It occurs to me from my participation in a number of different forums that Americans love to express their rage for bicyclists on the road. I am a bicyclist. It's one of my many passions. So give me your best shot. In the end we may all learn something.

Other than the hilarous "aero" helmets and silky shorties, I don't mind 'em a bit. Interesting how fast they move out of the way when being overtaken by a 35 ton CLAAS 940 chopper with an 8-row corn head mounted in front..

I think they're more of a pita in the city than on any country road; if for no other reason than they rarely obey any street signs (stop, yield, etc) in larger cities..

YMMV..

Ride safe, Paul..

Being mostly urbanite, they invade our rural areas on the weekends. Pretty humble and easy to work when they are just a few. The bigger groups get more arrogant and indignant. With the hills and curves in our roads they are quite often a hazard.

ok

when you are riding in a group, and a woman is in front of you, are you watching her butt?

Saturday, about 200 of those two wheeled azzholes in garish and colorful spandex, blocked most of Biscayne Blvd up around 163rd Street. Far from the first time either.
That is the main reason I dislike bike jockeys.

X2. In our area we get a lot of them on weekends up from the city. Lots of blind curves where there is no visibility till you have made the turn. If you drive any where close to the speed limit your going to end up with a bunch of bicyclist on your hood as there isn't til to stop when you finally see 15 of them right in the middle of the lane. Have to dive 20mph everywhere when the speed limits 60

Bicyclists have moved down my list of people that that should be deported. We have bigger fish to fry than heterosexual men that dress and act like homos.

Stay safe and make sure you wear neon spandex to stay safe and reduce chafing.

Why a 300 pound middle age lard ass in spandex thinks he is entitled and safe to ride on busy rural roads that logging trucks frequent is beyond me. Hwy 49 here in NC is a grease slick waiting to happen.

I don't get why they wear the spandex when "training". I understand it's more aerodynamic but wouldn't a person want to make practice harder so it's feels easier when it's for real?

Yes, I am. Of course I do this in the parking lot, the grocery store, at the brewery, pretty much wherever I am. Even on my bike.

Those corn farming implements are impressive, and the corn growers are good folks.

Riding in a pack is a hell of a lot of fun. I won't ride with groups that don't work with traffic though.

Always!...wouldn't you?


I'm not a roadie, fat tires for me. Dirt, single track, double track, asphalt....doesn't matter, mountain bike is the way to go... I pack a pistol too, always.

OK, do you intentionally lag behind so the women are in front of you?

Well for starters, they should have to be inspected, carry insurance, have a license plate visible just like a car or motorcycle being they want the equal rights and privileges to hog the road.

They should be ticketed for impeding traffic on roads with no shoulder and a double yellow line.

Most are gay like, they seldom obey traffic laws, in general they are a scourge to the safety of the motoring public.

I wish they'd get over to the side of the road. Most of them seem to be riding out in the middle of the lane.

There are several groups that ride that area on weekend mornings. One of them is called the Don Pan group. There are often professional riders who join that group as it is in the top 5 fastest in the country. I met one of their regular riders this summer, and that guy was an animal. He can easily hold 25MPH over a 50 mile ride. On the Don Pan ride, his group averages 27-28. And they flat out do not care about motor vehicle traffic.

Groups are often a source of consternation in urban areas and more and more on the lightly traveled winding hilly back roads.

I don't have much problem with bikers on the roads. It's more of a problem when they invade the trails during hunting season then bitch about us hunters. We were here 100 years before them.

I am a motorcyclist as well as a bicyclist. One of the fundamental tenets of safe motorcycle riding is to never outdrive your line of sight. By that I mean don't go faster than you can react to what's around the corner or over the hill. What if there is a broken down vehicle around the bend? An accident scene? A slow moving piece of farm equipment? A vehicle exiting a driveway? A mail truck?

No road user should outdrive their line of sight no matter their manner of conveyance. It's irresponsible. It's often fatal to motorcyclists. I keep a sharp ear out any time I am on the other side of a blind hill or blind bend in the road. I shouldn't have to be prepared to dive out of the way of an irresponsible motorist, but I am.

Depends on the women. Have to be discreet though, don't wanna look like a stalker.

By law that person is entitled to use that road. As a motorist I have encountered bicyclists on those kind of roads and have found them easy to go around. Do you have a hard time getting around them?

The only problem I have with bikers is they can't maintain the posted speed and thus are a hazard.

This is my best riding bud and I happily soak up the scenery when I am behind her.

The padding is a must. Even with that, my butt is often my limiting factor in endurance. The form fitting slick material makes finite shifts of position in the saddle much easier. You kinda have to experience to appreciate it.

I have no pride. If they happen to be a little faster than me for a moment, I am OK with that.

Trail bikers going like hell with their head down, oblivious to anything r anybody else on the trail. Road bikers riding two or four abreast on a two lane country road. If they want to ride on the roads,they should be licensed on the bicycle

Ya, mean, like crotchies? Ala crotchies.. Especially crotchies.. You obviously don't run a crotchie..

(all in good fun)..

I know of several trails that have been taken over by bikers. Sliding their tires on downhills have left the trails so rutted that hikers can't walk on them. You have to get to the side.

That would be my only gripe as well.

Lots of bikes in Boise and lots of "Share the Road" bumper stickers and fortunately lots of bike lanes so bikes and cars don't have to share the same lane. Even where there are no designated bike lanes most stay well to the side of the road so you can pass okay, but every once in while someone is riding out in the lane on a busy two lane road so you can't pass, and going maybe 25 in a 30-35 mph zone. I don't mind sharing the road as long as someone isn't being a hazard.

