Marginalization - Stay within the lines (lanes?)!

What is marginalization? As far as I understand it, it's anytime something (or someone) is pushed to the periphery, forced into a position of non-normalcy or made out to be "the other" amidst a mass of the status quo. As a white (at least I "pass" as white), Christian, straight, medium-height, thin-build, non-smoking, non-drinking, college-degree-holding county employee, you'd think that I'd be the last one to be marginalized, right. Well, think again.

Recently, I read an article in the local paper about how riding a bicycle in the bicycle lane is a dangerous thing to do in OC. It mentions two riders who were killed within 11 months of each other on the same stretch of road, as well as addressing the literal disregard of some drivers towards bike lanes. This article was printed on April 12th, 2007. Six days later a cyclist was killed right in front of my parents-in-law's house. This man was swept under a passing truck's tires as he moved from sidewalk to road. Hear that? No bike lane, but from sidewalk directly to the road. As dangerous as bike lanes are, they at least provide a space for cyclists. What about roads with no bike lanes?

As a person who rides his bike to work every day, through a very non-bike-friendly neighborhood, I've learned that according to both automobile drivers and pedastrians I don't belong on the streets. The roads that I take to work don't have bike lanes, nor do they have shoulders and they barely have gutters. After too many close calls (you get used to the trash piles in the gutter forcing you out into the road, but the whizzing of side mirrors past your ear is too much!), I made the decision to take to the sidewalks. There's only one problem - you're lucky if you can find a city in OC that allows riding a bicycle on the sidewalk. The rest of the cities say it's illegal. This problem is complicated by the fact that many pedastrians, who are powerless in the streets so must assert their power in their domain, don't care to acknowledge that a bicyclist is making a b-line straight for them. Last week a man was standing right between the bus stop bench and the bus stop sign. He saw me coming, looked the other way and stood his ground like a Kensington guard. I had to stop, squeeeeeeze through the gap between him and the bus stop sign, then shift down from a dead stop (you cyclists will appreciate that experience) so I could start going again. He just stood there, looking the other way. There was this other lady who did something similar. I can't tell you how many cars have honked at me, while I'm still on the sidewalk! Argh...

As a cyclist, I don't belong on the streets. The roads are reserved for the automobiles - that's the whole reason these roads were constructed. The sidewalks are made for pedastrians - that's the whole reason they were made. In some areas, there are bike lanes that supposed provide a safe space for cyclists to use, but that is not necessarily true. In the areas with no bike lanes, where am I supposed to ride my bike? In the cracks in the pavement, on the grassy hump next to the sidewalk, through the parking lot full of parked and reserving cars. My existence is acceptable to the others using the city streets in their designated space as long as I don't get in their way. Whoa, this could be a social commentary. But that's another post.