And now for something different: Bikes

I have dedicated this blog to the discussion of art related topics, however, with your indulgence I'm going to spend this post discussing another topic that has recently become very important to me.
Please, please if you are driving a car, please, keep an eye out for and respect the bikers around you.

I was hit by a car today on my way to work.

In Minneapolis there are not a lot of bike lanes or large shoulders to ride on. I ride into downtown on 3rd Ave S. This isn't to bad of a road to bike on. There are actually large shoulders here and a lot of bikers use it so the cars seem to at least acknowledge we're there. However, when I turn onto Washington Ave there is nothing. There is no shoulder to speak of and the cars have no problem zooming inches by me. I've had to swerve numerous times to avoid getting clipped.

So, I have taken to riding on the sidewalk down Washington. I don't feel good about this. I believe that sidewalks should be for pedestrians. However I don't feel that I have any other safe place to be.

Today however even that wasn't enough. I was riding on the sidewalk and I was starting toward an intersection. I had a walk sign so I went ahead. That's when the car turned in front of me.
I hit my brakes and tried to turn to the side but it wasn't enough and I crashed into the side of the car and bounced off, hitting the ground with a crash.

The car didn't even stop.

They slowed down, obviously the loud THUNK couldn't have escaped their notice, though they seemed oblivious to everything else. But when they saw me stand up they zoomed off. There were some very sweet pedestrians that stopped and made sure I was okay, asked if they could call anyone.

I'm okay, just badly shaken and a little bruised. My bike is okay too, mostly, its ridable at least. I'm going to take it into the shop to get it checked out. I really hope I at least left a dent in that car for them to remember me by.

So I admit I'm still a little angry because I was a lot scared. But this really is important. Please! Pay attention to the bikes around you! As the gas prices go up we need to look for better ways to get where we need to go but so many people are afraid to ride their bikes because they are afraid of getting hit. I believe this needs to change. Laws protecting pedestrians and bicyclists need to be respected and enforced and motorists themselves just need to remember that we're out there and we need your help to stay safe.

Here is a list of the top 11 safests cities for bicyclists in the world.

1. Amsterdam

2. Portland, Oregon (this is my hometown. GO OREGON! )

3. Copenhagen

4. Boulder, Colorado

5. Davis, California

6. Sandnes, Norway

7. Tronheim, Norway

8. San Francisco, California

9. Berlin

10. Barcelona

11. Basel, Switzerland

Source: TreeHugger