Image of cyclists can be quite negative. We often run red lights, ride side by side and take up an entire lane, pass pedestrians too fast and sometimes ride on the sidewalks.
To balance the negativity, whether it’s on your commuter, super bike or even a Youbike, what’s something you do to make it a better place to live in, what are some things you guys to do make the community a better place to live in?
I’ll start by listing a few:
I don’t speed on the Youbike and give way to pedestrians. It’s funny to see their reaction when you actually stop to let them pass.
When participating in events or just any kind of ride, I keep all my garbage in my jersey pocket. I have seen garbage along the route and it disgusts me.
I ride my bike on the weekends. Creating zero carbon footprint!
I force idiot scooter riders off the road so they crash into parked cars, thus removing them from the traffic pool for a few weeks. Minimum. Longer is better, of course.
i don’t ride a scooter, i use public transport, my own bike and youbikes only.
other than that i’m not a great cyclist to be honest. i give way to nobody and ride around like a typical dickhead. but still i’m a notch better than most taiwanese who don’t even know how to rotate their head while cycling.
I say good morning to everyone I meet on my rides. Usually hikers on the same mountain. I say jia-you to anyone I happen to pass on the way up the hills (not something that happens often). Cyclists and hikers are friendlier than runners, I’ve found. I offer to help other cyclists when they’re working on their bikes. I’m not the best mechanic, but I always do carry my tools that they’re more than welcome to use. I’d like to do something for charity related to cycling one of these days.
I like your post, but the assertion above is not necessarily true. Let me explain you. Sometimes, when I ride motorcycle, I exchange salutations with motorcycle riders (especially if they are not idiots racing like crazy, and especially especially if they ride BMWs, don’t ask me why). Sometimes, when I ride bicycle, I greet bicycle riders, especially if they are not riding too fast, especially especially if they are not climbing too fast like crazy. But when I run (and I haven’t done in a while) I don’t greet anybody because I just need to keep my breathing rhythm. I need to save some oxygen!
Same with bicycle: if you are sweating and breathing heavily, you don’t have time for salutations. And if you are running, probably you don’t want to waste any energy on anything superficial, like social conventions.
Once in Taipei, me and my friend were cycling side by side on a riverside bikeway. We’ve turned at about 6 red lights and crossed another 5 before we got there, and also it used that “ding ding” thingie to scare up pedestrians, who where leisurely walking at a crippling snail pace on a walkways. On that bikeway, we saw a turtle in the grass near the river. We stopped, pat it on a back, and wished it a nice day.
There is always time for kindness. But seriously, I’m huffing and puffing as I try my best to lug my 85 kilos (it was 93-95 when I first started cycling) up the mountains, but I seem to somehow manage that monosyllabic “dzao” every time. And I get an answer each time. I can’t even get eye contact and a nod with other runners. Yeah, yeah, we get it. You’re trying to maintain that 4:45 min/km pace and all that, but sheesh.
If you got a faulty youbike, you’re supposed to/expected to swing the seat around (pointing to the rear) to indicate something’s wrong with it, be it a flat, a rusted seat post that can’t be moved, a broken bell, etc. I know some people do it. I always do it. But I sometimes wonder how the service people will figure out what’s wrong with it, given the myriad of possible defects.
