Get out of my bloody way!

Well, I was on my way to laundromat, shopping cart in tow, and I encountered a pair of women with strollers. They were spread two wide, effectively blocking the entire sidewalk. This would have been all good, except that as I approached, neither of them moved. Is it not custom in Canada to be kind to strangers and make room for them on the sidewalk? Is it not taught by most parents to be nice and have one person slow down and walk behind for a minute to avoid making the oncoming person walk on the grass or squash themselves into a bush trying to get by? Evidently that was one message that is not taught by parents here in Campbell River.

Not only did these stroller moms not move, but I do believe they actually walked wider apart. And it's not like they didn't see me coming. I, like them, had a cart on wheels. And my cart tends to rattle along on the sidewalk. So if they didn't see me coming, they at least would have heard me. But nooooo. They didn't move an inch. And I was forced to lug my cart full of dirty laundry onto the grass and around a telephone pole because of this rudeness. Sufficed to say, my little cart is not made for off-roading, and pulling it through the grass is rather difficult.

And this is not the first occurrance of this behaviour here in my rainy paradise. Often, while riding my bike along the sidewalk, I am forced to either stop or ride out onto the road to get around a pedestrian. While I would prefer to ride on the road all the time, this isn't exactly feasible, as the drivers here are even less considerate than the pedestrians. So I ring my bell, and they look up and see me coming. But do they get out of the way, or even move to one side so I can get by? Noooooo! They continue on their merry way, right in the middle of the damn sidewalk!

So I will issue this warning to the pedestrians and stoller pushers of my fair city. Get out of my bloody way! And if you don't, the next time I see you, you will either be clotheslined by an angry biker or recieve a nice elbow to the face from the crazy lady with the shopping cart. So don't tempt me, I'll do it.

On a lighter note, you will all be happy to note that this week's excursion to the laundromat was wonderfully free of little old men wanting to discuss same-sex marriage.

Just a note to whomever it was that sent me a comment about how cyclists are actually supposed to ride on the road and should in no way expect pedestrians to jump out of the way when they see a cyclist or hear a bell from behind them. I do not expect a pedestrian to jump out of the way when they see or hear me coming on my bike. What I would appreciate is a little common courtesy when they do know I'm there. Not unlike the stroller moms, some pedestrians tend to take up the entire sidewalk. By all means, do that if you want to. But when you see or hear me, moving to one side of that chunk of cement so I can easily pass is a courteous thing to do. The same is true for when I am also a pedestrian. I've noticed that in the city where I live, if I'm passing two people in the opposite direction, despite that fact that they've seen me (and I know they've seen me because we've made eye contact), often they do not move over so I can pass, thus forcing me out onto the road to get around them. Again it's a courtesy thing. Moving a little to the left or right wouldn't necessarily cost you anything, but it makes life a little easier for someone you don't know.

So back to the bikes. Yes, cyclists should ride on the road and not on the sidewalk. But you, reader, failed to mention your own whereabouts. The city where I live is hilly. And not little hills, big ones. And I'm not Lance Armstrong. I do not excel in the mountainous portion of the course. On the side streets, where the curb lane is mostly reserved for parked cars, I stay off the sidewalk and ride on the road. But on busy roads when I'm going up a hill (which is often), if I stay on the road, the cars coming from behind me like to honk, follow too close, cut around me with only inches to spare (sometimes not even that as I have been clipped by a few side view mirrors), or even roll down their windows and swear, make threats and tell me to get on the sidewalk because I'm going too slow. So am I to stop and try to explain to them that I should really be riding on the road instead of the sidewalk despite the fact that often the sidewalk is empty? Oh, I'm sure they'd enjoy that, what with all the road rage occurrences nowadays.

When I am on my bike, I do not expect a pedestrian to move out of the way if I am on the sidewalk. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't appreciate if they did. That's the point I'm trying to make with this entire entry. No, the stroller moms and other pedestrians do not have to move to one side if the sidewalk when there is someone coming from behind or in front of them. There's no law that says they have to move. And I'm certainly not going to say anything to them as we pass. It might irritate me for a while, maybe even enough to, I don't know, write a blog about it, but I'm not so seething with rage that I'm going to lose it and beat some 15 year old to a pulp because him and his girlfriend didn't clear the sidewalk when I rang my bell. But common courtesy taught to me by every adult I ever knew was that if you see or hear someone coming, move over so they can get by. You don't have to, but it's being nice to the other person. That's my whole point. Why isn't anybody nice to anybody else anymore? Even if they are a complete stranger?