[photo by Pat Tomes]

In a letter published by the Reporter last week, reader Richard Meltz (a motor scooter proponent) asserted that he “cannot fathom” why the use of bicycles continues to be promoted.

“If you live in Eldorado and need to show up in downtown Santa Fe neat and crisply dressed,” Meltz wrote, “a bicycle is useless.”

Really?

Last night, after I played a gig with Oakland’s David Gans at Mike’s Music Exchange in Eldorado, my partner Irene and I decided to spend the night at her parents’ house in Arroyo Hondo—not far from Eldorado—rather than interrupt our infant daughter’s sleep for a late-night drive back to our apartment off of Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe. So, this morning I rode my bike—a heavy old Diamondback bought off Craigslist recently for $50—ten miles from Arroyo Hondo to the Reporter’s offices in downtown Santa Fe. With a dress shirt on, I pedaled north for a windy hour along the Rail Trail, frequented mostly by lizards and dung beetles in the early mornings, and arrived at work neat and crisply dressed, although my hair was minimally matted from wearing a helmet.

Not everyone enjoys that kind of exercise first thing in the morning (and some demand absolutely flawless hair) but, needless to say, my bicycle was not useless.

Hot on the heels of SFR’s own commuter survey, the Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Organization is out with a two-page survey, geared mainly at cyclists and timed to Bike to Work Week.

I filled one out last week. You should too—even if you’re not a cyclist—although it’s a bit of a pain to print out and mail the PDF. Better to just pick up a form at one of this week’s many Bike To Work events.

(Update: Or use this fill-out-able version of the survey PDF, released late yesterday: Click to download.)

The best part of the survey is the essay question, natch. Not to try to influence your answers, but I suggested: Bike boxes at dangerous intersections, a “rolling stop” law for cyclists at lower-traffic intersections, and smoother shoulders, among other things. Last year I wrote an article for SFR’s sister paper in Portland with many more suggestions for bike-ped improvements that could work in Santa Fe.

Last week I got a letter from Severn Thomas of Livingston, Montana, who’ll be riding in the Santa Fe Century on May 17, “in the ‘Obama’ jersey.”

“As a serious recreational cyclist I have been the target of frequent verbal abuse; had bottles, trash and other projectiles thrown at me; been threatened with bodily harm; and nearly run off the road by several motorists,” Thomas writes. “Cyclists are not simply going to go away, and brazen attempts made by ill-tempered and irresponsible motorists to deny cyclist’s rights will only radicalize elements on both sides.”

Granted, there are plenty of irresponsible cyclists. Not two hours ago I passed a guy cycling the wrong way, in traffic, past the new convention center downtown. But as I cyclist, I know that Thomas is right.

On Sunday morning, headed south on Agua Fria, the driver of a big, shiny blue pickup tried to force me out of the rode as I merged out of the right-turn-only lane approaching an intersection. He then spent a moment honking at me as we waited for the light to turn green, only quieting down when I made it clear, by shouting, that I had a right to the road as well.

Even worse, a few weeks ago I had a similar experience with a city bus while at a red light on Guadalupe at Alameda. I could hear the bus creeping forward behind me. When I turned to look at the driver, he motioned that he wanted to take the right turn on red, which would’ve required me to enter the intersection on a red light. By creeping forward, he was essentially forcing me into cross traffic. This was a city bus, mind you.

Has any cyclist in Santa Fe not had several experiences like this?

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