Please Revive Cycling Etiquette!

Because I'm an old man (over 40), I'm a little grumpy sometimes. Like when everything I see is really blurry becase the eye surgeon forgot to mention it will take me 3 weeks, not 3 days to recover from laser surgery (dang that PRK!). But what really gets my goat are uneducated or just plain rude cyclist who don't practice proper etiquette on the road. Now I'm not talkign about the nice waves from passing riders. Sometimes it's not possible to remove your hands from the bars while riding (though subbing a head nod is appreciated). I"m talking about people like I met last Saturday.

After riding to meet my running group for a few miles in the park, I decided to kill an hour doing an out and back on a popular section of roadway that runs along the Columbia River. There's a pretty wide bike lane and lots of good sights as you are between the river and the hills separating Portland from the westside suburbs. So as I'm riding the connecting roads to this main thoroughfare, I see a couple of guys heading the wrong way on a one-way street. "That's not too smart," I thought to myself. Nothing like doubling the speed until impact. After hitting the main line, I realized these same two guys were in front of me, obviously having used the one-way as a short cut. I surmised this by deducing that I was going faster than they were based on the rate at which I gained and caught up to them. After following for about 20 second, I looked back to make sure it was clear, said "On your left," to let them know I intended to pass. Both were riding to the far left side of the bike lane, no big deal as that's where there's usually less rubble. However, neither moved a hair to give me room to pass. Instead, I had to 'take the lane' to get around them. After passing them, they proceed to sneak up and suck my wheel without announcing their presence or asking. Now, I knew they were there, but I had my own ride to do. But as I said, I was just killing an hour until meeting the group at the coffee shop, so upon turning around, I had hoped for some nod, greeting or perhaps even a "Thanks for the pull." Instead, I got nothing. Not even the nod.

I'm all in for everyone getting the religiion and getting out on their bike. I'd love it if there were just a few less cars to battle with while I ride and more cyclists to enjoy the scenery with. But if you're going to ride, try to demonstrate some manners. Help build the community, not divide it. Let's re-establish some etiquette out there on the roads and make an emjoyable activity that much more fun.