I say this after a friend of mine was given a $180 traffic citation for not getting off of her bike at a stop sign. She was on her way to work—riding her bike rather than driving her truck. She saw the police officer, so she made certain to stop at the sign, executing a track stand before pedaling through the clear intersection.

The hypervigilance on behalf of the police officer is due to a recent episode in which a cyclist was paralyzed. Apparently the cyclist t-boned a car that was pulling out of a parking lot and into the street near the country club. I haven’t seen the police report, but rumor has it that she was on the cell phone, and the cyclist was coming out of a blind curve. Now that the cyclist is looking for compensation, Biltmore Police assume the cyclist was exceeding the speed limit. As a result, they are cracking down on all bike activity going through the neighborhood.

Here’s the thing about stop signs; a driver approaching the intersection is paying attention to stopping the vehicle and then looking for traffic. This process occurs in approximately 10 seconds and begins from a few yards away from the actual intersection. A cyclist begins braking long before the intersection, allowing a long look through the intersection for other vehicles. The process can take more like 30 seconds, offering a long view of what’s to come. If there isn’t any traffic, it’s best to bust on through, because a car can pull up pretty quickly.

A good cyclist will stop, but remain on the bike so that the intersection can be quickly cleared—especially if there is another vehicle approaching from another direction. The guy in the car will be pretty annoyed if he has to wait for a cyclist, who has reached the intersection first, to dismount, remount, and begin pedaling before he can even begin to go through.

As a cyclist it’s best to always be prepared to get out of the way. That can’t be done when you’re standing over the pedals, rather than on them.

I thought that a stop sign was to make sure everybody was aware of a traffic pattern involving other vehicles, and that the goal was to get through quickly and safely. This officer is making it seem as though the important part is not safety, but literally following a set of physical steps.

There are places throughout the county where cyclists are not safe from emotionally charged debates over bikes. I’m surprised that the “elite” Biltmore Forest has become one of them.

Do you think the golfers would be concerned to find a mother and small kids building sand castles in one of the sand traps mid – game?

Should the 4 grandmas that live up the street, use the bike lane on your local streets for their powerwalking? Or could that cause a problem for an actual biker?

There are unspoken rules in most athletic activities. Rules on where some activities are permissible, and where they should not be done. Yes, a golf course may be a lovely picnic spot, but such activity would really take away from the original purpose, golf.

As a mountain biker, what would you do if a teenager was walking her 3 small dogs down a designated mountain bike path?

Would you zoom past hoping not to squish her dorkie, or stop and explain the danger of her actions? What if you were on a treadmill at the gym and the guy next to you was on his cell phone the whole time? Would you be willing to do more than give him the stink eye?

If you had a quick answer for my not so rhetorical question, then I need your advice.

What should I do (or what should I have done last night) when a man and his son use the only two swim lanes at my local athletic club, to “float.”

Please, if you will, imagine a 6 lane, 25 yard pool, but only two lanes are lined and have lane-lines. To me, this communicates 2 lanes are for swimming laps, and the other area is for whatever kind of swimming one desires: Aqua jogging, snorkeling, floating, sunbathing, etc.

Not only were the man and his son floating in the only swim lanes, they determined it was better to each have a lane, than share one. This way they can talk about their feet, the temperature of the water and what else comes to mind mid-float.

As I stood there with cap, goggles, kickboard in hand – should I have said something? I certainly can’t ask the wee 16 year old life guard to do my bidding. So, I decided perhaps I would communicate without words. I swam next to the lane lines, where there are no lines, kicking, splashing as hard as I could to frankly disrupt the float. I had 35 minutes to hopefully swim 1 mile and no time to waste.

Ouch. $^!@$(%_! Flip turns are not easy without lines and marked walls. Turn two and my head cracked against the wall. I spent the next 10 minutes drafting the lawsuit I will file against these jerks in my head, when I have a brain hemorrhage and require cranial surgery.

Did Larry and Moe notice? Did they even care?

Thirty laps into my swim, I realized these guys are not going to get it. They are not going to figure out the lanes are for actual swimming, or that my attempts at swimming outside the lanes are some what dangerous. Nor did they consider sharing a lane so I could enjoy the other.

At one point, the dynamic duo decided to “swim” a lap. Heads out, on back, feet forward, they paddled toward the other end. It took 3 minutes. I know, I timed them.

Finally, the hot tub opened up and daddio decided he would rather float over there then in lane 2. Perhaps the pressure was too great, so he took his exit. “Praise Jesus,” I say out loud, immediately taking his lane to finish my swim.

