A lot of firsts

Well, obviously, this is my first blog post ... although I venture to say it has been a long time coming. I shadow too many blogs and have too many opinions on things I see in the world not to give in eventually and create one of my own. So, here we go ...

A quick biking history on me, for those who care: Last fall, I happened across an announcement on Louisvilleky.gov website about free bicycling safety classes offered through Bicycling for Louisville. My husband, who has been riding a bike since the doctor moved the umbilical cord out of the way, had been trying to get me to ride with him. Mind you, I hadn't ridden since I was a kid, when I had an old hand-me-down single-speed Kmart special. My husband took me to bike shops, but I refused even to try to ride a bike there for fear I would crash. So, I bought a cheap bike and helmet at Target and gave it a try. Ok, I could basically keep my balance and go forward, but that was about it ... and taking bike lessons from my husband made me feel like a monk in a strip club -- overwhelmed and clueless (and not nearly as excited). So, the Confident Cycling classes sounded perfect for me.

Long story short, I muddled though the class with my less-than-impressive bike skills and my purple behemoth of a bike. I learned so much, for which I credit the patience and diligence of Barry Zalph and Tom Armstrong. Perhaps most importantly, that was the beginning of the -- come on, you knew it was coming! -- addiction. I haven't been able to get biking off my mind since.

Now, six months later, I am the proud owner of a new Breezer Citizen. This is my first bicycle purchase from a REAL bicycle shop. No more Target bikes for me! My husband and I are out any time that we can, biking wherever and whenever we can. Yes, I am addicted.

With that addiction, though, comes a certain awareness of things ... and me, being the passionate person I am, am unable to overlook or forget things once they are brought to my awareness. My most recent awareness (and, therefore, pet peeve) is the use of bike lanes as parking lanes. I have encountered this in almost every biking trip I have taken, and I haven't even ridden most of the bike lanes in the metro! It never ceases to amaze me how motorists appear to view bike lanes as shoulders, rather than true lanes of traffic. I would venture to say that these motorists have not been on a bike, using a bike lane, or they would realize the inconvenience and potential threat that an illegally parked vehicle can pose (not to mention if someone in this illegally parked vehicle then opens the door into traffic). It goes back to a common thread of thought I have -- we have to get more people on bikes so they understand what it's like to be on a bicycing and navigating in traffic. Bike a mile in our shoes, so to speak.

Of course, easier said than done. So, one has to look at other options as well -- for example, law enforcement. Parking in a bike lane is illegal, so it would seem that the police would act to punish this illegal activity, right? One would hope. However, I still feel like, as a society, bikers and bicycles are not seen as "real" means of transportation, but are recreational and, therefore, secondary in importance. For example: Tonight, apparently there is a very important wake/visitation/funeral at Owen Funeral Home on Taylorsville Road in Jeffersontown. On my way home tonight, I noticed that approximately 0.5 miles of the eastbound bike lane were blocked by illegally parked vehicles. There were no police cars or officers visible, directing traffic or alerting approaching cyclists or motorists of a traffic lane being blocked. When I arrived home, I found that my new cell phone had arrived in the mail today. (Mind you, I have not carried a personal cell phone in well over a year -- my husband carried one and I used it if I needed it. In fact, I gave in and ordered a cell phone of my own for safety for when I'm out riding.) So, the first call I made on my new cell phone was to the Jeffersontown Police Department. I advised the dispatcher that cars were parking illegally in the bike lane. She stated that there were police officers on the scene, in the parking lot. (Obviously, because that's where the real potential for traffic snafus would be, right?.) The dispatcher then asked, "Are the cars blocking an actual lane of traffic or just pulled to the side of the road?" Here, the point was really made to me -- to most people, bicyclists are not considered part of "real" traffic." The bike lanes are not "real" lanes, so their being blocked is not a "real" issue. I advised that there should at least be a police car with lights on prior to the area where the bike lane was blocked in order to make bicyclists and motorists aware. The dispatcher left me with a non-committal promise to call the police officers and have them check into it.

I was not reassured. No, I'm pretty sure I was blown off. And I hope that the fire trucks I heard a few time afterwards were not reporting to crashes caused by this fiasco. But, I did what I could, for tonight.

What else can we do?