Fight For Your Right To Bike?

Riding your bike to work can be a pain and I don’t mean sore leg muscles from peddling. No, the pain is more of a disgust. The reactions I get from people in Minneapolis while biking are sad and disheartening. I have no idea why they would hate us so much? yes, maybe bikers skip the occasional red light or make a error in riding judgement but can’t we all get along?

Just today I got my latest dose of road rage while biking with a friend to work. This guy in a Dodge Dakota really needed to prove his truck was more powerful than our bikes. He saw us trying to cross the street and took a right turn in front of us with the gas wide open and giving a small squeek of his tire. Actually, the truck didn’t go that fast but it was really loud. I think his tail pipes had fallen off years ago. I love how the city and country folks mix in downtown Minneapolis. Anyway, he took off looking very proud of his accomplishment.

Things like that bother me less then the “gangsters”, AKA bored high school kids using me as a targets. Apparently, there is a lack of rival gangs so they “roll up” and try to “start shit”. I usually pull my bike lock off and hold it incase things escalate. I’ve only had to use it once as protection but I usually expect 10-20 verbal altercations a year biking from NE to downtown Minneapolis. Is it a crime to carry a knife attached to your bike? I have been seriously considering this as a possible way to carry more protection. I guess that would not help agianst all the hit and runs that have been happening to bikers.

Then parking the bike in the Minneapolis warehouse district is a nightmare. There are 2 bike racks in the area so my choices are limited. If you do use the bike racks you will probably lose one bike a year to theft. I had this safe lock area behind this old building on 1 St & 2nd Ave S from everyone but some old smoker felt the need threaten to have my bike removed… because he hates bikes and thinks they are stupid… great! (his actual comments)

Come on people give bikers a little bit of a break. Minneapolis is a growing city and we need more bikers to help take some cars of the road. If I meet one more moron while biking I am just going to give up and buy a Hummer.