While I will be working on my own anger, and how to control it in silly frustrating situations like this one so it doesn’t ruin my favorite activity, I need advice.

What should I have done? These folks clearly didn’t get the unwritten rules. The lanes aren’t for adults – they are for swimmers. There is a difference.

Have you guys ever had to explain the rules of the road, pool, trail or fairway? Is there a gracious way to do this? Am I a selfish jerk who needs to just get over it?

Let me know your thoughts. And if man and son are reading this, email me the time of your next scheduled float. I want to make sure I’m not there.

Do not misunderstand me—there is a time and a place for these types of races, and I can find pleasure in being in a crowd of 30,000 runners.  However, to eschew the smaller races is to do so at the risk of missing out on a wonderful part of the sport of running.

My first race after high school, when I was a slightly heavy law school student, was a 5K that perhaps 30 people took part in. As I ran a few more races, all the way up to the half-marathon, I got to enjoy the look and feel of a race that used pull tabs on the bottom of bib numbers to place the runners; relied on about 10 volunteers to keep the event smoothly running, and occasionally had awards for the runners. Sometimes the awards ridiculously outclassed the field. In one instance, I won my age group in a small 5K in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, where a hand-carved wooden Impala was my award. The race benefitted Ethiopian refugees, and the refugees themselves carved these awards. It is one of my most prized racing possessions ever.

These races often have the feeling of a family picnic where a footrace broke out in the middle for half an hour or so. Awards are often home-baked goods or other personalized gifts you can never get anywhere else. But just as often there are no prizes and that is just as well.  When I lived in Virginia, a local running club put on a 5K every week so runners could test their fitness. Popsicles during the summer were often the award for finishing the race with the race registration fee being maybe a $1 to be given to a local food bank.

Does it make sense to fly or drive hours to participate in one of these races? Well, no, not really. The travel and vacations built around the races with thousands of participants are what keep those races going. But undoubtedly a look at the local race calendar in your area will unearth dozens of inexpensive, frills-free opportunities where you can test out your running shoes. Sure the medal you get bragging rights for to your friends who can then praise you for your awesomeness on your Facebook status is nice every once in a while. But another thing that feels awesome?

Racing just to push yourself. No t-shirt. No medal. Just you and the clock.

With all the negative press about Teflon and about metals leaching out of pots and pans, consumers are on the lookout for cookware that’s easy-to-clean and doesn’t pose health concerns. Silicone, a synthetic rubber made of bonded silicon (a natural element abundant in sand and rock) and oxygen, is increasingly filling this niche. The flexible yet strong material, which has proven popular in muffin pans, cupcake liners, spatulas and other utensils, can go from freezer to oven (up to 428 degrees Fahrenheit), is non-stick and stain-resistant, and unlike conventional cookware, comes in a range of bright and cheery colors.

But some wonder if there is dark side to silicone cookware. Anecdotal reports of dyes or silicone oil oozing out of overheated silicone cookware pop up on Internet posts, as do reports of odors lingering after repeated washings. Also, silicone’s image may be forever tainted by problems associated with silicone gel breast implants—some women with earlier generations of these implants experienced capsular contracture, an abnormal immune system response to foreign materials. And while theories about silicone implants’ link to breast cancer have since been debunked, the damage to silicone’s reputation lives on.

It’s sad to say, but since the use of silicone in cookware is fairly new, there has not been much research into its safety for use with food. Back in 1979 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined that silicon dioxides—the basic elements in silicone cookware—were generally recognized as safe to use even in food-grade contexts. But the first silicone cookware (silicone spatulas) didn’t start to show up on store shelves until a decade later, and the FDA hasn’t conducted any follow-up studies to determine whether silicone can leach out of cookware and potentially contaminate food. For its part, Canada’s health agency, Health Canada, maintains that food-grade silicone does not react with food or beverages or produce any hazardous fumes, and as such is safe to use up to recommended temperatures.

Consumer advocate Debra Lynn Dadd, who steers clear of Teflon due to health concerns, is bullish on silicone cookware after investigating potential toxicity. “I tried to find some information on the health effects of silicone rubber, but it was not listed in any of the toxic chemical databases I use,” she reports, adding that she also sampled material safety data on several silicone rubbers manufactured by Dow Corning (which makes some 700 variations). “All descriptions I read of silicone rubber describe it as chemically inert and stable, so it is unlikely to react with or leach into food, nor outgas vapors.” She adds that silicone “is not toxic to aquatic or soil organisms, it is not hazardous waste, and while it is not biodegradable, it can be recycled after a lifetime of use.”

