Whiner motorists

Here is a yet another, different kind of whiner. Not all of the people I'm going to talk about are whiners, but a big majority are. These whiners whine about bicycle riders. They complain that they are too slow and slow down the traffic. Yes I will admit some bikers are very inconsiderate. They think that one meter means half of the lane and for some they can’t imagine what one meter is. I would say some motorist are just as bad, because for some of them, bicycle lanes don’t mean a thing, even though some of them are indicated by a white line. But that's just like some bikers who seem to be blinded by that little line or maybe they think it's just for decoration.

Biking is good exercise, especially for people that work in Ottawa. Most people that work in Ottawa have government jobs, so they sit on their butts all day and once finished for the day they go home then after dinner they become couch potatoes. They should be trying to ride bikes.

But then one day they start feeling kind of sluggish. They have trouble breathing and keep on getting headaches. It progresses to the point where a call is made to 9-1-1 for an ambulance. Cholesterol, high blood pressure, poor circulation - the blood has thickened and turned into blood clots that block the veins. No blood gets to the heart just because of a lack of exercise (that and feeding your face with all kinds of goodies). I speak from experience. This happened to me a year ago and now I have to take pills every day.

The advantage of biking is that you get your exercise. I won’t say fresh air when you are mixed up in traffic. But you get the point. The other advantage is that you save money by not having to buy gas and oil plus your car's engine doesn’t accumulate as much carbon by being in traffic idling under stop and go cinditions. Parking is roughly $10 a day, gas is expensive. A few dollars per day also. In my case I'd save $13 a day and for 20 days that would be a total of $ $260 for a month. And that’s a minimum. Bikers save at least that much in a month and get their exercise at the same time.

In one year you would have spent at least $3,120.00 and the biker $0. So who’s ahead of the game? For the ones that live way out of the city it's a different story. But to all motorist I realize that there are some people that can’t get a driving permit and some can’t afford a car or the expenses of having a car so they bike and they are ahead of the game.

Like I said they save money and get their exercise and you, your only exercise is to open your wallet and pay and pay.

Have a good driving day and remember that biker in front of you is not spending to get where he/she is going.

Remember this (and you bikers) remember it too: patience is away of life.

That is my rant of the day