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I Like My Coffee Bitter

By Maynard Hershon

If you’ve been following my columns in Bicycle Paper, you’ve heard me lament the lack of technique, etiquette and traffic safety of new cyclists. Recently, after watching not-so-skilled cyclists on club rides and on the bike paths, I wrote an article about how to choose gears for various conditions and how to find those gears at the appropriate time.

I’ve never aimed any of my work at the new cycling commuter or the fixie crowd. I don’t think of those folks as my readers. I imagine my readers as men and women who were riding before Rapha, before Surly and before cheap ‘70s Peugeots became New Century icons. I picture them to be cyclists with brakes; cyclists aware that they’re not alone in the world and that other people exist.

I imagine that my readers know that just as one driver can sour a cyclist on drivers, each riders represents cycling as a whole. If it’s true that an idea is not responsible for its adherents, then it’s not cycling’s fault that many promote anarchy on our streets and our sidewalks.

My friend Jason sent me a link about Bike Buddies, experienced cyclists offering to mentor new riders in Berkeley, Calif. They help newbie’s find safe routes to work and teach them skills involved in riding and surviving in traffic. The idea is create 1,000 new bicycle commuters. Nothing the matter with that, huh?

A few years ago, before the flood of New Urban Cyclists (NUCs) reached Denver, I’d have been all for this. But the NUCs are here, and they are, in my view, obnoxious and irresponsible.

Here’s my response to Jason after I read the Bike Buddies’ “let’s-help-get-lots-of-new-cyclists-riding-in-Berkeley,” piece:

Hi Jason!

The conventional wisdom is that the more cyclists we have on the streets, the better off all riders will be. No doubt we’d be better off with greater numbers of considerate, safety-minded cyclists on the streets. Fat chance.

Will thousands of Americans sell their cars after seeing their neighbors commuting on bicycles? No. Cars are too easy, too “American.” And the way new cyclists present themselves will not help. Far too many newbie’s come to riding with ingrained motorist habits. They were bad drivers; now they’re bad cyclists. They display hostile, scofflaw attitudes. They don’t care about riding beyond today’s commute. They merely upset the established cycling population, the driving population and the walking population. “Infuriate” might be a better word than “upset.” Sidewalk cyclists who see pedestrians as orange cones on an obstacle course piss me off ... think of how non-riders must feel.

My friend Ray urges me to think the best of the New Urban Cyclist, suggesting that they haven’t ridden since they got their licenses at 16, that they’re not making deliberate choices but are simply childish and uneducated; thus, their offenses are random, purposeless and pointless. He’s sure that they don’t care how they’re perceived. They don’t care about cycling much at all.

I believe they know exactly what they’re doing and how much offense they cause. I think they like causing offense. Maybe that’s more about me than it is about them.

Which option is “thinking the best” of them? Are NUCs oblivious or obnoxious?

I recently chased a guy into Ace Hardware. He’d pedaled out of an alley and skimmed by me, inches from my face, as I strolled on the sidewalk. I asked him why he did it and he said, “Because I had my headset on.”

How much help do I want to be to that guy? Does he want a Bike Buddy big brother to show him a safe route to work? If he’s on a bike, do I have to love him? How can we love people who do such a great job of making themselves unlovable? Sorry to rant, but that’s how I feel.

Your friend, Maynard

And here’s Jason’s response. As you’ll see, he hasn’t escaped anger at cyclist abuses, but he’s more reasonable than I am:

Hi Maynard!

1) You’ve often commented on the lack of mentoring for new cyclists — about group riding or about specific skills like using gears.

No doubt there are those who don’t care to learn, but many do want to. It seems to me that Bike Buddies is about them. It’s about pairing those who’re genuinely interested with those who want to help, not picking some dude off the street and sticking him (against his will) in Remedial Cycling Skills/Common Courtesy 101.

Someone (you, for instance) could take your gears piece (What the Gears are For, Bicycle Paper) and turn it into a class at REI, for example. The basic cycling skills classes are standing room only at our local REI. People in those classes truly want to learn.

2) Not every individual newly interested in transportation cycling is an inconsiderate, moronic sidewalk cyclist. No way. We notice every arrogant, heedless, bonehead rider we see riding against traffic on the wrong side of a one-way street. I hate them just as you do. But there are lots of cyclists in every city who want to be part of traffic, who aren’t out there to annoy as many drivers and peds as they can. Who want to move beyond the knee-jerk use of a car and may eventually come to love cycling. Shouldn’t we encourage them?

The Bike Buddies question might be — would you help someone who wants to learn, who sincerely wants your help? I’d help someone who seemed to want to learn to ride safely and in a manner appropriate to urban circumstances. It’d be One Less Car, One More Civilized Cyclist. That’s what Bike Buddies is trying to do, isn’t it?

Your friend, Jason

As you can see, this subject evokes strong reactions in those of us who feel protective of cycling and the narrow strip of pavement grudgingly allowed us by our motoring neighbors. I admire Ray’s and Jason’s stances on this issue and wish I shared their balanced views. Even if I did feel as they do, I’m afraid I’d roll out for a ride and within a mile, some jerk would do something to convince me that education and encouragement will never help.