Here it is the first Monday in August and I can check off another Pan-Mass Challenge from my list of accomplishments, although this time – my fifth – I have a different story to tell.
I’d probably rank my four previous PMCs among the best weekends of the year, if I could remember anything else that happened those years. Really, they were amazing rides. I marked my first PMC and longest ride ever, at the time, crossing the finish line six months to the day after my father died from brain cancer. It doesn’t get much more poignant than that.
A couple of years later, I lost a close friend who I still miss dearly. He took me through the dunes in Truro that year. He carried me through some torturous back pain this year too.
But mostly this year I carried myself. Through my training season and through most of the 84 miles from Wellesley to Bourne, I rode alone. I enjoyed the scenery, I reflected, I endured, and I exhaled with relief when I crossed the finish line.
For those who don’t know about the PMC, I can’t imagine how you’ve missed it. With lifetime funds raised totaling $338 million, the PMC is the largest athletic fundraiser in the country. Founder Billy Starr has set a goal of $36 million this year. Every penny of the money raised goes to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
More than 5,000 bicyclists ride any number of routes starting in either Wellesley or Sturbridge. Cyclists have all sorts of goals – and athletic achievement resonates in nearly every one of us – but most ride to honor someone: a loved one, or the loved one of someone we love.
I was hoping for 84 miles of bliss because, as you probably know, we cyclists are the happiest people in the world — after all, isn’t that what we say all the time? — but ecstasy wasn’t in store for me this year. What nearly ruined it for me this year was the behavior of my fellow cyclists.
PMC organizers are careful every year to remind cyclists that rules of the road are in effect during the ride. Roads – and lanes of traffic –are not closed for the ride.
Yet, cyclists behaved as if they’d never shared the road with another cyclist, let alone a motor vehicle. Road etiquette and safety tells cyclists to warn each other of cars approaching from the front or rear. And a cyclist who hears a “car back” warning always passes it forward so others know to move to the side of the road.
And, always, always, always, when it is safe, cyclists should move. They do not make the driver move into oncoming traffic.
Equally important, to avoid collisions, cyclists should always call their position if they are passing another rider. A simple “on your left” warns fellow cyclists that someone is approaching.
Yet I saw dangerous scenarios play out time and again. In fact, drivers were far more courteous than cyclists. It was as if the cyclists believed responsibility for safety applied only to motor vehicle drivers.
It is not my intention with these comments to devalue the contribution the PMC makes to society. I feel confident that Billy Starr does not want to see anyone injured. Most PMC cyclists are adults and we — not a charity — are responsible for our own behavior. But this is about more than responsibility; it’s about safety.
Billy Starr sent a well-deserved thank you email to volunteers and riders today, telling us how awesome we are for our accomplishments. I can’t argue with him there. But there are many others like me who felt nervous for their safety during their rides, and Starr would do us all a favor if he’d send an email admonishing riders as well.
Thirty-six million dollars becomes a much smaller achievement if someone dies trying to raise it.
@Gail (or any other PMC riders) does the PMC not provide any advance training or even handouts offering bike safety tips/rules?
PMC provides rider orientation (strongly recommended for 1st year riders) and offers training and safety tips on the site (there is a rider safety video on pmc.org which I have seen before but it didn’t load for me just now, alas). They also organize a few group rides via sponsors, which i will assume at the least give riders experience riding in groups, and perhaps offers some instruction on safety (that I don’t know).
As for the ride itself, it is inevitable that some riders are simply rude or slightly unsafe- usually there are some folks who reckon themselves racers (but if they are back where I am in the pack they obviously are not that skilled ;P) passing without warning and nearly clipping as they go in fron t of other riders. Others are simply not used to riding in groups. I see some of that every year, but they are by far the minority and are often vocally put down by some of the more responsible riders, or better yet given a wide berth.
The cars can be a problem- because the groups are so big, it is often next to impossible for everyone to get over. The cars caught in our groups (at least where I have been) have generally been aware of this and patient. Believe me, I’m grateful for that.
