Editor,
My wife and I have had close calls and unpleasant altercations with bicyclists in the last several months. It’s frightening to have bikes fly through stop signs and lights. To have groups block traffic lanes, swerve into and out of lanes. When confronted, they flip us off and cuss.
Our roads are crowded and sometimes tricky. All the more so with an entitled and belligerent bunch running lights and plowing through crowds of pedestrians.
Matt Smith, Laguna Beach
Friday evening we took a hike on the LB Westridge Trail and met with at least two dozen young mountain bikers both girls and boys with their cycling instructors. I’d estimate student ages between 10 and 18. They appeared to be in a class learning riding technique and trail skills. During the encounter they were first to greet us with a friendly reminder how steep the trail was and all of them allowed we hikers generous space to pass. These cadets were exercising trail sharing skills lost on older roadway users. I’m confident their vehicle driving skills will be also be better than average. My hat is off to the organizers of these skills rides, the biggest payback is down the road when roadway users will need a multitude of vehicle skills and courtesies.