12/8/2005   English German
  Edition # 57  
San Francisco, 12-8-2005

Aggressive Cyclists
Figure [1]: Cyclist with a sign "Bicycling against Oil Wars"

Michael Riding a bicycle in large American cities requires courage and nerves of steel. In San Francisco, this has led to cyclists being seen as aggressive daredevils who don't follow traffic rules, get upset for no reason, and with whom it's best not to start any discussions. Exactly right, haha!

TODO

No, it's not quite that bad, of course. Most of them are quite reasonable people. The dubious reputation is fueled by a few troublemakers who really misbehave. In June 2005, an incident occurred on the Embarcadero in San Francisco, not far from the tourist area "Fisherman's Wharf. The translation of "nachrichtenwürdige Gewaltszene" toEnglish is "newsworthy scene of violence. A car driver and a cyclist started a discussion that eventually ended with the cyclist deliberately ramming his handlebars into the car's side window. Not exactly the British way! The car driver, a 73-year-old retiree, lost it, grabbed a (illegally!) stored gun from the glove compartment, and fired a shot at the cyclist. However, he didn't hit the culprit but instead a 20-year-old Asian woman who was peacefully jogging by on the sidewalk at that moment. The cyclist initially fled but later turned himself in to the police. The retiree was immediately arrested. Just another day in San Francisco...

Figure [2]: Cyclist in the Mission District

Furthermore, today I will tell you about two peculiarities of cycling in America. The first peculiarity is that hardly any bicycle has a bell. Recently, after many years of riding without a bell, I finally bought one, but until now I followed the American principle: When overtaking someone on the left, you call out "On your left!" from behind to let them know, so they don't make any careless swerves and get in your way.

The second peculiarity comes when making a right turn: Instead of extending your right hand horizontally to the right as in Germany, you raise your left (!) hand to form an "L" shape upwards. You learn this procedure when you get an American driver's license. The practical examiner actually asks: If the car's turn signal is not working and you want to turn left, how do you signal that? You extend your left hand horizontally out of the window. And when turning right? You hold your left arm bent upwards out of the window. When cycling, this looks very elegant and fits the overall picture, as cycling in San Francisco, due to the many hills (at least downhill), is almost like gliding.

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