A Letter to the Editor..

This is something I wrote for my local paper, I don't know whether or not I'll send it in. I doubt anyone wants to read it, or discuss. Its just that there are so many lame, poor grammar letters in that advertising rag we call a paper and I wanted to add my own.

The "Piece" (If you can call it that) is titled

What Came First, The Ignorant Cyclist or the Irate Driver?

I'm not a granola eater, I don't spend my money in the organic food section or go to spin classes, but I do ride my bike to work everyday that it is not raining. Right down Queen.

Since Wellington was closed for whatever repairs (it really doesn't matter) The influx of traffic swelling at the peak times of... well-- daylight hours. I have noticed an utter disregard on the part of both cyclists and motorists that will surely end in a gruesome front page headline.

I don't know who struck first. Whether the cyclists always slunk between the rows of traffic at the Pine, Queen intersection or motorists always cut as close as possible to bicycles. I myself have had daily attempts on my life, a fortysomething woman weaving through traffic like it is an Olympic event. Or a male retiree in his tank of a truck, shooting just off my left shoulder. I see them checking their mirrors, looking to see if they scared me enough to barrel over the curb and onto the sidewalk. As if they are doing a favour for the other motorists. Wiping the road of cyclists! The worst are the 30 year olds, in their shiny cars, barking into their cellphones oblivious to the fact they are actually driving. They don't care, and wouldn't stop, they'd just figure they had hit another Northern Ontario pothole. The law says I have to play this twisted game of frogger everyday to get to work just because I don't want to waste my money on gas in stop and go traffic and municipal government feels the blind eye works best in this situation, content with inadequate arrangements.

I share the road to the extent I am comfortable. There is no need to honk. Of course, on days that the weather is unfavourable I do take my car. And I know how annoying it becomes to travel 18-20 kilometers per hour behind a cyclist taking up the whole of the lane, only to come to a red light and see him slip to the front of the row of cars and go straight through the red signal. That stretch of Queen, from Lake to Gore is a war zone every day of the week, and we still have 5 months to go. Any sort of police presence on the stretch is warranted and necessary. Lets face it, with the thermometer and gas prices going up up up in the coming months so too will blood pressure. Something ominous is mounting. Closed roads are escalating the situation. If both types of road users cannot coexist I fear that the next time my name prints in this paper it may be in the obituaries.

So please motorists slow down.
Cyclists don't take stupid risks.
We have to share the road!

ANDYMAC!!!