Sunday, August 10, 2008

The Public Image

I went out on my normal afternoon ride today. I have a loop of around 3.5 miles that circles around some back streets. There's not much traffic, only a couple lights and a nice little hill to break it up. Anyway I did a couple loops and hit a red light, so I did my normal track stand. I heard someone tap the horn behind me so I moved up thinking they wanted to turn right. Nobody moved and the light changed. As I'm pulling from the intersection a car pulled up beside me the drivers smiling holding a thumbs up "Great trick" he yelled then pulled off. I waved thanks and continued on. On the last lap a car of girls go by waving and yell out "I love your bike! I smiled and continued on.
It's this positive reinforcement that makes cycling that much better. I really think this is our time. With gas prices high, The Tour de France just finishing and the Olympics going on people are becoming more bike conscious. By setting a positive example we may be able to pull in more support for more bike paths, better laws and better support from the general public.

2 comments:

J Quaglia said...

Yo man. Clicked on Stevil's link. You have officially been RSS'ed and linked to my sidebar, so I look forward to some more great posts.

I ride a Masi Speciale fixed in Columbus, OH and love it.

Keep up the good fight!

RHF said...

Sweet Ride! Thanks for the link! If you want me to post your ride send me a picture. Keep spinning!