Re:
Mike Rosen’s article clearly points to his arrogant view regarding bicyclists. He uses an anecdotal story of his brush with a female cyclist and a trucker’s tale as a persuasive argument as to why bicyclists should make way for motor vehicles on our roads.
I would remind Rosen that most bicyclists are not “Jef the Cyclist.” As a father of two, someone who owns two cars, is a taxpayer and a health care provider by profession, I find more bicyclists like me rather than the character he describes.
I commute by bicycle, participate in fund-raising events by bicycle, and lead of group of similar bicyclists on weekend rides. We pay for road use, construction, and maintenance the same as motorists by registering our automobiles in Colorado. We choose to use these roads on bicycle instead of in cars and therefore are equal partners on the road.
I would argue the trend in Denver is toward more automobile congestion, more pollution, and declining health as a result of automobile use. Our sedentary lifestyles supported by heavy motor-vehicle use is predicted to result in one in three adults diagnosed with diabetes by the year 2050. Childhood asthma rates continue to increase in densely populated areas, largely as a result of auto pollution. Over two-thirds of our population is obese.
It’s a myopic view that compels people to feel threatened by having to decelerate around cyclists or being bothered by sharing the road with them. If we compare cars vs. bicycles, the most efficient means of transportation is clearly bicycling. We’re not consuming fossil fuels, we’re not degrading the roads, we’re improving the health of our population, and we’re certainly not endangering motorists’ lives by bicycling.
Colin Catel is a physician assistant with the Department of Neurosurgery at the CU School of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus. He is also co-owner of Cycle Colorado.
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