Pickup Trucks

Cyclists have a special relationship with pickup trucks, and lately I've found myself trying to figure out why. The relationship is full of tension, and even anxiety for cyclists. When a cyclist hears the familiar roar of a pickup truck engine, which is usually accompanied by some rattling as equipment or gear rattles in the bed, a chill of expectation surges through the rider's nervous system. The impression that a high percentage of cyclists are hit by drivers of pickup trucks -- whether this is true or not -- comes to mind as the pickup truck nears, along with the stories of riders brushed off roads by passing pickups.

Most encounters with pickup trucks are uneventful. My experience is that the drivers are only slightly more aggressive or more anti-cycling than any other driver category. I think there is an attitude against cyclists and what they may or may not represent that is a little more prevalent among the people who use pickup trucks. And I share the anxiety provoked by the approaching pickup truck. I've seen my share of encounters that went less than well.

I think cyclists and pickup trucks intersect more often because both are typically on the road earlier than other vehicles. A lot of contractors are up at the break of dawn, and on the roads, and cyclists like to get their rides done before work starts. From both perspectives, it can seem like the morning is filled with bikes (if you're driving a pickup) or pickups (if you're riding a bike). The roads are relatively clear otherwise, emphasizing the presence of each to the other.

The anxiety created when the rattling ladders and growling engine of a truck are heard has real causes. Trucks are larger than cars, with more protuberances (large side mirrors, ladders hanging off the sides, materials sticking out). On a narrow road, they can seem immense. And while the drivers may not be more anti-cycling than any others, they often seem rather distracted and irritable in their driving habits. They also seem to be more hurried, unaware of their truck's limitations as a vehicle, and more convinced of their invincibility. Of the near-misses I've had, the majority have involved pickup trucks -- right turns directly in front of me (overestimating their speed and maneuverability); brush backs on narrow roads (squeezing through impatiently when waiting a few seconds would make more sense); and darting out of side streets (again, impatience and overestimating their acceleration and maneuverability).

Finally, there are the angry pickup truck drivers, who I have encountered on large group rides. The congregation of many cyclists, and the congestion this can create on a road, seems to trigger the worst among the pickup trucks. Windows roll down, crude advice and admonishments are provided, and gestures are demonstrated. It seems that a natural frustration with being slowed and poorly processed fears of hitting cyclists generate irrational anger. For cyclists, this same type of irrationality can make us anxious about pickup trucks, and so perhaps at the base of this strange relationship is a sort of mutual irrationality.

This is strange, because when the vehicles aren't involved, the people in pickups and on bikes actually get along quite well, more proof that fear and loathing of one another is purely irrational.