Rants and Raves #1

I try and bike from work to home two evenings a week, and then from home to work the following two mornings. Great workout, 8 mile bike ride that takes me about the same time door to door as driving, so it's a really good way to get some exercise in. I havent managed to do it quite as consistently as I wanted to 'cause other stuff often gets in the way after work, but I have managed to bike almost 400 miles since April. I've also found that biking really helps with my hockey stamina too!

My ranting and raving comes from the general lack of respect and courtesy that I get from so many pedestrians. (And yes, I definitely know that it goes the other way too - I've encountered plenty of rude bikers when I've been walking, or driving for that matter). It really chaps my hide, though, when someone is walking towards me when I'm on my bike, looking right at me, and forces me to slow down or go off the path to get around them, rather than taking one simple step to the side (less dangerous for them to go off the path than me, that's for sure.) And let's not even go into pedestrians who insist on walking three abreast and pay absolutely no attention to my bike bell dinging like crazy and me yelling "on your left. On your LEFT!!!". If everyone would just pay attention and treat others as they would like to be treated, the whole experience would be so much more pleasant. (Yeah, like the rest of life!)

So, here are my rules of the road, for pedestrians, bikers and motorists:

Pedestrians:
1. Walk on the right of the path / sidewalk, not on the left.
2. Don't have your headphones on with your radio so loud you can't hear a bike bell or someone yelling at you.
3. If you're walking with a friend, be mindful of people wanting to pass you, and move out of their way (to the right)
4. Look where you're going
5. If you see a cyclist or rollerblader coming towards you, and there's someone else they'd like to pass, step off the path so that they can get by.

Cyclists:
1. Bike on the right, pass on the left
2. Give other people warning when you're going to pass them - either a bike bell, or yelling "on your left", or both
3. If you're riding in a pack, be mindful of people (cars) wanting to pass you, and move out of their way
4. Follow the traffic signals

Motorists:
1. Don't pull right in front of a cyclist and turn or pull into a parking spot, cutting them off
2. When you've pulled over to park, check your mirror before opening your door!
3. When you're stopped at a stop light, don't pull all the way over to the curb so that a cyclist can't get by you

That pretty much covers all my pet peeves. Must go work on my thesis. Any others I missed?