Encounters With Cyclists

I met four cyclists this morning. The first two cyclists were riding on the pedestrian path. The next one was riding right smack in the centre of a two-lane road. The light was red for him. The cyclist rode past all the vehicles stopped at the junction, and at the junction, turned left across the leftmost lane in-front of the cars and proceeded on to the perpendicular road. The rider had completely ignored the red light.

The last one was coming up to a slip road with a pedestrian crossing. I was crossing.  He was still coming. I was halfway across, and I realized we were on a collision course, so I stopped. He rode past me, without looking at me, seemingly as if I had not existed at all.

I am not like that certain Minister. This is not something I’ve only just noticed. It’s just something that I’ve observed for a long time.

The first two cyclists, you might want to believe, chose to use the pedestrian path because it was safer. Not so. It was very early in the morning, and traffic was light. Moreover, there was a dedicated cycling path right next to the pedestrian path. If they had just swung their bicycles 1m to the side, they would have been on the cycling path. The dedicated cycling path that cyclists are apparently asking for.

During that period of time this morning when I was walking along the road, I met only four cyclists. All four were flouting the law.

Perhaps cyclists should think about educating themselves first, before they go make a big hoo ha about the plight they are in.

I don’t cycle anymore. I used to. I even rode on Lentor Avenue, one of those roads that came to attention of late because of the danger they posed to cyclists. Of course I don’t quite qualify as a neutral party anymore, but still, believe me, I have some appreciation of the situation that cyclists are in.

However, I’m just totally unsupportive of the approach that cyclists are taking in asking for help. If this had been a debate, and I happened to be on the other team, I will shred their arguments to bits. Completely. But I’m not arguing a debate here.

I have a few things to tell cyclists:

1. Realize that there are many other types of transport users.
2. Remember that the government’s job is to provide public transportation infrastructure. That is the big picture.

I am, quite honestly, pretty turned off the way that cyclists are fighting for their cause. It’s as if they were fighting for some noble purpose, like world peace. For goodness sake, it’s just so that they can go cycling on the road.

Update (30 Aug 2012): I want to clarify that I am neither for nor against the cyclists’ cause. I’m closing commenting for this post.