I grew up in a bike friendly city in Northern California, so I know that DC isn’t particularly kind to its cyclists: narrow streets, odd parking lanes, and no room to maneuver a cycle. However, they’re permitted to use the wide sidewalks as a riding lane, provided they do so with deference to the pedestrians. Apparently this does not, however, extend to bike messengers, who largely piss me off with unsafe riding and acting like worthless cretins. This evening as Tiff and I walked down L St toward the garage, a cyclist used the sidewalk as his personal obstacle course, at speed, of course. He nearly collided with a woman walking down the street, after which he proceeded to call her a “fuckin’ bitch” and used some other colorful language that even I won’t print here.
When called on it, he was inches away from being violent with me as I told him to watch where he was going.
Folks, this is why people don’t get upset when bike messengers are hit by cars.
A little courtesy to the pedestrians on the sidewalk would go a long way to getting treated like human beings, instead of the derelicts on wheels that you are.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
