we are all guests on the roads

My gorgeous view today on the bike!!!

I finally have what looks like a full summer ahead of me on my bike. After a broken ankle and two rotator cuff surgeries I am fully healed and raring to go on my bike. I am very fortunate to own a custom Spectrum Bike with a triple crank making my biking relatively easy even with the hills in Chester County, PA

Today was 78 degrees and spring is bursting out all over my county. Flowering trees and daffodils were everywhere. I am a Medicare card carrying woman and today I had no trouble peddling away for 30 miles. How fortunate I am to have the health to do this!

As I was climbing slowly up a hill, a huge group of cyclists sped past, heads down with speed as their only goal. How fast, what's my mph, am I leading the group and the list goes on and on. I wonder do they take the time to smell the roses.

I rode by myself today and like the blog title says, I consider myself a guest on the roads. If I was driving a car I would feel the same way. We are all guests on these roads. Sharing the pavement with each other is what we should all do. Just like if you were a guest in someone's home,  don't make a fool of yourself on the roads be it in on a bike or in a car. Don't fight with cars, don't fight with other cyclists or anyone on the roads. I often hear members of my bike club refer to drivers as "dickheads", 'fuckwads" etc. Why such crude and useless descriptions when confronted with a driver?? What purpose does it serve?

We are all guests on the roads and if you are on the road and on a good road bike consider yourself one lucky person!! You are healthy, you can afford a good bike and you are in good shape. So stop whining and spread a little cheer when out biking. Move over and help a car get by on a narrow road, avoid cycling in such large groups that no one could possibly pass.  Every car you let by is one less angry driver. I don't feel like I have a right to be on the roads but I do feel it a privilege to be on the roads.

Try adjusting your attitude next time when on the roads. In the Philadelphia area where I live, folks carry guns and will shoot. We just had a young girl get shot in her car on a highway by an angry motorist.

So be a good road guest and do your part to help make everyone safe. Some friends I met along my ride pictured below.