we need to talk about bikes on the sidewalk

This is a touchy subject, I know--I know!--but we need to talk about bikes on the sidewalk. 

As an intentionally car-free person, I spend a good amount of time each day walking around town. It's how I get where I'm going, mostly, other than the very occasional bus ride. And let me tell you, the sidewalks in Seattle are crowded, and not just with other walkers.

The recent panini offered an almost welcome respite from the growing numbers of scooters and bikes and unicycles also using the sidewalk, and now that people are out and about again, it's frustrating. The pedestrian is the unit with the least amount of power--no vehicle, no protection, just legs and shoes. And it gets old, dodging and flinching and having to jump out of the way.

I hear you winding up to remind me of the RCW making it legal to cycle on the sidewalk and let me just stop you right there. I know. I KNOW. It's legal. Trust me. Every cyclist I speak to, quotes it, chapter and verse.

It doesn't mean you need to be nasty about it, though.

I'm writing all this because yesterday I had a scary encounter with a cyclist. I was walking on a quiet, misty morning near a park, lost in thought, and passed guys and a piece of heavy equipment working in the street. Suddenly I heard a bicycle bell ring loudly and insistently, right behind me. I turned and a woman on a cargo bike wheeled past, still dinging the bell.

"You're on the fucking sidewalk," I said. Meaning, slow down. Give me some room. I didn't yell. I just said it. I'm tired of bikes almost running me over. 

She jerked to a halt directly in front of me and threw her bike down on the sidewalk and ran to confront me. She was wearing a mask but stood inches from my face, screaming about the RCW. "It's legal," she bleated. "Fuck you it's legal."

I moved to the right, and she moved to the right, coming even closer, still screaming. (Is RCW some kind of incantation?) I was scared, thinking she was about to hit me. I jumped into the street. "It might be legal but it doesn't mean you have to be a dick," I said. (No de-escalation points for me.)

She picked up her bike and I noticed then that she was wearing a badge and t-shirt bearing the name of a local food bank. As she got on and sped away, I stood in the street, watching her. "Food bank, nice," I called after her, and as she turned left at the corner, she looked back long enough to flip me off.

I walked on, heart pounding, hoping she wasn't waiting around the next corner. I thought a lot yesterday about calling the food bank. I don't mind the back and forth but I truly thought she was going to strike me. What good would it do to call? I don't know her name. I don't know why she exploded. Probably because other pedestrians have protested when she almost ran over them and then screamed at them. 

I don't have an answer. All I have is this story. And a request: cyclists, please be nice. Other than walking in the street (highly not recommended), we pedestrians have no other place to go.