Saturday was a gorgeous running day: sunny, blue sky, temperature in high 30s edging into the 40s by 7 am. We laced our shoes, hooked the leash on Biscuit's collar, and we trotted out the door.
We wound our way thru the still-sleepy neighborhood behind our house, finally emerged on Patterson Avenue, a major 4-lane road with a parking lane on each direction for those of you not familiar with my fine city Richmond. We crossed the avenue, heading West downhill towards Willow Lawn. Tony was in front of me, Biscuit right next to me; the gravity pulled us faster, our cadence increased, our lungs expanded and filled up with the cool, crisp air. I felt almost weightless, runner's high approaching...
Then I saw an SUV aiming toward us. Tony saw it, too. We both slowed our pace, trying to make eye-contact with the driver thru his large, tinted windshield, making sure the sun was not shining directly in his eyes, trying to determine his driving intention with his humongous vehicle. We were on the edge of the curb, still on the street, there was not a car on the next lane over. Tony and I waved our brightly colored arms, just in case the driver did not see us (yeah right!) At about 10 feet in front of us, we realized "it was one of those" drivers trying to get us runners off of the parking lane.
Sure enough, he came to less than two feet from us before he braked and swerved away, yelling to us to get on the effing sidewalk. From his tall seat, I could only see his shoulder and mid-50s Caucasian face with bleached blond hair. He seemed like a nice guy, could pass as a golfer type from his WASPy polo shirt and beige SUV, and the fact that he may be living in the affluent Westhampton/Glenburnie/CCV area. I don't know why I automatically assumed he was going to be a frumpy old man or a college punk. I guess I'd been optimistic that everyone living the City of Richmond, by now, knew that runners run on the streets where the asphalt is more forgiving and smoother than the concrete sidewalk. After years of the colossal Monument 10Ks and Richmond Marathons, don't they know runners have the rights to run on the streets, so long we obey the rules?
We stopped and gave the universal shoulder shrug of WTF?!? as SUV Man braked, swerved, and cursed. He cowardly sped up the hill. What he didn't notice was that there was a lady in a sedan behind him who had thought SUV Man was going to slow and park, he was straddling the parking lane for the last block as far as we could see. As SUV Man braked, this woman had to brake and swerve her car to the left lane to avoid colliding with the jerk SUV.
We resumed our run, not willing to let the jerk ruin it for us. It just made me sad and annoyed that there are non-runners who do not understand the term "Share the Road".
So, here are some of the "cardinal rules" to remind everyone, runners, walkers, cyclist, and motorists, as most of us engage in our interchangeable modes of transportation:
1. RUNNERS: on sidewalk or no sidewalk, ALWAYS run facing traffic, as close to the curb as possible, single-file or two abreast at the most. When you see a car coming, be alert and anticipate the vehicle's moves. On a stop sign, when a car is on a side street, always make eye contact with the driver, or go behind the car (make eye contact with the next car behind the first car before stepping in front of the second car). Just because you run on a "parking lane" doesn't mean you can take over the whole lane. Don't clog up the traffic lane, please!
2. RUNNERS: when you see a cyclist coming (they are supposed to ride WITH traffic), move out of the way, especially when there's a car behind the bike. Cyclists CANNOT easily look back nor it is advisable for them to move into the traffic! I know this because I have a lot of cyclist friends and I used to think they're selfish that they wouldn't move a couple inches into the traffic lane when there wasn't any car behind them. They pointed out to me that split second decision and sudden movement on a bike often lead to serious repercussion for the rider(s). D'oh! See #3.
3. CYCLISTS: ALWAYS ride WITH traffic and obey traffic laws. Don't weave in and out of traffic and parking lanes, a.k.a. try maintaining a straight line of riding so cars know what to expect of you. Same rules of making eye-contact with a driver when you come to stop-sign at an intersection.
4. DRIVERS: you have to share the road with runners and cyclists. We know how to "operate" ourselves in most situations, but if we do clog up your lane, we deserve a light honk. I've done that to other runners when I was driving and encountering runners recklessly running 4-5 abreasts and endangering all of us. We runners appreciated your moving over to the empty next lane and we usually waved, although we did not expect you to do that, but that's very nice of you. Thanks!
5. DRIVERS: please don't aim at mowing us down. That's just not cool with everyone, including the cops.
Share the road. We all have the right to use the roads, and so long we all operate within the boundaries of our rights as motorists, cyclists, runners or walkers, I believe we can coexist peacefully.
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