Can't we all be civil on the road?

I'd like to address my neighbor who passed me on Hart Road recently, just south of Pine in Batavia. I was on my bike, you were driving a new red Odyssey, and you took a moment to address me - rather rudely I thought, or maybe I just misunderstood - through your open window.

I didn't catch all that you said because you were screeching a bit. I think the gist of your message was that I should use another way of getting around. You yelled something also about there being kids around, and I might have heard something about using the bike trail. Since I couldn't quite catch up with you to have a conversation (those Odysseys are fast! I have one, too) I thought I'd air my reply here.

First of all, I love the trails. I ride on them almost every day for most of the year. They are a wonderful resource and I commend the park district, and the Fox Valley communities, for supporting them. They add significant value to my life and the life of my family. Unfortunately, and this might not be as obvious as it seems, the trails don't go everywhere I want to go on a bike. Frequently, I brave the greater infrastructure outside the trails, to get to the grocery store or my kids' school, for example.

In some people's version of the perfect world, every mode of transportation (and a bike is that, in addition to being a great medium for recreation and exercise) would have segregated conduits so there would be no possible conflict between them. This, of course, is impractical, so I intend to continue to follow the law and exercise my right to ride the appropriate routes to where I need to go, just like you do in your Odyssey.

A road like Pine or Hart Road, with sufficient width and a speed limit of 30 mph, is an appropriate road. All that's needed is some cooperation and accommodation between users.

You also mentioned something about kids. I have five, 10 and younger, so I'm very interested in this subject. When you slowed to address me, the only kids I saw anywhere around were inside your Odyssey. As a leader in my profession, and as an Air Force officer with more than 21 years service, I try to lead by example. I would ask you to consider the example you set for your children in the car today.

I ride bikes dozens of times per year with one or more of my kids, for all sorts of purposes. This is another example I hope will "take." Our children will have to be open to new ideas and new modes of transportation throughout their lives. They will also have to cooperate better than you and I did that day.

It might be too much to hope for that you would understand why a man my age would ride a bike to my kids' school, then down Hart Road on a Thursday afternoon. I have many good reasons, but that's not important.

I don't really care why you were there in your Odyssey at the same time, either. What's important is that you and I respect each other as members of the same community and share the same public space without causing each other any harm or stress. Hopefully if we meet again, either on the road or in any other environment, we'll be civil to each other. Who knows, we might even like each other.

Paul Adams

Batavia