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MIMICRYby Ray Thomas Mimicry: If You Can't Beat Them You May at Least Baffle Them In the last five years the frequency of harassment of bicyclists in Oregon has lessened considerably, particularly around metro areas. We can only speculate about the causes because no epidemiological study exists. Back in 1997, I wrote an Oregon Cycling article entitled Backlash Against Bicyclists my view is that the backlash has ended. We are no longer at a point of extinction (60's and 70's) or in a growth spurt (80's and 90's). Our mission now is to struggle to maintain our ground, and unite with other non-motorized roadway users like skateboarders and bladers to improve our minority share to the traveled portion of the roadway. If you want to know how far we have come as bicyclists, it helps to put things in perspective by riding in some areas of the state containing few bicycle riders. My own riding experiences around Grants Pass and in the rural Willamette valley come to mind; some motorized roadway users still make it a point to express their resentment of bicyclists in each contact with us. Tactics usually include passing slightly too close, unnecessary horn honking, and hard looks. Eliminating these annoyances is a common goal for bicyclists everywhere. While we have little control over the reactions of others, there are certain tactics we usually hear about. Follow the law, ride in a responsible manner, smile and wave at favors, avoid confrontations... pretty basic stuff, mostly connected with not being offensive. When I am riding, I long for a more effective and far reaching approach. I have come up with several poor ideas. One fantasy was to stencil ARMED AND DANGEROUS on the back of my rain jacket. Another was to sew lettering saying FROM CORNELIUS onto my jersey so people in my rural area would recognize that I was one of them, or even give me a break on the road because I was more country than they were. Other times, particularly on hills, I have tried gazing in pain at would be harassers, giving them the suffering Jesus look. My latest idea is mimicry of respected personages. I learned about this technique by accident one day, and the fun of it had me chuckling all the way home. It began one winter weekend afternoon when the sun broke through the clouds and on impulse I decided to go for a ride and explore a rural blacktop road that wound up into the coast range behind Gaston, not a place with many bike riders. Most of my bike stuff had been left at the office so I pulled some outer gear together from the closet and headed out. As I got further from those places where I imagined other riders frequently traveled, a strange new form of hostile driver behavior manifested itself, to my great delight. Overtaking drivers would begin to pass too close and then move respectfully to the middle of the road. Pickup drivers would pass, turn to give me a hard look, and then suddenly look shamefacedly away. One driver honked as she approached and then as she went by and raised her right hand to give me the finger, suddenly stopped with her hand partway up, as if it had lost its will to insult. After the same behavior repeated itself a few times my mind struggled to understand what was happening; then I had it, the Eureka moment: By coincidence that day, I had put together a riding outfit that made me look like I was in uniform. The jacket I had grabbed was an old windbreaker; yellow with black and blue trim. It looked a lot like the ones worn by motorcycle policeman. I didn=t have any tights at home so I had put on a pair of black nylon sweatpants over an old pair of bike shorts. It was cold so I had a pair of black leather gloves on. My big old blue and yellow Vetta Corsa helmet looked like a light infantryman helmet. Around my waist, I wore a fanny pack over my right kidney with a cell phone on the belt at the side. The combination was quite official looking. Those would be harassers were tempted to hassle me when they saw my bicyclist silhouette on the roadway ahead, but as they got closer there was something odd about my appearance. I looked like a law enforcement officer or a soldier on a bike mission. After all there is a war against terrorism right now; I could have been defending our country, patrolling for rural bomblets along the roadside, combing the valley for suspicious looking pedestrians. The drivers= instincts were sending them in opposite directions, and I was the beneficiary of their resulting confusion. Oh glory day! On the way home I began to grasp the enormity of my discovery. Without breaking the law or engaging in any immoral act all bicyclists can improve their resistance to harassment. By using mimicry we can defend ourselves! My own outfit had been effective, but with a little imagination an even stronger repellant can be assembled. For example, dress as George Washington; how many would be intimidaters would dare crowd the father of our country? Or how about wearing a mask of President Bush; so long as his approval ratings stay high there is a good chance that you=ll be left alone, or at the worst invited home for supper. Women can easily dodge the ire of drivers by wearing angel outfits including halos. Younger riders can dress like large insects or animals, causing drivers to think they are having visions. These techniques are legal and safe so long as your disguise does not interfere with pedaling. Football uniform bike outfits, porpoise-head shaped bike helmets, and other disguises even create a sales boosting opportunity for the bicycle gear industry. It is time for all bicyclists to stand tall in their honest Abe outfits and fill the minds of the perpetrators so full of protected imagery that they are afraid to make an offensive move. Knowledge is power.
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