One of the requirements for sign-up for a promotional activity held by
a local beach resort this weekend was that the bicyclists have helmets.
We were also supposed to have gloves, appropriate clothing,
appropriate shoes, rear reflectors, and headlamps.
The definition of appropriate wasn't as strict as I thought it would be
and the enforcement of things like gloves and headlamps was pretty
nonexistent. But, so far as I could tell, most nearly everyone who
showed up had the requisite helmet.
One of my friends who used to ride nearly everyday with the bicycle
club (but who just went back to his home province) guesstimated that,
of the 500,000 or so people in this city there are perhaps 250,000
bicycles or tricycles and maybe 200 helmets.
In China the foam hat is magic.
It changes the way people look at me.
I still get arm flapping and whistle blowing from the not quite police
officer types who seem to serve absolutely no purpose except to yell at
jaywalking pedestrians (who then ignore them)but, in the four days I've
been riding with a helmet the general change in attitude has been
incredible.
I am no longer just another person on a bike.
Now, I am a bicyclist.
And, in a country with as many bikes as China, the difference between
bicyclists and people on bikes is really big.
My speed hasn't changed. My personal best is still 24 kph over 90
minutes. I can get up to about 40 kph on the outward leg of the trips
along the suburban beach road (helped out by a tailwind so permanent
the tops of the trees are bent). But I normally average 20 kph.
As far as I'm concerned, if some of the wimpy underpowered local
motorcycles (like my friend Robert's) that can barely manage 20 kph
belong in the traffic lanes, then so do I.
It's not just because the paving on the traffic lanes is better
maintained, and unlikely to have random trees. And it's not just
because I hate taking my bike up and over at pedestrian bridges. I'm
riding my bike faster than my boss drives his car. (Everytime I get in
his car I live in perpetual fear of being rear ended.)
I don't much care for wearing the helmet but if it makes the drivers
treat me like one of them then I am all for wearing it. And will keep
wearing it whenever I go out on my bike. Not because I think it will
serve any purpose whatsoever in a possible accident (such as getting
crushed by a Damn Blue Truck) but because I like being able to ride in
the right place in the right way without getting honked at.
-M
(Of course I still get honked at, because Chinese drivers love honking,
but I get honked at in a different way, a "hi, hello" friendly sort of
honking instead of a "move it!" kind of honking. The "move it!"
honking is especially annoying because it usually comes from drivers
who have failed to notice that I'm NOT holding them up and am in fact
going the same speed as all the cars.)