Children play in the street here, as the traffic is quite slow and careful here.

Riding from the roadway close to the school at between 15 and 20 mph, I move from the left side of the road to the center. I want to be in the center lane before I go over the hill, and out of sight of motorists. This way, I will not pass in front of them as I gain the middle lane gliding down the hill. I normally now get into the drops, with my fingers on the breaks, as I go down the hill. I get a great view of the opposing traffic, and try to time my turn to the sidewalk to be behind the last car in a run of cars coming from the last stoplight. I turn onto the last driveway (there are two, and I have used the first one on occasion when heavy traffic is approaching). When I gain the driveway, I hit it at a 45 degree angle, and miss the mailbox as I turn onto the sidewalk. Even with the breaking on the downhill, I still have a lot of momentum and must break some more. I make the 90 degree turn onto the pathway, and immediately stand.

Not too many people mention this, but standing on this short downhill (it’s like the ramp that racers used in their time trails) mimics flying. I have my drop bars set high on a long stem, which allows me to get up high when I stand. It also allows me to stretch over the handlebars as I coast. The sensation must be similar to that of a ski jumper, standing with hands down on my drops like a jumper with hands out to the side, as I can neither see the bicycle nor hear any engines; I am alone with my bicycle transporting me to another place, gliding over the ground at about 15 mph without effort. I turn slightly to avoid the ripples in the path cause by a trees roots as I coast noiselessly over the path. I move my head to avoid limbs and blackberry vines, still coasting toward the wooden raised walkway. I shift down, break, and turn onto the walkway.

Seated now, I slowly I ride the raised walkway, watching for walkers, children on bicycles and animals. A runner approaches, and between my bicycle and the runner is a panicked squirrel. The squirrel bounces of the wooden rails, catches a tree in mid-stride, does a half circle to the opposite side, then bounds up to the higher branches. I say to the runner, “Guess we trapped the squirrel for a moment” as I wait, stopped against the bench until he passes, then start pedaling again and turn off onto the path that leads up to the culdesac. This path is at a 90 degree angle to the wooden walkway, and abruptly rises uphill, curving first to the left, then to the right around a sawdust-covered garden patch. I note that some bicyclists (probably kids) have taken the sawdust straight down the hill to the intersection with the walkway.

The ride from there is only about 200 yards (0.2 km) to my home, into the driveway, and dismount with the satisfaction not only of having ridden home using my own muscles, but also having experienced sensations the driving public will never know.

John