I am fine, thank you

By: Steve Tipp

I am a road cyclist. I’m one of those guys that wear those goofy spandex shorts and shirt & a helmet and hit it on my bike.  I ride 3 days per week – about 75 total.  Usually I ride up in the Mulholland Corridor here in Calabasas.  The roads are not too traffic-y and the scenery is beautiful.  This is world class road cycling country.

Yesterday I got a call in the morning from my sister and one in the evening from a good friend, asking if I was alright.  They had heard a news report that a cyclist had been hit on Mulholland Hwy and they were concerned about me.  Actually 4 cyclist were hit by an 81 year old driver (according to the LA Times http://tinyurl.com/2a8nd68 ) and 3 were airlifted to UCLA.  A tragic situation.

Cycling to me is absolutely the greatest sport and I am really hopeful I can continue to do it as long as I can walk.  Are cyclists sometimes rude?  Yes.  Do they sometimes ignore traffic laws?  Yes.  Probably like the rest of us perfect 90% of the time, not so perfect the other 10%.

There has been a lot of talk lately about making laws and roads more bicycling friendly.  After Mayor Villaraigosa got bumped off his bicycle a few weeks ago he convened  a Los Angeles bicycling summit: http://tinyurl.com/2f29hlo The one law that seems to be getting the most talk on a very broad level (nationally and internationally) is a 3 feet passing law, suggesting automobiles passing bicycles with at least 3 feet of space between.

Keep your eyes on the road and off your phone (ok this applies to me too!), and please give your fellow man a bit of space especially if he is on a bike!

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