I Want To Ride My Bicycle I Want To Ride My Bike...

For some reason this year there are a TON of bike riders running around Denver.

My guess is the price of gas plus these bike stations (y'all have seen the red bikes & racks around town) and the warmer weather, etc etc etc all combined to get people  out on their bikes to and from work.

I know that bikes are legally allowed to "share the road" now but I'm still a bit irked by this.

As a driver, whether personal or professional I was required to obtain a license.
Proving that I both knew and understood the rules, regulations and ways of the road.
And that I had shown a reasonable aptitude for surviving out in traffic with other drivers.

I also pay taxes for using these roads.
I pay license and registration fees.
I pay gasoline taxes and other taxes that are applied to the support of the privilege I've earned by being granted a license.

NONE of which a bike rider has to do.
Yet they share the benefits that you and I had to work hard to be given.

Back to these laws, rules and ways...
If I get caught wearing head phones or ear buds or using a phone to make calls or text while driving my vehicle, whether my personal vehicle or the bus, I'm fined up the ying.
In fact, at RTD I can get into serious trouble as that's a major safety hazard & violation: it divides my attention and prevents me from hearing both the conditions around me and emergency vehicles.

If I don't use my turn signals, if I run red lights, if I exceed the speed limit and if I fail to use head lights from 30 minutes before sunset to 30 minutes after sunrise - I'm fined.
And not just teeny tiny warning shot fines.
We're talking $100 and up for any of these.

So yeah, I'm a bit miffed that I have to share the road with folks doing 10mph in the bus lane during rush hour:  folks who have their ear buds in, never look behind them, dart in and out in front of me and folks who don't share any proven qualification or financial burden for the use of the same road as I'm using.

Am I going to go out of my way to scare the poop outta riders with the bus?
LOL - nope.
I tap the brakes so they can hear that air release and know I'm coming up behind them, I go around them when traffic allows and I avoid them when I'm able.

What I do like to do is pull up beside them and mention that if they'd hop on board, pay the fare and let me take them home, they wouldn't be sweating so much in the heat or they wouldn't be as soaked to the bone in the driving rain!

I'd say I could care less but all the words I've typed above would prove me wrong.
So let's settle for, "I could care less but not by much!"

As Always, "Welcome aboard, set your bike in the rack, find your seats - Let's Roll!"