Street Fighter
I'm getting mildly frustrated (oh, there's something new) with bicyclists lately. I've been trying to foster a working relationship with them for some time now. In all honesty, I don't want bikes on the street or the sidewalk or anywhere near any place I might drive. But, I get the purpose they serve, the resources they save, the exercise they give, etc. I just like to drive more than most things and anything that doesn't help me with driving just gets in the way of driving.
I've come to understand the ways of the Portland pedestrian mainly by just being one. I try to be a good pedestrian and don't cross against the light if someone's waiting to make a right turn and my walking will interrupt their being able to go on green. Perhaps it's because I'm not a Portland bicyclist, but I just can't get on board with bicycles downtown. I guess the problem is that our city says, "Hey, bikers, we love you and want you." But then there are many streets without bike lanes, so the bikers have to ride with traffic or on the sidewalk.
I'd be down with this if all bicyclists could keep up with traffic. Sure, the bike messengers and younger riders can easily keep up with traffic, but there are plenty of corporate bicyclists who just get in the way. You know the guys; mid-life-bulge hanging over bicycle shorts, mirrors on the helmet, probably grey-bearded. Then there's the hardcore cyclists who ride the Tour de France bikes (along with complete Tour de France matching outfit) who are always in the wrong gear and either take forever to get moving again or never stop for lights and stop signs. These are the same people who often populate my favorite winding mountain roads at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. Go to church or something you freaks! You do not belong on a steep, steep 55 MPH speed limit mountain road going 3 MPH next to a sheer drop-off. I know you think this is a free country, but it's not. If you ride on any incline greater than 8 degrees you enter a fascist state run by automobile drivers...and sometimes those high school boys who run cross-country.
From a downtown standpoint, I don't know that mixed-use transportation areas really serve the users as well as possible. Sidewalks aren't really made to accommodate bikers or skaters. Streets aren't any better. A longboard is great transportation unless you have to stop or avoid a crowd. Bikes on sidewalks are a little dangerous since no one has those little bell things that we used to have as kids and with the advent of the iPod, no one can hear anyway. I mean, sidewalks are bad enough already just trying to navigate around the vapid girl on her cell phone, the old couple with nowhere to go or the tourists.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but a great solution would be to disallow cars downtown. Everyone parks outside the city and takes some form of transit into the city center. If you ride a bike, you wouldn't need to park n' ride, but just ride. If you drive a car and don't have a folding bike, you'd pay the price of driving by having to wait for mass transit or hoofing it into the city. It just seems that by being so permissive in our transportation system and trying to accommodate everyone is just going to end up not being a great solution for anyone. We're Portland. We know we're going to have rebellious cats who don't follow the rules of driving, biking, walking, skating, etc. So why don't we work some of that into our systems? I mean, big, green bike boxes at certain intersections? Really? Is putting a bicyclist in front of a a giant SUV driven by a lady from Beaverton talking on her cell phone really the answer? Seems like all they're doing is saving the bicyclists the emotional pain of seeing their death coming. I guess there is something very Portland to that. Nothing more organic than smooshed human.
I've come to understand the ways of the Portland pedestrian mainly by just being one. I try to be a good pedestrian and don't cross against the light if someone's waiting to make a right turn and my walking will interrupt their being able to go on green. Perhaps it's because I'm not a Portland bicyclist, but I just can't get on board with bicycles downtown. I guess the problem is that our city says, "Hey, bikers, we love you and want you." But then there are many streets without bike lanes, so the bikers have to ride with traffic or on the sidewalk.
I'd be down with this if all bicyclists could keep up with traffic. Sure, the bike messengers and younger riders can easily keep up with traffic, but there are plenty of corporate bicyclists who just get in the way. You know the guys; mid-life-bulge hanging over bicycle shorts, mirrors on the helmet, probably grey-bearded. Then there's the hardcore cyclists who ride the Tour de France bikes (along with complete Tour de France matching outfit) who are always in the wrong gear and either take forever to get moving again or never stop for lights and stop signs. These are the same people who often populate my favorite winding mountain roads at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. Go to church or something you freaks! You do not belong on a steep, steep 55 MPH speed limit mountain road going 3 MPH next to a sheer drop-off. I know you think this is a free country, but it's not. If you ride on any incline greater than 8 degrees you enter a fascist state run by automobile drivers...and sometimes those high school boys who run cross-country.
From a downtown standpoint, I don't know that mixed-use transportation areas really serve the users as well as possible. Sidewalks aren't really made to accommodate bikers or skaters. Streets aren't any better. A longboard is great transportation unless you have to stop or avoid a crowd. Bikes on sidewalks are a little dangerous since no one has those little bell things that we used to have as kids and with the advent of the iPod, no one can hear anyway. I mean, sidewalks are bad enough already just trying to navigate around the vapid girl on her cell phone, the old couple with nowhere to go or the tourists.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but a great solution would be to disallow cars downtown. Everyone parks outside the city and takes some form of transit into the city center. If you ride a bike, you wouldn't need to park n' ride, but just ride. If you drive a car and don't have a folding bike, you'd pay the price of driving by having to wait for mass transit or hoofing it into the city. It just seems that by being so permissive in our transportation system and trying to accommodate everyone is just going to end up not being a great solution for anyone. We're Portland. We know we're going to have rebellious cats who don't follow the rules of driving, biking, walking, skating, etc. So why don't we work some of that into our systems? I mean, big, green bike boxes at certain intersections? Really? Is putting a bicyclist in front of a a giant SUV driven by a lady from Beaverton talking on her cell phone really the answer? Seems like all they're doing is saving the bicyclists the emotional pain of seeing their death coming. I guess there is something very Portland to that. Nothing more organic than smooshed human.
