Something for the Gerhards of this world – Glenn Elert rides a recumbent from Rockaway Beach, Oregon to Rockaway Beach, New York, taking in 10 states (one Canadian) en route.

I like in particular one part of the preface, demonstrating someone with a sense of perspective on security and safety:

http://hypertextbook.com/bent/

This is the story of my six-week odyssey riding across North America on a recumbent bicycle: a bicycle you ride in a recumbent (seated) position. Recumbent bicycles are sometimes called “bents”, which is where the phrase “get bent” comes from.

[…]

2. Don’t listen to advice from non-cyclists.

Basically, people will tell you that you’re insane to take a long cycling trip. They think that it can’t be done. That it’s too dangerous. That you will be killed. Death awaits us all, but touring is not the death sentence that most people perceive it to be. I ride about eight thousand miles a year and I’m not dead.

I was told to watch out for bears and I never saw one bear. “You know I heard about this woman who was attacked by a puma. You better be aware of that when you’re out in the middle of nowhere.” I would have loved to see a puma given their rarity. The biggest, baddest animal I saw was a coyote and it looked pretty timid to me. Like a really, really big dog. If it came down to a fight I’m sure the coyote would have won, but both of us were more interested in getting to where we were going than in a confrontation.

I was told to beware of truck drivers by several people. This is idiotic. Truckers are professional drivers. If you make your living on the highway, why would you do anything to put your livelihood at risk? Truck drivers are your allies on the road. They actually pay attention when they drive and they know how to operate their vehicles responsibly.

I was told I would need an air horn or people wouldn’t see me. You’d think that being so low to the ground would put you off the radar of most drivers, but the reverse is true. Recumbents are so unusual that they attract lots of attention from motorists. I’ve heard from a few recumbent owners that this is true even in Manhattan where it’s easy to dissappear behind double-parked cars. Drivers basically can’t take their eyes off of you. On an oridnary bike, you disappear into the background (get some idiot on a cell phone behind the wheel and you’re liable to become Spandex-covered roadkill) but not on a ‘bent.

I was told to carry mace or I would be mauled by vicious dogs. Where are all these crazed animals people keep talking about? Most dogs are house pets. Americans treat their pets like little babies and lavish pleny of attention on them. Every dog that ever chased me (with one important exception) was playing a game. The minute I stopped pedalling they gave up. I was more concerned that these dogs would be hit by a car than that they might attack me. The only vicious dogs I ever met were feral animals in a derelict industrial part of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. They did not live with people and so did not have a kind opinion of me riding through their territory.

Still, this was just one incident out of countless dog encounters. Most accident-related deaths occur in the home, but no one ever uses this as an excuse to sleep in the backyard. Millions of American’s die of heart attacks but no one is scared of butter. People can not put danger in perspective. Cycling is dangerous, but certainly not any more dangerous than taking a shower or driving to work every day.

I agree with him about truck drivers, by and large I’ve found them to be courteous and friendly towards motorcyclists; the dangerous loons are young car drivers, wannabee yuppies in 3-series BMWs, pensioners wearing hats in Volvos, and White Van Men.

(Via)