Bicycle Bias

It is not that I don't like bicycles, although from the title you might think so.
I like them very much in fact.
I have fond childhood memories of finally getting the hang of it. My dad had tried to teach me on our urban block in the Bronx,   I was bound by my training wheels. But one summer I was with my cousins in Monticello, NY. I was the only kid, and older than some of the others, who could not ride on two wheels. They were going to leave me behind, but they had one short, chainless bike I could use. My feet reaching the ground, I could push and gather speed, but also use them to brake. Dangerous, yes. But up there, "in the country" we Bronx kids used to call it, I was uncharacteristically fearless. And I was a two wheeler rider after a couple of runs down Hemlock Lane. Really, that was its name! All hemlock trees creating a shady  canopy on  hot summer days.
Those are my "I love bicycles" bona fides. But now, the bias. I know the cities encourage bikes on the road.  And every time I and my car approach one, on the narrow sliver of road or shoulder, I cringe. I cringe for fear that the man with the ear buds and back pack willl neither see nor hear me coming. I move left (carefully so as not to skim a car on that side), and breath relief after passing. And I am anxious at the idea of a soon to be another one.

To me these bikes on the regular road, with all sorts of panoply and cries of a green world, are like the red light cameras, accidents we would not have had inevitable tragedies. Cars and bikes don't belong on the road together, and tell me, really, do you think it is the cars that will give way. Will you ride downtown on your 10 speed, 7-10 miles in your business suit? Come on folks!

Stop with the idea of co-existence and save lives. Bikes are for beaches and country roads and designated paths. Not in the heart of Los Angeles. It is not a contest that anyone can win.