Pronounce it slowly…yes, I ride a bike.  Actually, I have three of them but my favorite is a road bike.  See, I am a triathlete and biking is the 2nd of three disciplines.

Yesterday, there was an editorial in the Buffalo News.  You can read it here.  It talks about a cyclist that was killed a couple of weeks ago when struck by a dump truck.  Ironically, he was whacked in the back by a truck mirror 2 weeks earlier.  All of this despite every possible safety precaution – bright colored helmet, bright yellow vest.  Trust me, on a clear day you should be able to see this, unless you’re blind or distracted.  If that is the case, you shouldn’t even be on the road to begin with.

I think its time to give cyclists more protection.  We have bike lanes.  We have some paved shoulders that are wide enough and litter-free.  Stones and pebbles are fine, your garbage and broken glass aren’t.  But they are not enough.  We are entitled to share the same roadway as a car.

I am not sure if this is legal or not, but I think we are entitled to sharing the entire lane.  Since we have a lot of respect as well as a deathly fear of cars, we try to stay as far right in the lane as possible.  When we do that, we become more of a target for drivers who perceive themselves as kings of the road, everyone else be darned.  I’ve had a couple of close calls including some where I was well right of the lane, on the shoulder.

I think its time to take our concerns another level.  Maybe its time to extend the “Move Over” law to us.  Move over and give us some room.  If you can’t, slow down!  If you violate the law, it will cost you a pretty penny.  And we can use the money to build more bike lanes.