Dear cyclists,
If you don’t get your act together you will soon end up nothing more than a bug on my windshield.
I am growing tired of slamming on my brakes because you don’t have the common courtesy (or brain cells) to signal when you turn. I am growing irritated by the fact that you insist on being treated like pedestrians, ya know, by just crossing the road with no concerns about cars.
I’ve seen you ride bikes in the middle of the road, between both lines of traffic, and in the wrong lane. I’ve seen you cut blind corners and behave recklessly.
You may not know this, but cyclists are expected to follow the same road laws as motorized vehicles. From what I’ve seen so far, the pedestrians follow more road rules than bikers do. These rules aren’t there to keep drivers from road raging on you (although it helps), but they are in fact there for safety.
Headphones are another issue. You shouldn’t be wearing them while riding. Not only will you not hear the cars around you, but if drivers aren’t allowed to wear them, I’m sure you can’t either!
The same goes for talking on the phone and texting. Hell, a cyclist texting while riding terrifies me more than a driver does. Put the phone in your pocket, and keep it there until you get off your bike.
Rules are there for a reason, and you should be following them. You are in college now. Rules are no longer in place to ruin your life or cramp your style but are for the safety of you and those around you.
I can understand bending the rules if you are in an area with little or no pedestrian or vehicle traffic, but Linfield doesn’t fall into those categories. Linfield Avenue is a public road with many people constantly driving on it. People tend to drive faster on that street than other places on campus. Also, it is more likely for a McMinnville resident to be driving through, which means they aren’t accustomed to maneuvering around college students like us.
I know many drivers fly into a rage about the fact that bikers bother them. This is usually the result of a cyclist not following the road laws. If you follow the rules, people will like you more. You don’t need to be a rebel when your well-being is at stake.
Stop it. Open your eyes. Don’t be stupid.

Megan Myer/Online editor
Megan Myer can be reached at [email protected].