Dear Reno Bike Salmon,

“What’s a bike salmon,” you may ask?  Glad to answer.  A bike salmon is someone who rides their bike against the flow of traffic.  Get it?  Salmon!  Swim upstream!  Ha!

I know you might think you’ll be safer doing your cycling this way, but I have to tell you, as a motorist, I fear for your safety.  And I’ll tell you why, as I plead with you to stop it.  Please.

I generally try to make sure I check all the directions I can when I’m making a turn at an intersection.  But I have to tell you, and this is especially true on one way streets such as the one I live on, and streets with bike lanes, which are becoming way more prevalent – I tend to look everywhere right in front of me and on the sidewalks for pedestrians, and assuming I’m turning right, and I usually am, I check the direction traffic will be coming from – which is my left.

If you are coming from my right and I begin to make my turn, something very unfortunate is going to happen.  I am a strong supporter of the rights of cyclists to have their own space on the road – including being an ardent supporter of sharing the road, to the extent that I strongly encourage a cyclist to take the lane if the conditions merit such action – and keep the lane as long as needed until it’s safe to move to the rightward margin of the lane.  I am a strong supporter of bike lanes.

My mom used to always say to me, “When riding a bike, ride against the flow of traffic – that way you’ll be able to see who might hit you since they’ll be coming at you.”  But that is a completely bogus point of view from a traffic safety standpoint.  That’s because motorists look for where pedestrians might be so they won’t hit a pedestrian, and they look for where cars are coming from so they don’t get hit, and they look in front of them for other vehicles so they can know to slow down so they don’t rear-end someone.  Since you are riding against the flow of traffic, you don’t fall under any of these conditions.  And you are doing it at your peril.

Be safe out there.