My previous posting about an altercation with a motorist at 15th and Q streets in midtown Sacramento prompted quite a response from the cycling community.
Reader Gregory Wilkins, who recently moved from Dallas to Folsom, says he's been hassled by motorists and cops on his bike to such an extent that he carries a DMV booklet with him.
The way Wilkins tells it, being a cyclist in Texas is dangerous (hey, isn't that where Lance Armstrong is from?)
"I moved here to ride my bike and be left alone," he says. "In Dallas, I have been harrased for being a commuter for 25 years, (riding) 1.500 miles a month. I'm a chef, and it keeps me in shape and happy. The DMV book in Texas has less than a half page and the drivers think in Texas that bikes are only legal in parks and on sidewalks.
"I have been shot at three times, chased, (had) beer bottles thrown, dogs sicced on me and a lot of middle fingers."
Reader Diane Craig says that California might want to adopt the New York City model of "green pavement markings to indicate where cyclists should be...(Some have) proposed the idea of 'advance boxes' so that cyclists in a right lane bike lane can stop ahead of where motorists stop.
"In a regular intersection, this would ensure that the motorists (1) see the stopped cyclists and (2) allow them to proceed straight ahead after the light turns green, (3) before the motorists turn right, into or in front of them. I think we need a statewide consistent bicycle marking policy. I like green."
And here's this from David Allen, of Roseville, a League of American Bicyclists instructor:
"I've found that horn honkings and verbal commentary are related to motorists not knowing where I'm headed. The more I eliminate ambiguity in my riding, the rarer such interactions occur. How do I do this? By riding predictably and communicating often.
