Speech to the Washington State Bicycling Association-Christina Norwich

Mr. President, it is natural to man to desire to ride his bike on open roads unharrassed. We are apt to shut our eyes against many a pothole and to listen to the angry voice of the driver in the Hummer yelling, “Get the F--- off the road,” until it transforms us into either angry beasts or carrion.
I have but one bike light by which my wheels are guided; and that is the light of experience. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of SUV drivers on cell phones for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which cyclists have been made to please themselves. Trust it not sir; it will prove a squirrel caught in your wheels.
They tell us, sir that we are weak; unable to cope with such a formidable adversary as car drivers using cell phones. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be when we have no bikes, and when SUVs run us off every road? Shall we gather strength by becoming road kill or flipping drivers the bird? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying on our backs in a ditch with ripped jerseys and shorts, hugging the remains of a priceless bike now just a piece of metal, until those SUVs have flattened us from head to foot? Sir, we are not weak. The battle sir is not to the strong alone: it is to the passionate, active, and pain loving cyclist. There is no retreat, but in death and road rash. Our deaths are forged! The engines of the SUVs may be heard on the roads of Lake Washington Boulevard.
The war is actually begun! The next day that we ride on Mercer Island will bring to your ears the clash and screams of SUV hitting bike and person. Our fellow cyclists are already in the ditch! Is riding on friendly roads so dear or clean air so sweet as to be purchased at the price of becoming carrion or another statistic? Forbid it, almighty Lance Armstrong! I know not what road others may ride, but as for me, let me be left alone by drivers or let me be road kill.