I don’t take like hearing the phone jangle when I'm on the bike! One of the reasons I ride is to get away from “all that.” I’m aware that there are many people in the world who don’t feel this way. There are those who (apparently) feel a desperate need to be connected. I am not one of those people.
When I express this kind of sentiment, I’m often asked, “But what if something happened!?” In these cases the “something” is always presumed to be some emergency that requires immediate attention.
Don’t worry, if it’s bad enough, they (you know who they are) will find a way to let you know.
Don’t believe that? It’s true. One time, whilst I was riding, a family situation got bad enough. Believe it or not, a relative, at the time over 800 miles away, found a way to get someone to get in a car and track me down on the road to give me the bad news.
Everyone who was then alive remembers the morning of September 11, 2001. That would be a case in point. I was not on a bike, but I was (quite deliberately) cut off from communications. Despite my self-imposed isolation on that awful Tuesday morning, the news did get through to me. I am certain that, if I had been on the bike, and in a remote location, I would still have been made aware of the situation.
Basically, the news, good or bad, can wait. There’s not much I can do about it while I’m out on the bike. Add to that, if I need to take or make a call, I will get off the road and off the bike to do so. To attempt to use a phone while operating a vehicle is to invite disaster.
On the subject of texting? Good lord! I see it done. I can’t imagine attempting to receive, let alone write and send text while on a bike.
Any commentary on this one?
I'm in agreement with all your opoinions stated in today's post, concerning cell phone use on the bike. However, I suspect technology and the constant need for "connectedness" is going to win out over common sense.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, when I was an avid golfer, as cellphones became all the rage, the vast majority of golfers would not carry one on the course, and strenuously objected to anyone else doing so. Well, guess what? Pretty much everyone carries them now, plus i-phones, tablets, etc. I think cycling is following that same tajectory.
Bob M.
Sigh. Bob, I'm afraid you are right. Let's hope we can keep nudging civility and common sense along.
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