98% of the people who ride bikes in Central Park manage to ride past each other without speaking. There are 2% of the people who insist on yelling “on the right” or “on the left”. Which I find fascinating, and often leaves me wondering why they do this when most everyone else is able to navigate the many cyclists without a word. These riders are almost always boomers, but not always. They are always white. They are always spandex warriors riding a fast bike and wearing the gear. These are a very different cast of characters than the ones you hear dinging a bell, and I wanted to think a little more about who they are and why they do what they do.
When I hear “on your right” or “on your left” I don’t do anything. I stay the course I’m on. I just keep going straight. I rarely go more than 7 miles an hour, unless I am going down hill, or occasionally on the east side straight stretch. I am curious of what someone who yells this expects? If I turn my head I am going to likely wobble and turn one direction or the other trying to course correct. Which doesn’t help them. Occasionally I do look over my shoulder, and about half the time I am in a large crowd of cyclists and they are saying it to other people, and it doesn’t even apply to me. I am confounded by how they don’t consider or see this. I guess they are just focused on their perspective and needs and not their relative place in the world.
I had a gentleman, probably about 60 coming up on my left side going up the Harlem Hills the other day. For context the road is split into three parts. Left is two directions of walkers. Middle is slow bikes, and right is fast bikes. I am on the far left of the slow lane, because I am just putting along. He is coming up behind me in between me and the pedestrians, yelling “ON YOUR LEFT!!!”. I just keep going straight and he yells it again as he inches past me. To which I yell, “ON YOUR RIGHT!!”. I get an extended arm and middle finger from him. Ahhhh, to live in NYC. I give and receive the middle finger multiple times on a ride. It is one of the privileges of being able to live in this wonderful city.
I’m fascinated by the people who make their way through this city and the park each day. I talked before about the guy who thought Poppy and I riding around the park in our sidecar bike looked like a nazi menace, where the majority of people think we are joy. It just shows how some people move through this world. They see what they want to see. They yell and command as they see fit. The crowds of people are about them, not about everyone collectively. I work hard to be accepting and accommodating of everyone around me in the park. Most importantly I ride slowly. I make my way around people without having to yell at them. I can’t imagine wasting the energy to yell at people who are doing a leisurely ride in Central Park. What a sad state of existence that you need to do that. The park is so beautiful, and so are all the people rolling around it.
