Ride to Work Day Thoughts

I believe in “Ride-to-Work Day”. I believe that we need to give the general public more motorcycle awareness, to show that we do come from all walks of life, ages and occupations. I can agree that motorcycles can reduce parking problems and traffic congestion, and that motorcycles can be practical as well as recreational. I also wish that it would be “Cages Stay Home Day”, or even better – “Be Kind to Motorcycles Day”. In some areas across the country, I'm afraid that it might just increase the continuously rising fatality rate for motorcyclists.

I realize that different geographical areas have different traffic situations, and different people have different lengths of commute, so this situation does not apply to everyone. I live in Northern Virginia (outside of Washington, D.C.) where you take your life in your hands every time you get on the road, no matter what you are driving. For this reason, I avoid riding during rush hour. Every morning, as I listen to the traffic reports, it's not IF there is an accident, but how many, and if there is a major shut down so that a Medivac can land. In fact, we have traffic reports for Saturday and Sunday afternoons also.

This area has a multitude of Cadillac Escallades, Hummers, GMC trucks, SUVs and horse trailers with dualie pickups. Everyone is stressed. Their minds already at the office, they push forward for fear of being late. People are on their cell phones, shaving and putting on make-up. The normal speed is 10 miles over the speed limit, and there are the people that are speeding.

Now my particular route to work goes past a very busy gravel pit, with a steady stream of dump trucks making their morning deliveries and depositing samples of the stone on the road as they go along. Add to this pretty picture, continuous housing construction with dirt and debris. I have found a nail or two in my car tire over the years. This area builds homes and shopping centers wherever they can find trees growing, regardless if the infrastructure can support this. It usually can't. Many new developments have only one road for egress. The result is neighborhoods with many backups and vehicles frantically darting into lines of traffic. 6 or more lane highways are at a standstill.

I find it less than enjoyable to sit in a line if waiting traffic – smelling the noxious fumes while alternating clutch – brake, clutch – brake for extended periods. Lane splitting may be legal in some areas, but in this corner of the world, with cages changing lanes constantly, and not always using signals, it is like asking to become road kill. It also gives the cages one more reason to cop an attitude towards bikers and justify cutting them off.

“Ride to Work Day” could also be “Bike Like An Angel Not From Hell” for bikers. I've seen motorcyclists cut off cars, pass during a double line, challenge other vehicles for lane right-of-way, do wheelies, ride side-by-side. Once while I was heading down a country road, I found a biker coming towards me from the other lane, standing on his bike seat, arms straight out to his sides for balance. Let's face it; we can be a problem also.

So this year, I won't ride my bike to work in this area, but I will be there in spirit. I do hope that this day turns out to be a safe one for everyone, and that bikers everywhere take in to account your own local situation and make the best decision.