Sup guys... as many of you know.. i've delved into the world of cycling for the past 6 months... it's one of the best things i feel i've ever done. I feel like i'm in the best shape of my life, i have less stress than ever before.. just one of the most beneficial things i've ever experienced.. =) BUT!!! there's a growing concern that i've been thinkin about pretty often... It's the REAL problem of cyclist discrimination... we all hear about racism, sexism, homophobia, etc... and it's a terrible problem, but at least its known about and documented... many of us have experienced this too, and now i've experienced a new form of discrimination.. cycling is a new love of mine, and i find myself constantly harassed by fellow motorists on the street. Being honked at is just a small part of it... but when it gets to the point of people going out of their way to roll down the windows, curse at me, yell at me, and even the occasional death threat i feel like it's too much... cyclists have to deal with this daily. We have to deal with motorists who swerve into us to make us nervous, motorists who purposely open their doors when we ride by in order to physically harm us, and getting brake checked very often. In my 6 months of riding, i've been hit by a car once, been cut off, causing me to crash another time, and every time i ride i deal with verbal abuse, honking harassment, and the occasional death threat... It's a big problem cuz cyclists do get hurt when these motorists try swerving into the cyclists looking for a reaction, but miscalculating and actually causing the cyclist to get hit, and very often, lethally... it's a sad thing but it's real and i want people to get educated on this. Cyclists have all the right to be on the road. Cyclists slow down traffic way way less than school buses or lynx buses, but we're the only ones on the street being threatened by discrimination with our lives... people need to realize that cyclists are every day people, friends, family, who just want to get from one place to another, who just wanna exercise and be healthy, who want to just enjoy doing something that they love... so yea, i'm just trying to say, be aware of the cyclists out there, give them respect and if you see some douchebaggery out there(harassment of cyclists) do what you can.. =) oh and if yall haven't read these, here are some good articles i read this week...
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