By Emily Williams
Just like the Beach Boys sang, the freeways – or better yet, streets – here are jammed with all kinds of folks on their bikes.
In early June, the Alabama Legislature passed a law requiring motorists to maintain a three-foot distance from cyclists while passing on the road, which became effective this month. With new legislation and an increase in cyclists taking advantage of the Over the Mountain area’s mountainous terrain, tension between motorists and cyclists is as high as the temperature outside.
In July, Amy Jackson of Mountain Brook created a post on the Facebook page What’s Happening Mountain Brook calling attention to a specific cyclist who held up a long line of traffic just before 8 o’clock one morning. The post held a respectable position toward the top of the page’s feed for more than a week as it gathered more than 200 comments.
“I simply asked that cyclist consider riding during ‘off’ hours,” Jackson said. “I am still amazed by the comments to that post. It really hit me then just how bad this issue is for the cyclists and the motorists.”
Cyclists are not a habitual nuisance for Jackson. She said the only times she as a motorist becomes annoyed are when a cyclist is holding up more than five vehicles, riding during peak hours – morning, evening and school-related rush hours – and refusing to pull over to allow traffic to pass.
“Every day that I drive I come into contact with cyclists on Old Leeds Road, Cherokee Road and Overhill Road,” Jackson said.
Both Cherokee Road and Overhill Road are hilly, curvy and heavily driven, while Old Leeds Road is particularly busy during the school year due to traffic from both Shades Valley High School and Mountain Brook High School.
“I may not always drive slowly, but I know to be extra cautious as cyclists are always on these roads,” Jackson said. “I worry about people who aren’t familiar with the biking population.”
“I will not be surprised when a cyclist is hit taking a left turn onto Cherokee Road from Old Leeds Road,” Jackson said.
The regular route of a large riding group passes through the intersection on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and during the weekend, taking a left in front of a blind curve.
“I always hold my breath until they all get safely through that intersection,” Jackson said.
Another cause for concern is the problem of passing a cyclist on hilly roads.
“Most cyclists are respectful of drivers; however, I feel they become agitated when drivers don’t follow their lead,” Jackson said. “I would never pass if I didn’t feel it was safe.”
A recent survey issued by the Mountain Brook Parks and Recreation Department to gather public opinion before organizing future developments included multiple questions regarding the addition of bike lanes in the community. Jackson, who previously served as president of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce, said she did not believe the addition of bike lanes would end the feud between motorists and cyclists.
“Bike lanes would have to be extremely expensive for our city,” Jackson said. “There is a growing population of cyclists. However, I’m not sure if there are enough to justify spending that amount of money on bike lanes.”
In addition, Jackson said that, if bike lanes were added to streets, motorists’ animosity toward cyclists might increase toward large groups that don’t stay in the lane.
“Many people think I don’t like cyclists, which is not true,” she said. “I love seeing people walk, run and ride through our community, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask that those slowing down traffic wait until motorists get out of the way. It’s a win-win.”
A View From the Side
When he lived in Washington in the late 1980s, Danny Feldman of Homewood honed a love for cycling while beginning his career as a lawyer. After he moved back to Alabama and his knees forced him to quit running, he found that cycling was a good sport for exercise and has been riding ever since.
“When I started cycling, you didn’t see groups of 20 or 40 riders,” Feldman said. “It’s much, much larger now and it’s much more socially acceptable.”
He said that, within the community, there are different kinds of cyclists. There are those who ride competitively and race, those who ride long distances, those who commute and even those who carry their children on board with them.
“There are some pretty well-established routes that people have been riding for years,” Feldman said. “There is a route through what are called the neighborhoods, which goes through Mountain Brook and into Crestwood. Old Leeds Road is a popular road because there aren’t any traffic lights or stop signs and it connects Homewood with Leeds.”
Feldman, who has incurred a few injuries during his years of cycling, said he and his peers are always on the lookout for danger while cycling. The causes for concern aren’t limited to motorists, but include dogs and even other cyclists.
“When I get done with a ride – number one, you feel good,” Feldman said. “There is also a little part of me that says, ‘Good I didn’t get run over.’”
Though Feldman racks up more than 5,000 miles on his bike in a year, he said he drives more than 30,000 miles in his car and always considers himself a motorist before being a cyclist. Feldman said that, while nearly all cyclists do or did at some time identify as motorists, the reverse is not true.
“I think most cyclists will appreciate a motorist’s point of view, unfortunately I don’t think most motorists appreciate a cyclist’s point of view,” he said. “The only time they do appreciate it is if a loved one is out their cycling.”
Feldman said he has driven enough to know that cyclists can be aggravating. He recalled one instance from his time serving on the Homewood City Council when he drove home after a meeting, during which there had been a discussion about cycling. He encountered a group riding three-cyclists abreast; the law states that cyclists may ride only two abreast.
“The polite thing to do is get single file to make it easier for someone to go around you,” he said. “But they just kept on peddling at 15 miles an hour. I remember thinking, it’s that kind of behavior – which is just rude and inconsiderate – that drives motorists crazy.”
That being said, Feldman sees the same unkind behavior from motorists who pass cyclists on a narrow, double-yellow line or a blind curve and who “buzz” cyclists – passing as close to the cyclist as possible without causing injury.
“It’s like the motorists becomes judge, jury and executioner,” Feldman said.
He said that there is no comparison in the damage that is done when a 4,000-pound vehicle collides with a cyclist on a 20-pound bike, versus a bike hitting a car.
As for the unappreciated traffic cyclists cause for motorists, Feldman said that this is one of the prices we pay to live in a civilized society.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been caught in church traffic when I haven’t gone to church,” he said. “I’ve been caught in football traffic when I haven’t been to that game and it’s the price you pay for living in a civilized society. I don’t know why people are so unforgiving of a cyclist when they don’t whine and complain in other traffic.”
Much like Jackson, Feldman shares the opinion that bike lanes would not do much to ease the tension between motorists and cyclists.
“(Bike lanes are) more suited for people who are actually trying to commute than exercise,” he said. Cycling groups of 20 people would find it difficult to ride for miles in a single-file line.
Feldman said he believes that, as the cycling community grows, so, too, will motorists’ tolerance towards cyclists. “People will understand, there goes my daughter, brother or sister and they won’t be so hot headed on the road,” he said. ϖ
