It’s about that time for another complaint from the beleaguered Gainesville cyclist. I come to you with scabby palms and bruised shins. The cause of my pain? This time around, an innocent pedestrian crossing the street.
Yesterday, while hustling down the sidewalk on West University Avenue, I attempted to zip to the right of a pedestrian. Vision obscured by her monstrosity of an umbrella, she stepped into my path and, unable to avoid her, we collided, sending my beloved Schwinn and I tumbling into the street.
I was ready to rain my wrath on this girl; months of antipathy built from cycling through campus threatened to explode. The maelstrom was quickly diffused by the apologetic cries of none other than a favored classmate. To assuage her guilt, I spoke nothing of my hurts and only replied “these things happen.”
And these things do happen all the time on campus. It’s not the first time I’ve run into somebody, and it won’t be the last. Pedestrians walk around campus with impunity. They jaywalk with the assurance that the 20 mph traffic must surely stop for them. Laden with Krishna lunch and a cell phone tucked between their cheeks and shoulders, they cross the bike lanes without ever thinking of looking left and right. Their mothers would be ashamed.
The fact of the matter is, the same way bicycles are forced to share road space with cars, we are forced to share sidewalk space with pedestrians on campus. Pedestrians don’t have turn signals or brake lights. If they want to race over and hug their big sisters, they do so. If they need to send a text, it’s going to happen right then and there. What pedestrians do have are top-of-the-line, built-in brakes and the ability to turn on a dime and turn one’s head to look behind.
Cyclists sacrifice this maneuverability for speed. We can’t always avoid you and your hulking backpack, so please work with us. If you have to send that text right now, step off the path and let traffic by. Hug the side of the path and leave us room instead of walking abreast with your pals. It’s as simple as being spatially aware and walking decisively.
Don’t make me yell, “Watch where you’re going, asshole!” It only generates unnecessary hostility, and you were so kind to lend me your archaeology notes last week.
