THE BIG WHEEL
DEAR MERCURY—It’s hard to believe this article [“Many Miles to Go,” News, Sept 2] isn’t a joke. Not enough women and minorities are riding bikes? Jesus Christ Almighty, riding a bike is one of the few areas in society that has exactly zero racial, ethnic, or gender barriers to participation! Any adult or child can pick up a decent used bike for just a few bucks. And every adult and child knows what a bike is because even the poorest or most recent immigrant kid has ridden a Big Wheel. Cultural differences funnel people of different ethnicities into different areas, but to suggest that minorities are somehow being “left out” of bicycling is more than ridiculous.
-Sue
SPOTTY ODOT
DEAR MERCURY—I am writing in response to Sarah Mirk’s article “Many Miles to Go” [News, Sept 2]. I am a 27-year-old woman who is still recovering from a bike-on-car accident that happened nine months ago on downtown Portland’s now infamous stretch of NW Broadway. Nevertheless, I have taken to commuting by bike nine miles to work, most of which is on NE Killingsworth. This is a stretch of road that at one point falls out of the City of Portland’s control and into ODOT’s territory. While I have had many successful interactions with Portland’s bike hotline, my interactions with ODOT have been sub-par. A “foolhardy” bicyclist used to biking on busy streets next to semi-trucks going 30-50 MPH, I have come across a handful of situations where I have felt open and vulnerable to cars and semi-trucks. Each time this has occurred, I have immediately contacted ODOT. Each time, I have felt rebuffed. My voice as a woman bicyclist of limited income has repeatedly been ignored. This is something that needs to change if more people, especially women, are to take to the streets.
-Laura Pope
BAD HOSTING
Great article [“State of Choice,” Feature, Sept 2]! When I was 19 I thought I was pregnant, and despite being reasonably intelligent in other regards, I reacted with an idiotic plan—to make my body as inhospitable to a fetus as possible in the hopes of having a miscarriage. This was back in the early ’90s, and maybe most young ladies today are smarter, but I doubt it. Because we have all seen that show or movie. It’s the one where the girl accidentally gets pregnant, and considers having an abortion—but in the meantime, all the emotional stress she’s going through somehow leads to her having a miscarriage. We are taught that if you can just have a miscarriage, it’s okay. When I think of this, I get mad—at my young dumb self—and at society for not encouraging women to choose what is best for them.
-posted by flora
GREEN MEANS GO
DEAR MERCURY—RE: “Stop and Go” by Anonymous [I, Anonymous, Sept 2]. Thank you for penning the letter I have been writing in my head on a nearly daily basis since moving to Portland seven years ago. Spot on. This is the only city I’ve lived in where driving etiquette has manifested itself as an at best annoying and at worst hazardous social norm. Just today a woman stopped her car at a green light because she thought I would like to pass in front of her on my bicycle. Who does this? Who stops at a green light when they’re driving a car? Nursery school kids know better than this. “Green for go, red for stop; be your own little traffic cop.” One anonymous note, however well put, is not going to do the trick. Maybe the Mercury can reprint it on the front cover in block print as a public service announcement.
-GS
THANKS FOR REMINDING everyone of that handy little rhyme. Hopefully someday the drivers of Portland will manage to memorize and live by it. Until then, walk/drive/bike safely to cash in your prizes: two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater and lunch at No Fish! Go Fish!, where you can eat without stopping for hours.
GREEN TO GO: “Just today a woman stopped her car at a green light because she thought I would like to pass in front of her on my bicycle. Who does this? Who stops at a green light when they’re driving a car?”
Who does this? WHO DOES THIS? I $%#^& do this. It’s not “like to pass”, it’s “OMG there’s a bicycle and it’s going to disregard traffic regulations and cut in front of me so I’d better stop now! even though my light is green and there’s cars behind me because my car can take a hit better than the bike and rider.”
GREEN TO GO: “Just today a woman stopped her car at a green light because she thought I would like to pass in front of her on my bicycle. Who does this? Who stops at a green light when they’re driving a car?”
Who does this? WHO DOES THIS? I $%#^& do this. It’s not “like to pass”, it’s “OMG there’s a bicycle and it’s going to disregard traffic regulations and cut in front of me so I’d better stop now! even though my light is green and there’s cars behind me because my car can take a hit better than the bike and rider.”
“Just today a woman stopped her car at a green light because she thought I would like to pass in front of her on my bicycle. Who does this? Who stops at a green light when they’re driving a car?”
Uhm, i would hope that EVERY motorist in the state does this. If you’re at a marked cross-walk & you’re either a cyclist or pedestrian, YOU have the right-a-way to cross REGARDLESS of the green light!
Unless you WANT to get run over, then you’ll definately have something to whine about.
Just go away, Damos.
If you don’t like the rules, take it up with the DMV. That stands for “Department of Motor Vehicles”, incase you didn’t know.
DamosA, have you ever noticed the red hand that accompanies the red light? How about the little white guy who appears to be walking? Let me know if you need another hint.
This is yet another societal transgression due to overpopulation. Some kids grow up to be motorists who stop at green lights, others to be cyclists who don’t stop at reds. Either way, you should all stop breeding immediately!
Wrong.
Why do so many people think that the laws regarding pedestrians and cyclists are the same, or even close? If people are that ignorant about the rules of the road, they should not be able to get or renew their driver license.
The stupidest and ugliest manifestation of this view is when people think that, like pedestrians, bikes belong on the sidewalk, not on the road, thus inspiring them to bray insipid orders at me to get on the sidewalk as they drive by.
Oops, forgot to indicate that I was replying to DamosA’s creative take on “right-a-way,” just in case that wasn’t clear.
I don’t give a crap where you are- if you’re near a light, and look like you might bust a move, I’m going to stop.
Just because you stop doesn’t mean the next dumb ass with his headphones blaring is even going to LOOK at what might be about to happen to him.
There’s a very good reason that so many people hate cyclists. They make large dents in your front end, and they usually don’t give a crap about anything else going on around them. The few who try to set a good example are far too few- there are simply too many retards on bicycles to trust any of them at all.
“This is yet another societal transgression due to overpopulation. Some kids grow up to be motorists who stop at green lights, others to be cyclists who don’t stop at reds. Either way, you should all stop breeding immediately!”
You definately have a point, sir. People should stop breeding, just for a little while atleast. The best part about abstaining from breeding: you DON’T have to have any less sex! Birth control was such a great idea. Those Godless Commies got something right!