My visit to Little Rock for the Big Dam Bridge 100 ride finds me most impressed with the city and efforts to promote physical activity. There are walking/bike trails and bike lanes whittled throughout this bulging city, even over the Arkansas River. Fitness signs posted along the river front area encourage citizens to get out and walk.
And many do. Despite the some 2,000 BDB participants, cyclists riddled the downtown area and consequently motorists appeared to respect the rights of those on a bike saddle. I biked through the Riverfront district, and it was evident that cyclists were not a surprise nor an unwelcomed guest to motorists. No one honked, yelled obscenities or angry undecipherable jargon at me. Unlike cycling in Oxford, riding was a balm in a cyclist's Gilead.
Respect for my right to have a small slice of the road enticed me to stay and explore. These guys are accustomed to cyclists and walkers.
The last time I rode through the Grove six hours before kickoff, an alumni unloading his hospitable tailgaiting bounty yelled at me from my stopped position in front of a porta-potty. Apparently he didn't think he had enough room to cart his stuff to his "spot." Another woman rolled down her passenger window and yelled some indiscernible something as I was riding in front of the Oxford Park Commission. Makes you fear for your safety as motorists drive closer than three feet away, and many trucks rev their overstuffed engines at you and your two wheels.
None of this was experienced in Little Rock. It was great. And while Oxford thinks the city has everything anyone could want on their 'little postage stamp of native soil,' they don't have the civility of Little Rock for cyclists.
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