Table of Contents From the President Say Good-bye to the Green! LBC Picnic Advocacy Matters Packman's Corner

From the President
Utilitarian Cycling

I’m sure you’ve noticed the increase in utilitarian cyclists. I’ve seen more commuters and more people toting groceries and other goods on their bikes than I can remember. The escalating price of gas and the increased focus on healthfulness has helped. We might wake up one day soon and find ourselves in a time when cycling will be cool, not just for the skinny, body-suited racers but the everyman cyclist.

Like you and me.

So I couldn’t have picked a better time to begin my two-times-a-week commuting goal. Readers of this space know all too well the difficulty I’ve had getting the miles in. I’ve finally stopped fooling myself about leaving the office early enough to make many evening club rides. Commuting seemed like the obvious solution. I felt the excitement of feeling like a trailblazer, even though I knew cyclists who had commuted for years. The gas savings would be a bonus.

Finding the right route from St. Matthews to the Buechel area was the first challenge. Getting to Browns Lane was easy. From there to Hikes Lane, to Old Bardstown Road, to Buechel Bank Road and into the GE parking lot for a total of 11 miles made a great morning work-out, especially since a new gym and showers facilities had been added.

The most challenging part of the ride was the Hikes Lane leg. This road wouldn’t know bike-friendly from a hole in the ground (of which there are several.) Four lanes of 55-mph traffic, treacherous storm water drains and bumps, lumps and grooves. You can’t tell if you’re sweating from the workout or the fright. The trip home—usually after 7—is more relaxed. Motorists are less harried and so the road rage quotient is lower.

Along with the increase in cyclists has come an increase in reports of cyclist-motorist conflicts. Some, no doubt, result directly from the fact that more riders mean more occasions for an incident to occur. But some result from increased driver impatience with having to share the road on more occasions. And worse, some conflicts result from increased driver resentment (or rage) at having to share the road.

Everyone is predicting that the upward trend in commuting and utilitarian cycling will continue. That puts a special responsibility on LBC to provide tools to these new riders to enable them to go competently and safely. You’ll be hearing more about that and we’ll be asking some of you to help with a broader education effort.

In the meantime, stand on your rights to the road. Ride safe and don’t let that minority of bad, disregardful or angry drivers get the jump on you.