My Road Cyclist/"Bike Path" Rant

The time has finally come for me to vent something that's been on my mind for a long time. This concerns road cyclists and car/truck drivers sharing the road on the Outer Banks. My experience is mostly related to roads from Ocean Hill to Coquina Beach, and Kill Devil Hills to Stumpy Point and Lake Mattamuskeet and all roads between.

When I moved here out of college in May of 1975, the rideable shoulder, or "bike path", was the 4-inch wide painted white stripe at the edge of the beach road (Va. Dare Trail). Right beside it was sand. I had left a major university where I rode my bike everywhere for virtually every reason. It was as much a part of my everyday life as starting a car and driving.

One day while riding on the beach road, on the white stripe, a tourist charter bus passed me at speed such that it touched my left elbow and made continuous contact with me down the entire side of the bus. I gave my bike to a friend preparing to go to college the following week.

Much has changed here since then, and not enough has changed. Large portions of the beach road now have shoulders 2-4 feet wide to the right of the white stripe. There are even residential neighborhoods whose roads connect along the sound in Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk. And there are what all of us living here year-round call the "bike paths", for example in South Nags Head and the Kitty Hawk Woods Road.

But at a time when there are more reasons than fitness and racing for us all to be riding bikes, I find there are many incidents regularly occurring on the roads of our community which will eventually result in someone's death. I've witnessed and even been involved in several of these incidents myself.

I was hit by a car while crossing Limulus Street in South Nags Head and while riding on the "bike path" in 2004: Contusions, concussion (even with a helmet), torn jersey, bent wheel rims, ambulance ride to emergency room.

I've had numerous drivers make vehicle maneuvers intended to provoke and intimidate a cyclist. I'm a builder here and I'm ashamed to say that almost without exception, virtually every one of these incidents was carried out by someone driving a pickup truck or van.

Road cyclists do pose a quirky looking culture to the outside eye. I do understand that. But the folks I ride, train, and race with are also drivers as well. We understand what dangers motor vehicles pose to a cyclist, as should all drivers. But both communities of road users could do a better job of sharing the road (please see "sharing the road"). I doubt either group will be giving up the road any time soon.

I believe that drivers are incensed by road cyclists' not using the nearby "bike paths" when they must pass us as we ride at the road's edge---their road. I know this because they often scream this at us when passing us on the road: "Get on the _____ing bike path!"

The "bike path" thing, I think is really at the heart of the local misunderstanding though. The devil is in the nomenclature (the use of words to describe) here. As I understand the role of these "bike paths", they are actually "multi-use paths", meaning they are for the use of everyone, from mothers pushing strollers to dog walkers with dogs on extended leashes, to slogging beach cruiser bicycles.

Road cycles are not meant for "multi-use paths". Road cycles are the bikes with the curled down handlebars and the riders hunched over, you know, with tights and helmet. These bikes are usually doing around 20-28 miles per hour with riders often wheel-to-wheel working in a paceline. These speeds are far too great for the multi-use paths and would pose a serious danger to the other users of the path. Because we are all drivers too, we understand how this looks to someone driving on our local roads. Why aren't they on the "bike path"? Because the road is the only place for road cycles, as it is one of the only places for motor vehicles. We must co-exist peacefully.

We do try to schedule our rides together when there is less traffic or on roads with more limited traffic exposure. We could certainly improve how we ride as a group with drivers around us on the road and we are working on that.

My hope is we can all get along on our local roads in the coming new year, and that no one is hurt, or even worse killed. I also hope more drivers find their way to a bicycle. It's a great way to see our community.