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The Cyclist Pariah Paradigm

Here is a tremendous example of judicial insanity. According to this article, a clearly unhinged man took it upon himself to attempt to murder a cyclist because “he was angry the man was riding with his child on a busy road”.   Fortunately for the cyclist and his son, the helmet absorbed the bullet and leaving Charles Diez only a deranged attempted murdered and not a full-fledged one.

This took place in July of 2009.  According to TreeHugger, the attempted murder only got a sentence of 120 days because he was apparently such an upstanding citizen and had only a minor break with reality.   Diez is very fortunate that the cyclist was wearing a helmet else he’d most certainly be spending most – if not all – of the rest of his life in prison.

What’s most stunning and cynically unsurprising about this lax sentence is the general perception that cyclists are somehow a nuisance and a distraction.  If a cyclist had turned around and shot a driver because of excessive honking or aggressive driving, it’s unlikely that the court would have shown any leniency – even if the shooter was an upstanding fireman like Diez.

I’m not sure why this perverse attitude exists towards cyclists.  Is it because cycling is considered juvenile and that roads are for cars or some such nonsense?  Cyclists are legally required to ride in the street and are expected to follow the local laws.  Of course cyclists can’t accelerate or maintain a velocity that a car can but there’s more than enough room for a cyclist and a car in the same lane.

Perhaps the frustration emanates from the fact that cyclists are freer on the road.  When traffic is snarled to a halt, the cyclist can move freely and quickly among or next to the stalled traffic.   And, truth be told, it’s quite a pleasant feeling to roll past the traffic.  For once, no one is screaming past and the honks are directed at the bumpers in front and not at you.  Even when the traffic is moving quickly, cycling is much more soothing than driving.  Riding at a brisk pace is an unparalleled feeling and, for me, riding in the freezing rain and snow is a pleasure unlike almost any other.  The active participation in one’s velocity and acceleration makes cycling euphoria that much more intense and even fanciful than any other type of exercise.  Working out and running are all well and good and do provide some natural euphoria but it doesn’t compare to the wind-whipped thrills of high-speed cycling.

I doubt that any drivers consider any of this.  They just think asshole as the cyclist goes by.

Ride safely and ride confidently.  The road belongs to the cyclist as well.