Drivers not only problem

Being of the country persuasion, I've long been disgusted by city bike riders coming onto our narrow country roads and making nuisances of themselves. Yes, they have a legal right to be there. However, in the days before cute little spandex outfits for aging athletes, most people on bicycles realized that they were a safety hazard in their own right and made at least some effort to cooperate with automobile drivers. Many would move near the edge to allow drivers to pass more easily, or slow down slightly and motion those behind them around.

Today, too many seem to prefer to ride on the center-line and dare anyone to hit them. Rarely do you see one deliberately yield part of their lane to let a car around, and the only place that most slow down is where they know auto drivers can't pass anyway. As soon as you get to a safe place to pass, they take off like the proverbial bat out of Hades. Few women bicyclists seem to behave that way, so I guess it must to be a testosterone thing.

In town, some of them dart between lanes of stopped traffic to crowd ahead in line, run stop signs and switch on and off the sidewalk at will. During the publicized ride for awareness the other day, my wife and I stepped out the door of the bookstore by the mall and were nearly run down by what appeared to be a bicycle club member who was riding on the sidewalk to avoid the speed-bumps in the street. While I realize that there are plenty of rude and careless drivers out there, it seems to me that rude auto drivers aren't the only problem on the highways (and sidewalks).

Steve Dye

Parkersburg