As a cyclist, I am sadly accustomed to abuse, including ignorant and aggressive drivers (thankfully rare on the Vineyard), so-called bike paths that are substandard in design and upkeep, and the overall attitude (despite law to the contrary) that I’m a second-class road user. Even here in Edgartown, the town has put up illegal stop signs on the bike paths (and ignored pleas to remove them), and illegally tries to exclude cyclists from a section of Pease’s Point Way (a ham-fisted response to a fatality some years back).

It’s spring and time to take to the road. But instead of hitting the fossil fuels, use your legs as gas. In other words, jump into Bike Week, happening all over Massachusetts next week.

Here on the Vineyard, Phil Hughes from Wheel Happy Too is joining the YMCA’s after-school prgram on Monday, May 15, at 3:45 p.m. to give a presentation on the importance of proper bike etiquette. The event is for children ages five to eleven.

For more details, call 508-696-7171, extenion 108 or visit ymcamv.org.