[Ebbc-Talk] Teens: Let me ride my bicycle in peace or Cyclist Third Wheel Among Peers

What can we do to improve this situation? Teens: Let me ride my bicycle in
peace By Camille Debreczeny Contra Costa Times Teen Correspondent Posted:
04/19/2012 01:00:00 AM PDT Updated: 04/20/2012 12:31:42 PM PDT Gas prices
have been steadily rising, but what do I care? I get around by bicycle. My
main mode of transportation may be old-fashioned, but it's free, it's healthy
and it's eco-friendly. Much to my disappointment, it's also socially
unacceptable in the "Danville bubble," where I live. When people find out I
bike to school, the usual response is: "Wow, that sucks! Why? Don't you have
your license?" Yes, I do have a driver's license. No, I do not wish I had a
car. Inconceivable as it may sound, I actually prefer to avoid driving
whenever I can. At Monte Vista High, a large public school with more than
2,000 students, I would guess I am one of about 20 kids who ride bikes to
school on a regular basis. I can hardly even blame the other 99 percent of
the student body for sticking to their cars, because my fellow bikers and I
are the objects of perpetual harassment. I've had the air let out of my
tires, my gears messed up and my reflector stolen. The basket on the back of
the bike serves as a trash can. When I'm biking home after school, strangers
will take the time to slow down their cars and yell out the window at me in
mocking tones. Such inconveniences and insults may seem minor, but the effect
over time is an awful feeling of insecurity. And I know from talking to other
bikers that they've had similar experiences. Why do people feel the need to
behave so maliciously? I cannot deny that my bicycle, an oversized
hand-me-down left over from my mom's college days, is not flashy or sexy. On
the other hand, it seems strange that society glorifies cars, gas-guzzling
machines that pollute our air and cause millions of injuries and deaths every
year. The popular perception of what's cool is, in my admittedly offbeat
opinion, slightly skewed. I wonder how we got to this point, where cars are a
status symbol and bicycles are an embarrassment. I wonder if it's pride or
just laziness, or a combination of both, that drives people to drive
everywhere. Imagine what would happen if one day (Earth Day, perhaps?)
everyone decided to make a pledge to leave their car keys at home for all
trips under 5 miles, a distance that can easily be covered by biking or
walking. Less gas, less CO2 emissions, less road rage and car wrecks. How
much pollution could we prevent? How much oil could we save? How much safer
and healthier would we be? We'll never know until we try. In the meantime,
let me pedal around on my unfashionable bicycle in peace. The Life in
Perspective board is made up of teens who write columns and features for this
newspaper. Camille Debreczeny attends Monte Vista High School in Danville.
Reach her at [email protected]

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