Gail, sorry you saw more than your share of rude cycling. Don’t let it ruin your ride, just stay clear of the few dolts if you can, and continue to enjoy the event.
In related news, Billy Starr reported only 19 hospital visits this year vs 21 last year- yesterday’s email didn’t detail it, but usually the bulk of these are from dehydration. For 5,500 riders that’s not a bad ratio
@Doug:
It wasn’t a few riders for me, it was several. In fact I’d say the majority of riders who passed me did not call their position. And — a lot of cyclists passed me this year! :-)
I heard about a crash in/near Brewster where one guy went to the hospital and his friend’s bike was totaled — all because someone in a pace line didn’t call his position. And Mr. No Etiquette Cyclist didn’t even stop.
@Greg: The PMC Handbook threatens expulsion for cyclists who don’t follow rules but in reality that’s very hard to enforce. I’d like to see Billy Starr say that rider safety is as important as fundraising.
I am so glad you brought this up, Gail. It brings up several things for me.
First of all, I really think rude cyclists make it more difficult for everyone to share the road.
My heart still goes out to that mother who was driving the minivan that that non-helmet wearing, red-light running cyclist ran into and killed himself on (last year by city hall). She had no way of knowing that he was speeding down the hill. She had the green light. Yet someone died off the side of her car.
Does anyone track how many cycling related accidents are the result of a cyclist violating rules of the road vs the fault of the driver? We hear about the accidents, but what happened? Was the cyclist wearing a helmet? Who had the right of way?
The 20 year old daughter of a friend of mine is currently missing 1/4 of her skull after having been hit on a bicycle while NOT wearing a helmet. No one has dared asked the question whether she was violating any rules of the road and we’ve all been praying for her full recovery (which is rather doubtful, she was an aspiring singer and performer, but she now has a new hole in her trachea which I’m sure will affect her future singing It’s actually quite miraculous that she’s alive at all.) and I just can’t bring myself to grill the stressed out mother on this, but I must admit … I wanted to know.
What are we doing differently in this country that has made it less safe to cycle here than when I was young? That would cause our cyclists to be more reckless than those sharing the much older and much more congested roads of Europe (with much higher speed limits for cars)? I know that it has been discussed over and over that bicycle registration neither solves any accountability problems nor is it economically feasible to maintain … the control factor in Europe has overwhelmingly been self preservation. In a face off between a one ton car and a cyclist, the cyclist is physically more vulnerable. So, why isn’t that working for so many of our cyclists? More importantly, what has happened in the past year that this year’s PMC experience was so different?
A recent exchange student, who was here to study public policy, noted one major public policy difference between the US and his country (Taiwan) was that we seemed react to problems with new laws and new regulations whereas his country tended to espond with public awareness and education programs. That said, I recently heard a series of public service Ads this summer reminding everyone with young babies to check their back seats before leaving the car. How about some public service ads about bicycle road etiquette? That would be a worthy cause to be fundraising for, don’t you think?
BTW Now I’m seriously worried about Sean Roche. If a discussion on bicycling, especially bicycling safety doesn’t draw him out … something must be really wrong. Does anyone know where he is? How he is?
Interesting points Greer. I’m sure you realize the issue is larger than rude cyclists or rude drivers or road etiquette on PMC weekend. It’s that we – as a society – are not learning how to integrate bicycles into our transportation culture, and that means that cyclists have to be as much as a part of the landscape as cars.
I was in Copenhagen recently where bicyclists seemed as prevalent as cars. In the U.S. they are treated as something that has to be “worked into” a transportation plan so they don’t get in the way. In Scandinavia, they are part of “the way.” Bike lanes, which are everywhere and are separate from parked and moving cars, have their own traffic signals. Not only is renting a bike cheap and easy, many bicycles have built-in locks.
