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Anyone who tries to share the road with motorized traffic has experienced it. Cars buzzing close by, a bone-jarring horn, profanity-laced cackling. It’s all calculated to elicit a startled response. Maybe they’ll see a wide-eyed look up, a flinch, perhaps even a defensive jump away.
Great fun.
But because these cretins are cowards traveling fast in the opposite direction, they don’t know the fun they’re missing. The real action is not in the split second of the drive-by, but in the next moment or two later. It’s then that the distracted runner turns an ankle in a rut. It’s then that the biker who’s looked away just long enough drops into a drainage ditch and bloodies a leg.
As a runner I once was buzzed so closely by a speeding car on a residential street that I had to jump from curbside to the sidewalk. I’m sure that’s what the idiot driver saw. I bet he was quite pleased. What he didn’t see as he sped off was me landing on a greasy patch of mud and going down hard, bruising a rib. Does he know what a bruised rib feels like? He should.
Would any of these people feel better, be happier and more satisfied with life, knowing their fun caused a compound fracture or a bloody gash?
As bad as all that is, I think most of us who use the streets for exercise hold a special spot for certain class of anti-citizen: the dog owners who let their pets run free.
One of these nearly cost me my life.
Two of us were riding on Interurban highway in Kansas City. Out of nowhere a 50-pound canine attacker, teeth bared, is trying to take a chunk of flesh out of the leg of the rider ahead of me.
An instant later the dog crossed my path and we collided. I was going 20 mph at the time, and it was not a soft landing. My head hit the pavement twice, but my $20 helmet saved my life. Unfortunately, it could not prevent 5 broken ribs, a separated shoulder, a bruised lung and a huge medical bill. I have to tell my grandchildren to go easy on me for a few weeks while I heal.
I don’t blame the dog for any of this, though I admit I have no sympathy for it. I blame the owner who let his dog run free. I can only imagine this person amused and satisfied that his mutt is out there throwing “a little scare” into those damn bikers.
Does he know that one of those scares almost killed someone? Does he care? Does it make him even happier that he got more than a scare out of it? His dog is probably injured, but does he even care about that?
Would he be even more ecstatic if the victim was someone in his family?
Honestly, I don’t know what to do about any of this. The police are often powerless, and most of the time it’s not so much a matter of a crime as it is indescribable stupidity. You have adults acting like 11-year-olds.
I would simply ask that everyone follow the rules, use common sense, and show some compassion and tolerance.
And by the way, it’s not going to work, you know. I’ll be back out there riding and running on your street. My street. Me and all the others who just want a little exercise. -- Rob
1 comment:
Rob,
I don't think anyone could have stated it any better! Thousands of bikers, runners and walker share these exact sentiments! Your words should be shared by every lifestyle magazine and every newspaper in the country!
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