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"maybe you should slow down"... you most likely will have no choice but to slow down, and probably have to swerve across a double yellow line in a curve to keep from running over them.

Of you could just go straight.

This letter came at such a great time. Just yesterday afternoon I was sitting in a line of what I estimated to be about 50 cars on 220 (where it is two lanes heading out of town). Traffic was moving very slowly because it was hard for the cars to pass a cyclist. An ambulance and a fire truck approached me from behind. It seemed like it took them an eternity to get past all of us, even though all of the cars, even myself pulled off of the road one by one to let them pass. I wonder to myself about the person in need of those emergency services who were held up because if the traffic.

I am not against bicycles on the road. In most cases I don't let it bother me. Though I confess, when my son is screaming in the backseat and I really want to get home and feed him, I get quite frustrated when trying to get around a bike.

Personally, I think there should be more consideration on both sides, but if you are riding a bike for recreation (in your little fancy spandex) then you could atleast pick a roadway that has more then one lane of traffic in each direction.

.......oh, and I still say you are paying for the right for your car to travel on the road (unless your bike is your sole transportation) I think cyclist who use the road should have to register and pay taxes on their "vehicle" just like the owners of the other ones do. AND you should be ticketed when you do not follow ALL the rules of the road.

I personally don't like to see bikers on busy roads, or any road for that matter. I have a great fear that as I pass they will hit a rock and be thrown in my path. What a horrible thing for them and me.

I also have a personal anger at bikers. A dear friend who whipped breast cancer twice was an avid biker. As she rode along one morning, a driver came around a curve and could not avoid hitting and killing her. A wonderful person was killed and a man's life was destroyed.

Carol,
bikers didnt kill your friend. they arent to blame for it. Bikers can become about the same nuissance as skateboarders sometimes. how about the drivers that feel the need to squeeze themselves into lanes where you have given the car in front of you enough space to avoid hitting him if he rides his brakes.

on a brighter note, i saw this hot chick biking and using the proper turn signals. Kinda made me want to get a bike.

A side note:

The area around Grandover Parkway is an excellent place to ride your bike for recreation. There is very little traffic on the road (I think it turns to Wiley Davis road) and there are two lanes going each direction.

I am a conscientious bike rider of sorts; I stay off main roads but the neighborhood road is my home territory. When car on car accidents go to zero, and cars don't speed, when cars don't violate school zones, when drivers stop reading, writing, talking on cell-phones, reading maps, and putting on make up and when they don't cut off bikers, then I will revisit my response of: This is my road too.

Carol, I feel for your loss, my anger is probably directed at the driver especially if this happened in a neighborhood street. Why was the driver breaking the speed limit. I think that we should keep cars off the road. Our insurance rates would certainly go down.

i live in pa we do not pay property tax on cars ha ha

Joe, it was not the driver's fault. He was not negligent, just did not see the biker in time. I know that bikers have rights, but it doesn't make any difference who is right if the rider is killed. I am just angry and sad that this wonderful person is dead. Our consolation is that she died doing what she loved to do.

It is amazing that there are not more car accidents, given the careless way some drive.

Carol, you do not need to respond to this email;
I just wanted to reiterate my previous expression of sympathy. I know what it is to lose a dear friend who is also a wonderful person. I know that you will cherish your memories with her as I do with my late friends.

Joe

Hi Carol, I knew Gladys and Owen well, rode with them ofter, Loved 'em dearly! She died because the motorist was not driving in a prudent manner, not through fault of her own.

You are blessed, as are all who knew and loved her, Jack. We taught together for several years and had ties through our families. When I speak of anger, it is not aimed at her but just at the loss.