I can’t fathom why a cyclist wouldn’t move to the side of the road when a car is approaching from behind, just like I can’t understand why a driver wouldn’t leave enough space to pass the cyclist safely. I’m guessing that more inexperienced cyclists are participating in the PMC each year, which might account for some of the irresponsible behavior. I was slower this year than in past years, which means I rode further back in the pack. That could have put me with less experienced riders too. That said, a friend of mine who rode a good 3 – 4 miles per hour faster than I did had the same complaints.
One point: I hadn’t ridden in the PMC since 2009 so I wasn’t contrasting this year to last year. And the responsible behavior is by no means new. But it was considerably worse.
I just got an email from him yesterday so I think he’s fine. He must just be busy with other stuff … but yes, he must be very busy if a bicycle related thread doesn’t elicit at least one post.
I remember a funny experience from a bike trip in Italy five years ago. For the first few days, we were a noisy group. We’d call out “car back” and “car up”, “parked car” and “runner right”, and call attention to any hole or obstruction along our path in loud voices.
Our guide was a cranky expatriot Philadelphian who settled in Italy 25 years before. One day he stopped his bike, got off, and yelled “Will you guys shut up?!” “Cyclists here don’t chatter – they just point to things, and cars wait for us.”
He was right about this – even large trucks on narrow roads would wait patiently without hornblowing until a clear passage of our single file line was possible. Cars did this too. Thinking about it now, I felt much safer on busy roads in the Veneto region of Italy than I often do on quieter roads around here. Clearly Italy is a cycling culture, where cyclists and motor vehicles treat each other with mutual respect. I’m not clear how our US culture evolves to this norm but it sure would be nice.
I second a lot of Doug’s analysis for the situations Gail describes. Education of both cyclists and drivers is lacking. Too many cyclists don’t realize that by law they must comply with most of what cars must do on the road. And calling out to another cyclist is not just courtesy, it is the law: “The operator shall give an audible warning whenever necessary to insure safe operation of the bicycle” (MGL Chapter 85, 11B (3))
Also many motorists don’t realize that it is legal for cyclists to ride two abreast so long as they move to single file when a car wishes to pass, and that “the driver of a vehicle passing another vehicle traveling in the same direction shall drive a safe distance to the left of such other vehicle and shall not return to the right until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle” (MGL Chapter 85, 11B (1) and Chapter 89, Section 2). We often get yells or honks from oncoming traffic if we are riding two abreast, even though our activity is perfectly legal and doesn’t obstruct the oncoming car at all.
It will take more education, time, and empathy from both cyclists and drivers to make US roads (and the PMC!) safer and calmer.
This was my 10th PMC, and the sense of entitlement on the part of many of the riders grows each year. I experienced many instances of what Gail did, both with riders refusing to yield and also not communicating with fellow riders, completely oblivious to the risks. There is a great deal of hostility out there as it is between riders and drivers. This rider behavior just exacerbates it. I think the sense of entitlement starts at the top of the PMC. There is not nearly enough stress put on rider etiquette and riders following the rules of the road. Each town we pass through has it’s residents inconvenienced by the burden of roads blocked, road access, and strain on public safety resources. It would not surprise me if one of these days a town revolted, good cause or not. I took transport the last leg, and saw the behavior from the point of view of a vehicle operator. It was awful.
Sorry your PMC experience wasn’t everything it should’ve been Gail. I don’t ride PMC, but am familiar enough with large group events to know that the worst behavior ends up being the most visible.
There’s one issue I would contend, which is something Steve Siegel brought up — vehicles are required by law to pass at a safe distance. Squeezing a truck or SUV between a cyclist and oncoming traffic on a narrow road without a shoulder is not “a safe distance”. If conditions to pass are not safe, I don’t have any issues with a cyclist taking a lane. It forces the driver to pass when the oncoming lane is clear, potentially saving cyclist from being struck or run off the road.
