I lived in a state that was so beholden to fossil fuel that when I rode my bicycle anywhere, I often had things thrown at me, regardless how close to the side of the rode I was hugging, while getting yelled at for some reason. Once or twice I was run off the road. 

Sharing the road with anything not reliant on an internal combustion engine made you less of an American.

I was never sure if it was done purposely to dissuade people from riding bicycles or relying on wheelchairs for that matter, or just assuming no one rode with thin wheels on the street close to the gutter, but the grates on sewers were not perpendicular to the curb so you could ride over them but parallel which meant that, in order not to get thrown from a bike or trapped in a wheelchair, the users of either would have to swerve a little more into the road, and this was met with road rage because people driving cars might have to slow down or swerve a little themselves.

The situation was exacerbated by the city having no sidewalks anywhere but down town.

A friend in college had been killed in New York City when he rode his bicycle over an improperly replaced sewer grate and was thrown from his bike striking his head on the curb stone.

After having traveled by train to cities where scooters were for rent all over the city, I purchased one for myself when I got home and my car died.

Like any motorist, I cursed every pothole, one being the final death knell for my car, detour, and crack in the road that made the car shake and rattle and presage a future repair job. We know the cracks and potholes are there and they are just an inconvenience we get used to but still complain about them like it helps.

One’s relationship with potholes becomes more intimate when, being on a scooter, you are only two wheels and four inches above them and must be aware they are there so you do not get thrown.

Even at a top speed of 12 MPH, the damage from getting thrown can be tremendous.

And, so, people on bikes and scooters being slower and closer to the road with nothing blocking a complete view of the road ahead see the potholes and cracks and attempt to swerve around them taking up no more room than a person walking toward the side of a street and often for a mere few seconds to go around a pothole. It is not a long or space gobbling movement, but a quick swerve.

There is no need to honk the horn as if the person on the bike or scooter is in the middle of the street for blocks, and having to slow to 15 MPH on a city street is not all that inconvenient as time can be made up once the scooter is passed.

Drivers in cars do not see the extent of the potholes they just bounced over, but the scooter rider sees their depth.

Remember that every pothole you run into and curse at is a pothole you expect people on bikes and scooters to voluntarily drive into for your convenience.

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