Commuting - Another reason to bike commute.

For all the reasons we should bike commute, mine is perhaps the most obtuse.

I hate the way people are on the freeways.

And it's not a matter of lane changing, or speed, or in attention due to cell phones.. etc.

It's a matter of helping a fellow human, or fixing a problem when you see it.

A guy is broken down in traffic in the second lane. Traffic is already at a virtual stand still. I stop, I get out, I help him push the car to the side of the road. He tells me that everyone just honked and gave him "hand signals". Why don't people stop and help?
Today, there's a huge sheet of plastic in the road. People swerve to avoid it, and it's getting rapped up on cars.. So I stop to pick it up. Someone pulls up beside me and tells me a few choice things about "playing in traffic". I fail to understand why if there's a hazard, and someone is clearing it up, why people should be so angry or upset?

It just boggles my mind that people will not do basic, human things, such as help eachother out, or elminate something that affects everyone.

This is why I enjoy riding my bike more. And I'll probably ride more.

For all the reasons we should bike commute, mine is perhaps the most obtuse.


this is a big part of why i commute also.

Your reason is not so obtuse.

I hate driving also - I hate the stress of it.

You know, if I took as much time driving as I do bicycling, it would be a lot less stressful on me (but much more stressful on other drivers).

Maybe I should try that sometime; give myself an hour to drive to work and drive at 18 mph all the way. That would be the only way I could fairly compare the stress level of driving to bicycling.

nah doesnt work :( when you drive slow, or actually just drive the posted speed limit you spend the hole time dealing with people tryin to drive up your tail pipe so the can get to the red light 5 seconds sooner. ends up bein just as stressful as driveing in the end.

So why is that? Why is it that so many cyclists seem happy to help each other fix even relatively minor problems like flats, yet drivers won't even get out of the way of an emergency vehicle (as I noticed this evening on my commute)? I hope they got that fire out.

I think there is a certain feeling of "community" within cyclists.

we've all been on the side of the road with a flat and are happy to help out.

don't know why drivers don't get this. maybe there's too many of them.

They're in a hurry, they have no time to help others, listen to the birds, give someone the right of way, stop and watch the ducks in the pond or stop to smell the flowers on the side of the road. their world is moving far too fast for anything, in fact it's going right by and they don't even notice the things that are free and worth appreciating, the things that count, the ones that will be gone forever if not noticed when they present themselves. I pitty them, think of the stress they must have. Oh well, I ride a bike, see most things and enjoy life at a pace I can handle. I help others when they need help and take whatever time it takes to get where I'm going. The people in my life have learned to accept my way of travel, sometimes they wait and sometimes they don't. Slow down, smell the flowers, each one will present it's beauty and then dry up and never return, there are no two the same.

i think it's because in general motorists are just mad at the world, i know i am when im in my car, and i have no idea why. complete oposite when i'm on my bike.
hmm maybe if i drove a ferrari instead of a tercel it would help :).
lol but probably not.

Originally posted by Chris L
So why is that? '
That's my question too.

Originally posted by shaharidan
i think it's because in general motorists are just mad at the world, i know i am when im in my car, and i have no idea why. complete oposite when i'm on my bike.... Me too. When cycling, I always offer to help a cyclist with a flat but when driving, I've never stopped to help another motorist. Not sure why but I like the cyclist Jupe better than the driver Jupe. Guess that's why I'm finally up to 5 day a week commuting (until about three weeks ago I did 3-4 days a week).

Originally posted by William Karsten

It just boggles my mind that people will not do basic, human things, such as help eachother out, or elminate something that affects everyone.

This is why I enjoy riding my bike more. And I'll probably ride more.
The other day, Henry (a guy who I run across on my route once in a while) pulled alongside me with his bike. We talked (and let traffic pass in the next lane) for a few miles together. We parted ways in the center of downtown Atlanta and went to our jobs.

I think that about says it.

Originally posted by mrfix
They're in a hurry, they have no time to help others, listen to the birds, give someone the right of way, stop and watch the ducks in the pond or stop to smell the flowers on the side of the road. their world is moving far too fast for anything, in fact it's going right by and they don't even notice the things that are free and worth appreciating, the things that count, the ones that will be gone forever if not noticed when they present themselves.

This is probably true. It would also explain the other phenomenon I see frequently - people not getting out of parked cars to appreciate what's around them. A case in point: A guy up at Springbrook last time I was there. He's (presumably) driven up from the coast, a good 40-50km (depending which part of the coast he's come from), to go up there. Presumably he's gone up there to see the rainforests, the waterfalls or the mountain views?

Nope, he's sitting in his car in the carpark. For God's sake, the guy is just 500 metres from Purlingbrook Falls (the thing that changed my life, but that's another story), but does he even get out and walk over to see it? No.

How can some people live like that?

A couple of psychological reasons I can think of:

1. People are in a hurry when driving--which is the whole reason why they're driving: they're late for something. When we bike, we usually have a little more time than they do because we know we're going slow.

2. The closed cockpit environment of the automobile gives the driver a sense of "protection" from the outside, thus separating him/herself from the outside world. This makes him/her think that he/she is "protected" from the environment, and will not risk going out there and feel "unprotected."

It would also explain the other phenomenon I see frequently - people not getting out of parked cars to appreciate what's around them.

Blame it on the radio, music, talkback. Got to have the sound to take people's minds off their driving. Blocks out that nasty stuff on the outside, too.

And remember that driving does make you tired. When you're that tired, it's much easier to stay in the car, take a quick look around so you can tell your friends you've seen the waterfall/ cliff/ forest/ whatever, even if you haven't. Tiredness is a proven factor in many fatal or serious vehicular accidents.

I listen to music with headphones :eek: or with a radio strapped to the stem when riding, but it doesn't drown out the other noises around me. And I have to get off the bike when I stop. Makes the mission much easier :)


People are in a hurry when driving--which is the whole reason why they're driving: they're late for something.

It is a well-known fact that cyclists are much better planners of their travel because they have to take into account so many variables and need a time buffer. It get annoyed when I rock up on time at an appointment by bike, only to have to wait around for 10 or 15 minutes for the car-borne people to arrive. "Sorry, we got held up by traffic". Yeah, sure.

R

Yes Chris, I've seen that, where people go places and don't get out of the car, What'a up with that.
Chi, as far as the drivers not having enough time, that's why they're driving. I don't buy into that one, we all don't have enough time, yet we take the time to enjoy the moments, I feel the whole world can, will and most of the time does wait. If it matters to anyone, it won't disappear, it'll be there when you get there. Stress is one of the worlds biggest problems and most effective weapons, it kills people, destroys relationships and can tarnish lives forever. I ride every day, for me (my sanity), my family, my job, the environment, pure enjoyment and sometimes just to smell the roses of life. I onece read somewhere, and I can't seem to remember where, so I can't give the proper credit to the author, but what what written pretty much says it all, "Everything you need to know about life, you can learn from the seat of a bicycle". It's been my experiance after logging 13,000 to 15,000 miles per year, that is exactly true, you learn to be patient, tollerant of others and mother nature and you learn to enjoy nature and its ups and downs, most importantly, you learn that you can do and go where ever you want, you learn self discipline and determination, and on and on, all thnigs that most take for granted, you truely do learn from the seat of a bike.

When in a car, the journey bit is the unfortunate wasting of valuable time between two really important engagements.
When on a bike commuting, work is the unfortunate wasting of valuable time between two really important engagments.

Well said Jaimie, Well said.