Tour de Ignorance

I know this has happened to you; you're in your car, driving down the street, and there right in front of you, where there should be a car, is some fool on a racing bike with his arm out for a left turn signal!

I get it all right; the law says that these bikers have the right to pedal in the middle of traffic and pretend like being on a bike is the same as being in a car...it's not! I have absolutely no problem with the bikers who stay to the side of the road; this is their hobby and I realize that trying to get a workout in on the sidewalks of America would be frustrating and dangerous. All I'm saying is that the majority of bikers have taken it too far. I feel like at least once a week my heart is in my stomach while I'm behind the wheel because some Lance Armstrong wanna-be pedals out of a stop sign right in front of me. For me, there is nobody who will ever be able to justify that a bike belongs in traffic. Let's get hypothetical to prove my point. Scenario: I'm in a car, you're on a bike, one of us messes up, which is always a possibility, we collide; I hate to break it to you bikers, you lose every time! We're not talking serious injury; we're talking life or death! I know you have your body tight riding gear and your awkwardly long plastic helmet, but neither is going to do you much good if we collide.

Laws are laws, I'm not a lobbyist, and I don't feel the need to write a letter to congress in protest of the bikers' rights to the road. All I'm saying is use common sense. If you were on a bike, wouldn't you want to err on the side of caution when on busy roadways? It comes down to this, if you're on the side of the road, you are giving yourself an exponentially better chance of not being hit by a passing motorist. What drives the bikers out into the middle of the street? This might not be a popular statement, so I apologize if I offend anyone, but I get the feeling that most bikers have a ridiculous sense of entitlement when it comes to the roadways. Every guy I pass on the street seems to be wearing this tremendous grin of satisfaction that while he's getting his workout in, there's a line of pissed off motorists behind him who are just going to have to go at his pace; because rules are rules. A locus of control for some power hungry biker who probably went on the ride to blow off some steam in the first place. What better way than to ruin everyone else's commute?

Call me outlandish for taking a shot at the road racing biker clan, but I've had it with you people. Get yourself on the side of the road or buy a stationary spinning bike that you can use in your living room. Done.

Pictures: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/8/19/1250670387113/Lance-Armstrong-riding-in-001.jpg

http://torontoist.com/attachments/toronto_marcl/bike_lanes_fall.jpg