So while most of us will probably not have a problem with silicone cookware, those with chemical sensitivities might want to stay away until more definitive research has been conducted. In the meantime, cast iron and anodized aluminum cookware remain top choices for those concerned about harmful elements leaching into their cooked foods.

CONTACTS: FDA, www.fda.gov; Health Canada, www.hc-sc.gc.ca; Debra Lynn Dadd, www.dld123.com; Dow Corning, www.dowcorning.com.

SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS TO: EarthTalk, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php. EarthTalk® is now a book! Details and order information at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalkbook.

Hyper-alert=hyper-defensive=chip on shoulder.

I was driving down a narrow road through my neighborhood today when I met a hyper-defensive road biker who practically flung himself into a ditch trying to get me to slow down my station wagon to a speed he felt acceptable. It is a road that I travel at least once a day. This is the first time I have seen this cyclist. I hug the right shoulder of the road because most of the oncoming traffic uses the middle of the road. I was far enough over as I expected an oncoming car to be in the middle of the lane.

I rounded the first turn when I first saw the cyclist traveling in the opposite direction. He immediately began pumping his arm up and down in what I interpreted as a “slow-down” signal.

Although my 2-year-old was screaming, and my 6-year-old had spent the afternoon in the principal’s office, I was able to maintain my anger. Instead of pulling over to take it out on the overzealous cyclist, I kept a steady speed that allowed me to cruise through corners, without decelerating, and come to a smooth stop at the upcoming sign.

Fortunately I was unable to hear what the cyclist was saying, as I was wearing my iPod to drown out the screams from my child, who was mad because he had thrown his boot across the car—and now wanted it back. The cyclist was exhibiting very similar behavior.

It reminded me of stories I’d heard in which avid cyclists take their anger out on unsuspecting vehicles that come close enough to hear them. A similar story occurred on Ox Creek Road several years back when a couple of cyclists ambushed a woman in her truck, with her small children inside, after they assumed she was coming back to harass them. In actuality, the woman turned around to catch up with her father whom she saw traveling in the opposite direction after stopping at his house.

I looked into my rearview mirror in amazement and saw him zigzagging across the lane into oncoming traffic in his effort to signal to me what a bad person I was. Nothing on my car identified me as a cyclist, which made me wonder what he would have thought or done had I had a bike racks or stickers.

I nearly went back when, after pulling into my driveway, I heard sirens. I was afraid that he might have given himself a stroke or finally ridden into the bushes.

It’s important to drive safely and watch out for pedestrians and cyclists, but as cyclists, let’s carefully choose our battles so as not to embarrass ourselves in a way that causes a loss of respect to the general cycling population.

1.  Get the swimmer out of the water.  Don’t worry about the boat, paddle, or other floating gear until the swimmer is safe and on shore.

2. Communicate with the group.  Don’t try the lone ranger technique; always work as a team out there.

3. Don’t run on the bank.  Slips and falls on the bank cause more injuries than paddling.

Check out the handy work of the paddlers in this video and stay tuned as we get into more detail about river safety.

The biggest surprise we found in the study? Formal ski instruction didn’t decrease the likelihood of injury. Still, no number of studies can take the place of common sense. Take a lesson (you’ll enjoy your time on the hill more) and wear a helmet. And if you hit the terrain park, consider printing the thick study and strapping it to your chest to protect your ribs.

Here are some tips for safety from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy:

For Hikers:

Know local hunting seasons—Specific dates for hunting seasons vary year to year and also by type of game hunted and weapon used.

Wear blaze orange—Wear a blaze orange hat and vest (and pack cover if backpacking), or hooded outerwear when hiking in fall, winter and spring.

Other Clothing Tips— Avoid wearing colors that could be mistaken for game animals—white or brown during deer seasons; red or blue during turkey seasons.

Be heard—Make sure you are heard before you are seen by whistling, singing, talking, etc., while you hike.

For Hunters:

Be alert for hikers and make your presence known to them—Many hikers are from urban or suburban areas and are unfamiliar with hunting.

Follow all hunting regulations—Hunting, possession of firearms, bows, and hunting knives are prohibited on National Park Service (NPS) lands acquired for the protection of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The use of off-road vehicles, including ATVs, is prohibited along the entire length of the Appalachian Trail.

Be sure of your target—On National Forest lands in 2002 and 2003, two Appalachian Trail hikers were shot by hunters who thought they were shooting at deer.

Read more here and here.