By John Sutter
Yesterday, an SUV from New Jersey almost ran me over on the Broadway Extension access road — while I was on my bike.
The heart-racing encounter reminded me of some funny incidents I’ve had while riding my bike in Oklahoma City the past couple of years. By land area, this is the third largest city in the nation, and drivers aren’t quite used to having non-motored two-wheeled counterparts on the road.
In 2005, when I had just started with The Oklahoman, I was riding on Hefner Road when a silver SUV whizzed past my shoulder. I found this odd, since there were two lanes, and the other one was completely empty. Anyway, a woman in the passenger seat stuck her head out the window to yell: “Get a car (non-blog-appropriate-word here)!”
At first I was irritated. That lasted like a half-second, and then I just died laughing. I have a car, thanks lady.
After almost being run over earlier in the day, I rode home from work last night at about 9:30. The streets were nearly empty, and I had a light on the front and back of my bike so cars could see me in the dark. Still, I thought back to a video I did (posted below) with a woman whose motto about biking in OKC is this: ride as if none of the cars see you, because they don’t. That advice saved me another near-wreck with a car pulling up to a neighborhood stop sign.
I guess it’s worth asking, why put yourself through such peril to ride your bike around town. Well, for starters, I don’t do it all of the time because it’s not always practical, and I have a habit of slapping the snooze button a few too many times. But when I do ride my bike to work, I usually feel better. Getting my heart rate up seems to melt some stress away at the end of a long day.
