Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun
November 22nd, 2005
DURHAM — I asked new bicycle commuters in the Triangle area whether they had any thoughts to share on their decision to ride. Boy, did they.
This week, I’m letting some folks who started bicycle commuting within the last year step up to the microphone. Morning motorists, city council, and even you, sitting on fence about whether you can rely on your bike to get you to work — take note; these folks are talking to you.
Mostly for the exercise, Joseph Maxwell started bike commuting about seven months ago. Three days a week, he rides from Durham to Sports Endeavors (SEI) in Hillsborough.
“I am one of two bike commuters in a company of about 450 employees. There are many physically active employees at SEI, but I assume most people don’t feel confident or safe riding into Hillsborough. But he says Highway 751 and Old NC 10 make for a a nice ride. A wider shoulder or bike lane on 751 (going out towards Highway 70) would be a great improvement. I see a lot of cyclists using this road. Obviously, bike lanes along my route to Hillsborough would make my commute easier. More than anything, I would just like for drivers to show more consideration towards cyclists.”
Rhonda Kaye, a teacher at Lowe’s Grove Middle School, started bike commuting when the new school year began in August.
Before then, she says, “I would drive to work by myself. I started riding for two main reasons: first, the cost of gas started to creep up and I thought riding would help my family save money. Then, after Hurricane Katrina, there was talk of a gas shortage, and I thought I would be a good citizen, and set an example for my students. So I started doing it 2-3 times a week.”
“Cycling on a teacher’s schedule can be a challenge. My work days starts at 7:15, so I don’t have a big cushion of time to get to work and be ready to teach,” says Kaye. “The one thing [sic] the city can do to make my ride easier is to add bike lanes on Sedwick Rd and Alston Ave.”
Dave Sokal would also like to see bike lanes or extra lane width on Sedwick and Alston. Sokal lives in Parkwood and bikes to work in Research Triangle Park, but he does not consider busy, narrow two-lane roads with no shoulders to be acceptable for safe commuting. His route to work is currently a mix of on-road riding with a shortcut on an unofficial trail he uses to avoid narrow, high volume roads.
Since she started riding in July, Kim Gray says that her biggest challenge has been negotiating with cars. “I think that the city could do more to educate its drivers through some sort of campaign.” Gray says that she was able to get cyclists’ rights pamphlets from Alison Carpenter, the City of Durham’s Bicycle and Pedestrian transportation planner, and get her employer to distribute them through monthly paychecks. “If more places did that I think that would help,” says Gray.
Tanya Jisa echoes Gray’s wish for more public education about cyclists’ rights. “There are lots of people who still don’t ‘get it’ that bikes have just as much right and reason to be on the road as cars,” she says.
Determined to commute by bike once she moved to Durham, Jisa sold her car before she ever left Decatur, Georgia. “Luckily I found a job with Duke just over 5 miles from my new home, so I made a few trial runs before my job officially began,” she says.
“I started riding for fitness and health benefits – working my exercise time into my commute to and from work is a big bonus. I also like the opportunities to transition to and from work on a bike. Rather than getting in a car and ‘fighting traffic’, I getto have an enjoyable bike ride at my own pace and take short cuts through neighborhoods that I probably would never notice otherwise. The physical effects of exercising right after work really help me to leave my work behind, and give me a burst of energyfor the rest of my day.”
“Commuting by bike does take a little extra time and effort, but,” says Jisa, “it’s worth it not only for the benefits to your own physical and mental health, but the health of the planet. It’s something you can be proud of every day.”