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Letter: Cyclist has a message for the man in blue car

On December 5, I was riding my bicycle in Menlo Park on University Drive between Santa Cruz Avenue and Valparaiso.

I was traveling north, and when I reached the high-rise apartment building on the Valparaiso corner, I had to edge around a large debris box sitting in the street.

During that time, a honk just in back startled me. I was even more startled when the blue car passed me at full speed just inches away from my bicycle. Because of the dumpster, I could not move closer to the sidewalk.

I caught up with the driver at the stop sign on Valparaiso where he had to wait behind two cars to make a right turn. I tapped on the driver's window and asked him why he didn't slow down or stop altogether to allow me safe passage. I noticed that the middle-aged man's blond hair was tied in a ponytail. All he could repeat twice was, "That's how bicycle accidents happen." It never occurred to him that he would have been the cause.

This is a plea to all motorists who are not bicyclists to please be courteous to bicyclists who have the same right to the road as they have.

I have been riding my bicycle for over 40 years in Menlo Park, always marveling at how congenial the city and the motorists are except for the driver with the ponytail.

Sylvia Wildmann, Menlo Park

Posted by Gen X, a resident of the Portola Valley: other neighborhood, on Dec 21, 2010 at 12:40 pm

Middle aged with a ponytail, eh? an old hippie....gotta love the "Me" generation. get off the road, its mine. now gimme my free healthcare, those rotten kids'll pay for it.