I have a great deal of respect for the new wave of cyclists out on the road these days. I believe the economy and higher gas prices have provided this increase in Newbie cyclists attempting to reduce spending and increase our goal of a cleaner environment, but I would like to offer some small pearls of advise to keeping the two-wheelers safe from harm.

Please respect the road: I drive my dogs to a local park in San Diego because I believe that dogs should get the proper exercise to staying healthy. I have no issues with the cyclists who wear the right protective gear and manage to acknowledge healthy road manners. The bikers I am talking about are those who seem to be strolling along the road in casual clothing, flip flops, and no head protection. I am sure many of you can identify several in your own neighborhood. These are the ones who actually believe it is normal to pedal in the center of the lane and make no attempt to move to the side as a car approaches.  I often wonder how unfortunate it would be to have a car ornament nudge up to you from behind.

Allow the car driver knowledge of making a turn: When I was a small child, my grandfather instructed me how to wave my hand to show my intention on making a turn. If I was approaching the road where my friend lived, I would wave my left arm so the cars around me knew I would be turning, similar to us car drivers using directional signals. This practice seems  to have been lost by the casual biker and we are being forced to use our psychic abilities in guessing where the biker intends to turn. I have had to do this many times lately, so to show the biker my appreciation, I normally like to give a friendly car toot just so they know how close potential injury could have been. I can't say any have thanked me with a wave of acknowledgement, but I don't think the one finger wave from them is offering appreciation.

Clothing optional: Now that I have lost weight I still can't see myself ready for the biking Lycra look. The hard core cyclists look good wearing that kind of stretchy material especially when they have the pronounced musculature to show for it. Our casual cycle friends should really try to adhere to wearing comfortable clothing. The best option would be to find lose comfortable pants, tennis shoes, and a well fitting shirt. Today, I came upon a biker who was wearing shorts, a crop top, flip flops, and a luggage bag swinging from side to side. The bag movement caused the biker to appear as if they were on a boat and about to list into oncoming traffic. This is not a good idea for safety sake at the least. My other concern was that the picture I got approaching from behind looked as if I was following a moving ATM machine. You get the picture of course. My emotions ran from fear of potential accident to grabbing for my travel puke bag.

Headgear: This would seem like a no brain-er, especially when we have all heard stories of head injuries related to biking accidents. The proper headgear for protection is not a large wide brim straw hat, sunglasses, and MP3 earphones. If I cannot talk on the cell phone while driving, where does it say bikers wearing ear pieces to MP3 players is safe. This could be added revenue for our local law enforcement. There are cheaper helmets out there that will at least provide minimal protection from additional brain injury.

Crosswalk manners: This is my last real issue with the casual biker but the one that really irritates me from time to time. Crosswalks are essential to people when needing to cross a busy street. I have great respect for crosswalks and people. I find it interesting that our casual bikers think the crosswalk is an extention to their travel method. They simply speed right into the crosswalk with little hesitation and no thought about oncoming traffic. At least walkers and joggers stop to look prior to entering the crosswalk. I do give credit to bikers who dismount their bikes and proceed to crosswalk, but the crosswalk is not the area to stop and rearrange a wedggie before remounting the bike.

In all honesty, I respect all citizens on bikes and I would love them more if they would not believe they are the only ones on the road.

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