Share the Road Episode One

Hello friends!

I was thinking about the Crankset, and what all it could be and what all it is. I was thinking that it would probably be pretty lame if the blog only consisted of my training routine, exhilarating as it might be!

So one of the series I'd like to work through is "Share The Road", where I'll post stories I see of cyclists involved in accidents with motorists. The idea here is not to point fingers or to assign blame, as I think that both groups (motorists and cyclists) do some fairly unintelligent things on the roadways. So I think these articles A) have a lot to teach us about how to better share the road and B) offer us a chance to lift up folks who have been in these accidents in prayer, again, both the cyclist and the motorist.

For instance, this evening (as I was procrastinating from writing tomorrow's sermon) I came across this article. I hope sincerely that everybody is ok, but I think we can learn a bit from this story. Even when I'm riding at high noon, I have my rear light blinking and always make sure to have my reflectors on my bike. It's also a pretty good idea to try to be as predictable as possible on your bike. Signal when you're going to make turns, that sort of thing, but also be predictable in terms of where you enter the road, which lane you're going to be in.

I believe with all my heart that cyclists should have the full rights and privileges of motor vehicles on the roads. But I also believe that if we're going to expect or demand those privileges, we need to act responsibly on our bikes.

But also as I mentioned up front, this is a good opportunity to pray. Not just for the young lady on the bike for a quick recovery, but also for the gentlemen who was driving. That cannot be an easy thing to deal with!

Let's all be careful out there, and share the roads!

Godspeed,

Jason