Angie Ferguson's column in News-Press: Motorists challenge athletes' training

May 17, 2011

It was about 10 a.m. Saturday as we were
just finishing a nice 60-mile training ride.
Pleased with the pace and remarking to my
fellow riders how lucky we were to live in
southwest Florida and how doubly fortunate
that we had beat the heat that morning, we
were getting ready to wrap up our
delightful start, feeling quite satisfied and
pleased with ourselves, when it happened.

From around a corner came a barreling
pickup truck with passengers spouting less
than encouraging words and swerving
toward our lane to scare us. I tried to
alleviate the instant anxiety of my
comrades by telling them they were
confused and they were really just cheering
us on - but I know better.

Then there's the woman who pulled up
beside me while I was waiting in my bike
lane for a green light. She rolled down her
window to say, "You really are in the way
and you'd better watch out." Was that a
threat?

The stories go on and on and
unfortunately, the severity of accidents and
the number of memorials seems to have
grown.

So how can we tether this disconnect
between motorists and the rest of the
people sharing the roads? We're already
wearing neon outfits that scream "don't hit
me." We lobby City Hall and county boards
for more paths and bike lanes, but clearly
there seems to be some separation
between having a license and driving
responsibly when they're behind the wheel.

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