When Bicycling Goes Bad

In the Parque Nacional, preparing for the race.

During a bike tour the other day we came upon this group of cycle racers preparing for a 'carrera de actividades,' sponsored by Bici Activa Radio, which entails pedaling fast to from destination to destination and performing some, probably silly, activity at each stop.

The bicycles are waiting.

I was surprised to see a number of cyclists smoking (tobacco) cigarettes. But I was soon to see that many of them didn't give much importance to life expectancies.

A smoke to prepare for the race.

While I and a group of tourists wait for the light to change in order to cross Carrera Septima, the racers come tearing out of the park.

And, with barely a moment's pause, race across busy Carrera Septima.

Stoplight's red? Traffic's coming?  No worries!

A motorcycle and a TransMilenio bus come roaring along.

Suddenly, a crashing sound!

A bicyclist is down.

And so is a motoryclist, who apparently swerved in panic to avoid the cyclist.

Showing no concern for the damage he's done, the cyclist gets up and pedals on, leaving the motorcyclist to repair his machine and himself. 

Another bicycle-hater is born. Can we blame him?

This is what gives cycling a bad name. I've gone thru my share of red lights and flown past stop signs, but generally when there's no traffic close by. 

This sort of dangerous, reckless riding, and total unconcern for others gives all cyclists a bad name.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours