Jonathan Morris, U.S. Ranger Retired and Rowan County Sheep Baron
♦ Eric, I’m going to have to pull rank on you in these discussions about bicycle lanes, road diets, and traffic calming. First off I’ve ridden bikes since my teens and up to the time I sustained injuries in combat. All told I’ve likely circled the equivalent of the Earth’s Equatorial belt at least 6 or 7 times on two-wheels. I rode just about everyday growing up in Minnesota. Rode from Minneapolis to Boise, Idaho and back as a young adult. Later all the way from Minneapolis to Daytona Beach, Florida on my Trek. (Avoiding bike lanes). ‘Been there, done that’ when it comes to bicycling. Raced a little. I enjoyed bicycles, but bro you are giving this leisure activity a bad name with some of your fanatical pronouncements and creative statistics.
I don’t know if you realize it that most people don’t tell others ‘they are going to educate them and the general public.’ Most persons, even with limited social smarts, avoid putting themselves in a one-up position when addressing others. You’re also assuming you know better than others which doesn’t exactly turn others onto your ’3rd world’ transportation message.
Look I can see that walking is great for almost anyone, but I don’t see bicycle traffic at all vital to the Civilization’s future. When we run out of fossil fuel for vehicles, they’ll be alternative 4 wheel vehicles on the road and rest assured they will not be pedal-powered.
Your anti-car rants on your blog and yesterday in the Post are not well-received. Your claim for the average cost of owning and operating a car in the U.S. certainly is far higher than my wife’s yearly costs or for that matter anyone I know. Eric on top of your magical claims to “higher-knowledge” to the coming world of bicycles and rickshaws, your self-proclaimed visions of the road tomorrow are getting a lot of eye-rolls. You’re missing valuable feedback from others by tuning them out.
You need to occasionally check in with the real world. In the real world people love the convenience of a car. Cars are family-oriented–kids and parents can fit together. They can carry groceries in one trip. They can cross the state in a few hours or less. They carry tools. Bro if you look around–I see thousands of cars and trucks and I seldom see any bicyclists anywhere. Once in a blue moon I see one and its usually hogging the road and going pitifully slow. People get annoyed at them when they do this. I’ve seen motorists bump the back tire of a poky bike or pass them and holler at them. I can’t ever recall seeing but a handful of bicyclists during the entire month. Most people don’t ride bicycles and that’s a fact. If people get hit by a multi-ton vehicle they’re history. Nothing like a guy laying in a pool of blood by what’s left of his bicycle. One heck of a lot people get killed every year on bicycles. Many of those in bike lanes.
Bicyclists often harass motorists which is a huge mistake because a car driver has infinite amount of get-even power at his disposal. What a mismatch! Who hasn’t seen bicyclists attempt to slow down to try and taunt their adversaries. BLAAM!
Months later the poor guy is still learning to walk and struggling to pronounce words with his prosthetic jaw. A totally uncalled for mismatch. Eric always practice politeness no matter what your natural inclinations demand of you.
Eric get real–you are addressing an audience who knows all too well that East Innes traffic moves incredibly slow during peak periods. I’ve traveled with my wife on East Innes 4 to 6 mph sometimes coming to a complete stop during rush hour. In fact I’ve had panhandlers come up to my windows and banging on them on East Innes during rush hour. Over by ‘jaywalk alley’ near Wilco. It crawls.
You’re denying ‘what is’ with your ludicrous claims that no one is buying. Don’t embarrass yourself. Traffic calming on East Innes with bike lanes is going to tick a lot of people off. Also those proposed medians will harm many businesses because access will be difficult. I have not talked with anyone who wants traffic calming on East Innes. It’s just one more move to keep people out of even bothering to come to Salisbury.
Thank you for all those ‘creative’ statistics. None ring remotely true.
Try to restrain your anger when people don’t share any of your two-wheeled fanaticism. We are not parental figures looking down on you even though you might feel that way.
Go for a ride, relax, and try not demand others to agree with you. You might find some way to connect with others then.