And by mostly riding by myself, I’ve been witness to some reprehensible behavior by motor vehicle operators. Squeezing the cyclist on a wide empty road, just because. Passing a cyclist in an intersection while taking a right-hand turn. Cutting in front of a cyclist 10 yards before a stop sign. Cutting off a cyclist signaling to take the lane. Pulling into the path of an oncoming cyclist at a stop sign. Speeding, failure to stop, failure to yield (but these are so commonplace, who’s counting anymore?) I can rattle this off the top of my head as incidents that have happened to me in the past 2-3 weeks.
So yeah, shame on the PMC riders who failed to follow etiquette. But a careless, ignorant or inconsiderate driver is more likely to send a cyclist to the hospital than the other way ’round.
Gail writes:
I totally agree. We need an attitude change and I really just don’t see how else to get it to happen than through education and information dissemination. When I was growing up, we had frequent bicycle clinics in the community from Spring until Fall where kids can “earn” higher levels of “certification” from AAA … based on our ability to pass certain obstacle courses and recognize and obey traffic signs and rules. It was fun (especially the obstacle course) and if it taught us to be better and safer cyclists, then isn’t that great?
And my son completed driver’s ed fairly recently and other than pedestrians, there isn’t a lot of attention paid to sharing the road let alone discussion about bicyclists and motorcyclists. My son was fairly attentive to this issue since we do have a motorcycle in the house and he’s particularly sensitive to the safety hazards of riding a motorcycle.
I am not a cyclist but rather a motor vehicle driver. I see each day the most irresponsible behavior by cyclists who wish to share the road but not live by the rules. Running red lights constantly. Riding 2, 3, even 4 abreast on a busy road (Newton Street in Weston is notorious). Whipping down Comm Ave at sunrise, talking – nay, yelling – to each other and waking up everyone in the neighborhood (yeah, that’s the least of it, I know, but still annoying to those of us who live there!). Ever try to drive down the carriage lane when there are cyclists doing the same? They REFUSE to move over and share the road (as do runners, but that is another rant for another day!). Sadly, I have learned to dislike cyclists – probably as much as they disdain me and my car!
I was recently reminded that Newton will have its first Walk-Bike Week is coming this Fall.
As a part of that week of recognition, the Nonantum Neighborhood Association is essentially running a clinic very similar to what I had described from my childhood.
I think this is a great start and if it is a success, perhaps other villages and/or neighborhood associations could repeat all over the city all year long and thus reminding everyone that sharing the road is an every day and year long thing.
@Native Newtonian — Ya know what Newton Street in Weston is notorious for? If you’re a cyclist, it’s notorious for cars that whip around cyclists, passing at blind corners on a narrow road, endangering lives. I ride that street a lot. Yep, I have seen cyclists ride 2 abreast there (which is legal), and not switch to single file when a car wants to pass. On the other hand, on parts of that road a cyclist should probably take the lane — not move over to the right — in order to prevent a driver from trying to pass when it isn’t safe and causing an accident. I don’t recall off-hand ever seeing 3 or 4 cyclists ride abreast on that street but can’t say it’s never happened. Maybe during some annual charity fundraiser?
Your Comm. Ave noise claim is bizarre. Passing cyclists talking loudly… is more annoying than vehicle traffic? A Harley-Davidson motorcycle? A car with a bad exhaust? A lawn crew firing up in the morning? Does chit-chat by families going to temple bother you, too?
For the carriage lane example, you’re grouping experienced cyclists with casual riders. Riders in Comm. Ave’s carriage lane who fail to yield probably don’t know they should move over — that’s not the “spandex-clad Lance Armstrong-wannabe” crowd. Plenty of kids ride their bikes and scooters in the carriage lane, too. I hope you’re more patient with them.
That leaves cyclists who break traffic laws. Shame on them! On a related note, I’d bet outside of rush hour, the average driver breaks traffic laws more frequently than the average bicycle in Newton.
Finally, to address the false equivalency about cyclists and motorists disliking each other. Cyclists don’t disdain cars as a whole, cyclists are also motorists. Not many motorists regularly ride bicycles around metro Boston: Motorists can seriously endanger cyclists, or get bent at cyclists that are doing what’s legal and sensible, and not have a clue.
