To the Editor:
A few weeks ago, two friends and I did a 132-mile bike ride from Bedford, Mass to Ludlow, Vermont. During our eight-plus hours on the road, we encountered exactly one angry motorist. Last weekend, the same friends and I did a three-hour ride up to Aquinnah and back, and came across three irate drivers…horns honking, middle fingers flying, expletives emanating. What is wrong with somebody that they can get that angry at three people out on bicycles at 6:30 on a Saturday morning? Is it really a huge problem if you have to slow down for 10 seconds to pass us safely?
Awhile back I Googled “Bicycling on Martha’s Vineyard” and one of the top hits was a blog that basically said, “Don’t go to M.V. to bicycle; motorists are rude and dangerous.” Most of us that live here earn our living either directly or indirectly from the tourist industry and many of those tourists ride bikes. They stay in our B&Bs, eat in our restaurants, drink in our bars and shop in our stores; they spend lots of money here. They don’t have to spend it here; they can go ride on the Cape, or in Maine or Rhode Island. We ought to welcome these people here, not chase them away with boorish behavior.
We try to ride our bikes safely. Being fully exposed on a 20-pound bike, we are not looking to play chicken with a 3,000-pound car. We generally take actions that keep us as safe as possible; sometimes that means trying to avoid hazards that drivers might not see; things like loose sand, storm grates, broken glass, etc. Often we are safer on the roads than on the multi-use paths, especially during the summer when the paths are filled with joggers, baby strollers, dog walkers, etc. We are not obligated to ride on the paths. Drivers, however, are obligated to share the road with cyclists.
Finally, I’d like to give a tip of the hat to the Vineyard Transit Authority. From a cyclist’s perspective, VTA drivers are the safest, most courteous drivers on the Island.
Jim Joyce
Edgartown