Missouri Bicycle News

MoBikeFed News recently covered a number of recently-published complaints about Missouri drivers by bicyclists crossing the state. A recent article in the Daily Journal about a cyclist crossing the country on Adventure Cycling's TransAmerica route, which goes through Farmington, MO, lists a litany of such problems with rude--and even dangerous--drivers:

"Missouri is the worst," he said. "I hate to say it but Missouri is terrible. Everybody I met that was going westward warned me about Missouri."

From San Francisco to Kansas, motorists passing by him cheered him on and gave him the peace sign. Those states had shoulders on their roads, he said. In Missouri, he estimates one out of 10 people passing by gave him the finger. . . .

Ross said a motorist in a pick-up truck near Eminence threw firecrackers at him and a logging truck ran him off the road.

Ross, who just graduated from high school and plans to go to college this fall, said he will be glad when he gets out of Missouri. . . .

Tim White has been operating the bicycle shop on Jefferson Street in Farmington for 32 months. He picked his location because it is on the bike route. He said most people don't know that a cross-country bike trail goes through downtown Farmington.

"It's amazing how many businesses don't cater to them," he said. He believes it would be beneficial for hotels, bed and breakfasts, churches, and tourist attractions, especially those with campsites, to make themselves attractive to these cyclists. . . .

White said 50 to 60 percent of the cross-country bicyclists he has talked to have complained about the local route.

"They ask what is wrong with the people who drive here," he said.

A young woman who had an ashtray and a bottle of urine thrown at her came into White's shop hysterical. White said she quit riding and had her bike shipped to her home in North Carolina.

He said there is talk about rerouting it through somewhere other than Farmington and Iron County.

"The complaints have gone back to Adventure Cycling," he said. "It only takes a few apples like that to spoil a good thing."

permanent link to article: "Rude Missouri drivers in the news--again"
posted by Brent Hugh at 7/16/2003 04:56:05 PM |comment on this article