Here’s the difference when the two interact: An inattentive, ignorant or jerk cyclist is really annoying to the driver; but an inattentive, ignorant or jerk driver is a menace to the cyclist’s life. To put it another way: How would you feel if I swung a sledge hammer within six inches of your head? You’d probably be pretty angry. Now, how do you think I feel when a SUV flies past within six inches of my head? After you ride a mile (or 20) in my bike shoes, the jerk cyclists will still be jerks, but you’ll get a new perspective about what drives bicyclists’ behavior on the road.
Dulles, I do not even know where to begin regarding your self-righteous and ignorant answers. But let me try:
* So you don’t let me pass because you feel you are saving me from an accident? No, you don’t let me pass because you are unwilling to share the road. Yes, passing you on a corner is dangerous and I will always wait for the starught-away. But on a straight-away…you folks always spread out then and show your rudeness. There is no reason why we can’t share the road, but sharing goes two ways.
*So you find my claim of early morning noise pollution bizarre? Your voices carry very loudly in the early morning hours when there is no vehicular traffic, and does indeed wake people up. Shul goers chatting bear no resemblance in terms of volume, and at that hour of the morning there are rarely Harleys or mowers. But yes, you are just as annoying as those at 6 or 6:30 AM…exactly like them, as a matter of fact.
*No, the spandez “Lance wannabees” are every bit as irresponsible, perhaps more so. You should know better but you simply do not. You love to flex your spandex! And, seriously – you’re asking ME if I am patient with kids? Um, yeah…..raised mine there – they have been nearly hit by bikes, never by autos…..
*Next time my SUV whips by your head, take a look at your behavior – perhaps you have been the cause.
@NativeNewtonian —
– If you wait until it’s safe to pass and give cyclists adequate space, thank you. Many drivers do; many do not. A cyclist legally can take a lane, and should to avoid being “pinched”. If the cyclist is at the edge of a narrow lane on a blind corner or with oncoming traffic, a car may try to barrel through — potentially sideswiping or running the bike off the road. Bikes *should* move to the right and go single file on a single-lane road whenever it’s safe for a car to pass, just like slower cars on a highway should move to a right-hand lane. Again, many do; many do not. The difference is that the boorish cyclists are really, really annoying; the risk-taking driver is a potential mortal threat.
– I’ll stand by it — the Comm Ave carriage lane is full of walkers, joggers, parents with strollers, roller bladers, kids on scooters, street cross-country skiers … the cyclists in the carriage lane I’ll affectionately call “duffers”. Racey types ride on Comm Ave proper.
– If you want to whiff your SUV’s mirror by my head, I’m easy to identify: I’m the guy waiting at every red light, and stopping at every stop sign. Merging at yields I make sure there is a gap in traffic (to avoid scaring anyone), even though I stick to the right of the lane. I signal left/right and stop/caution whenever I can. I stop at crosswalks to let pedestrians pass (or try to — I stop, the cars don’t). I’m as far to the right of vehicle traffic as is feasible, but will merge with traffic (i.e., take the lane) at an intersection to avoid being right-hooked when the light turns green. I tend to wave thanks to drivers just because they didn’t cut me off.
I try to do everything right because it’s the right thing to do. Cycling defensively out on Metro West streets is long periods of quiet joy interspersed with short bursts of stark terror. I know in the end it doesn’t matter whether or not I try to do everything right. Someday out of nowhere, *POW*, call an ambulance. And then people who read about it will think, “Another jerk cyclist. Ha Ha. Had it coming to him.”
P.S. I still think the noise thing is weird. I believe you but I think it’s weird.
I’m greatly saddened that here we are less than two weeks following our discussion, and my points are being driven home by the tragic death of Alexander Motsenigos. It appears that Mr Motsenigos was traveling northbound via bicycle on Weston Road in Wellesley, when he was struck by an overtaking truck on the narrow road. My condolences to his family, friends and co-workers.