A few weeks ago at a friend’s party, biking in the city became topic of discussion. Knowing that I was in company of car drivers, I didn’t say anything.
“There was a huge mass of bikers up Embarcadero on yesterday!” she exclaimed. “Blocking traffic!”
I swallowed my immediate retort, having seen both sides.
“So annoying.” She continued, “I just wanted to run them over.”
Today, as I was biking to the caltrain, obeying the usual laws of the road—stopping at stop signs and lights. I still got honked multiple times. But I was only mere biker, one who was so afraid of biking with angry drivers that I carefully studied the behaviors and actions of a class. That I asked inane questions to my instructor—why can we turn right on the street when cars can’t? and not receiving always adequate answers.
A few weeks ago as I was biking up my usual route on 23rd from Harrison to Valencia, I noticed that there was a loud car behind me. Having had a bad experience the previous week of almost having a major accident, I took the road. It was the law—I had the right to take the road if there was no bike lane. Legally, I could not bike on the sidewalk and I had the right to avoid the door zone of parked cars. I could sense the impatience of the loud car as this time, I actually made a full stop at the stop sign, actually putting my feet to the ground and looking both ways. Internally, I was having a tantrum and acting out against the angry driver, showing how I was biking legally. I blocked his way all the way up to Valencia where he finally pulled past me yelling at me not to hog the road.
I muttered something along the lines of yes, I could
Oddly enough, because he was at a red, I quickly caught up to him filtering between him and the cars.
“Can’t you share the road?” I asked civilly and made my right hand turn signal.
He mumbled something and roared off, leaving a bad taste in my mouth.
There was a boy I used to see in 2003. He complained about how bikers thought they were cars. At the time, I didn’t say anything. Now that I understand how the bikers feel, I feel the scars fester in anger.