Friday, March 20, 2009

Irony

I've already posted about the geographical irony here in Kentucky. I'm still riding my fixie and it's only 3 miles to work now. I still have more elevation change in that 3 miles than I did in my 10-12 mile commute in Utah. I figured it would be flat here, but I was sorely mistaken.

Today I recognized some more irony. The drivers here are great. Sure, the locals complain about them, but that's what locals do. In two full weeks of commuting and several long commutes from our apartment up north, I have not had a single encounter with a motorist. I haven't felt threatened, I haven't had anyone pass closely and I haven't been honked at. The commute here is through the downtown area, so there is a lot of traffic, wide multi-lane roads and fast speed limits. When I signal, cars yield and allow me to cross lanes of traffic to get into the turn lane. It's a great place to be on a bike, even though the roads are narrow and congested.

In Utah County, Utah (one of the most religiously oriented counties in the US) I was honked at at least weekly. I felt threatened every few days and had some serious close calls that were obvious intentional acts on the part of the motorist. I was intentionally shot by a shotgun while on a bike ride in Utah. I had things thrown at me on more than one occasion. Ironic that I feel safer on the roads of Kentucky than I did in Utah.

I realize that I've only been here a short time, but I feel that I've had enough interaction with cars that I've really been treated well considering the time period. I'm looking forward to some longer rides in nice weather.

3 comments:

Nate said...

You were shot at?!

Garrett said...

It was during my undergrad just East of Eastbay golf course. A small group, including myself, were peppered in the backside with a shotgun. It didn't break skin on anyone, but a bunch of us had little welts on our backsides (I know that I did and the others said they did as well). The police came and concluded their investigation by saying that the individual was shooting at us and not the birds.

Emily A. said...

Wow. There is a reason I call Utah, "Utardia." Cause people there lean towards being tards. You just confirmed once again the Kentucky is cool and I never want to live in Utah again.