Then there are a few foolish people who like riding against traffic in bike lanes or on sidewalks. I've pulled out of an intersection to make a right turn and almost hit or been hit by someone coming the wrong way - your attention is to the left on traffic coming in the lane you will be pulling into. But I've never seen the Spandex road bikers do that, it's almost always some teenager that doesn't GAF anyway.

I've been riding bikes on the roads for decades.



That said it comes down to courtesy and safety. Whether a car is driving slowly and impeding the flow of traffic or a bike is doing the same, it isn't safe. Yesterday when I was driving to work there was a guy on a bike that was blocking a lane of traffic. The road didn't have a bike lane and he couldn't ride far enough over to allow cars to pass. He could have ridden on the sidewalk. I thought the guy was an idiot, he was endangering himself and others by his actions.

To me it's just common sense. When riding a bike I don't want to tangle with a car because I will loose. I'll do everything reasonable to keep myself tangling with traffic even if my "rights" allow me to be an idiot.

I've only tangled with a car once, and while technically it wasn't my fault I realize I could have avoided it. I was at an intersection and when the light turned green I pedaled away. A car the pulled away slowly and I was right beside him. He made a right turn into me just after the intersection. I was in his blind spot and didn't see his turn signal. Fortunately he made a very slow turn so I just scraped my leg against the side of his car and didn't go down. A very loud F bomb got his attention.

Expect people to do stupid stuff and do everything you can to be safe.

Only at rush hours. Have you learned that yet?

If it would guarantee that people would treat me courteously and equitably, I'd happily get inspected and put a license plate on my bike. I already carry insurance. The reality is, people offer that as a complaint, but it wouldn't really change their attitude. It's weird, but the people who most often set forth that argument are otherwise small government types. Yet on this issue, they want more government. Would 8 year old kids be able to get their license, inspection and insurance at Wal-Mart? Will they have to pedal down to the DMV and wait in line with everyone else to get their license.

I very often disregard traffic laws. When I do it may just benefit you, it will never negatively impact you.

Your state law very likely allows you to legally pass on a double yellow to go around an "impediment." Go around a bicyclist like you would the mail truck or a tractor.

Cycling in traffic is a hell of a lot of fun.

I don't really ride anymore, but did avidly for years.

Whether a person on a bike or a fatazz in a diesel truck, an inconsiderate azzwhole is just that, inconsiderate.

No. They (we) want equitable treatment.

Sometimes there's a reason to be in the center of the lane. If you look at this link, you'll see the most common causes of car/bicycle crashes. The most common explanation given when a bicyclist is hit is "I didn't see him." At times I gravitate to the center of the lane to increase my visibility. I do as I approach and move through intersections. I may as I approach a blind hill or blind bend. This helps mitigate some of vulnerabilities the accompanying link mentions. Most states require bicyclists t stay as far right as practicable. That word is purposefully used rather than possible. Most state's laws go on to discuss times when bicyclists may take center lane. On a narrow road where there's not room for a car to safely overtake a bike completely within lane cyclists may take the full lane. This will often discourage a squeeze pass.



http://bicyclesafe.com/

How many considerate azzholes do you know?

We have a nice trail in Desoto National Forest in MS. They close it during hunting season Even if they didn't I wouldn't ride there. That said, is it really hard to find a place away from the trail to hunt where you are?

Hi there neighbor! What do you do when you encounter a slow moving delivery truck or construction vehicle in your lane. How about granny who goes well below the speed limit. What do you do when there is a dead deer in your lane? Those things aren't hazards to alert motorists.

They're a rare but beloved breed!

If we assume a road is too narrow to safely overtake a bicyclist completely within that lane. In other words, you have to move into the oncoming lane to safely go around them, then you'll spend less time in the oncoming lane if they are side by side rather than end to end. There's a cool video that demonstrates this. If the lane is wide enough to safely share, then they need to get their asses in single file to help a brother out.

True. However at times of heavy traffic you may not be able to pass. If the cyclist is an aforementioned inconsiderate azzwhole and doesnt get out of tbe road, he will likely engender much angst.

It's not hard not to be an inconsiderate azzwhole.

It's obvious that it is in good fun. I fully expect to take some shots that aren't in good fun before this thread runs its course. I can take it.

I ride mountain bikes too. I don't outdrive my line of sight!

As a somewhat related aside. Oak Mountain State Park has great mountain bike trails. Built and maintained by mountain bikers. The trails are in phenominal shape. In the same park, there is a hiking trail that goes to Peavine Falls. It is deeply rutted and washed out.

Your point stands though that we should all strive to be good stewards of our trails.

Paul, First,let me say that I've done some biking! But,many of them show an arrogant,self righteous attitude, which can be a danger to both themselves and others. Example: Many years ago I was taking a friend of mine to the SLC Airport,from western Wyoming. We were running late(which is par for the course for me),and I was "pushing" the speed limits a bit. On I-80,just east of SLC is a couple of miles of fairly steep,downhill,curvey roadway. I was in a right hand curve( doing about 70),in the right lane. When, there he was,a cyclist in the center of my lane. I had two options,stick the blue oval of my F-250 up his a@$, or make an evasive manuver to the left. Thank God, the adjacent lane was unoccupied! I really wanted to stop and introduce him to the shovel,which always resides in the truck bed! But, as earlier stated, I was running late. memtb

When I lived in Brisbane Australia, where cycling is huge, large groups would meet early each morning for a pre-work ride. They would buzz by my house along our street on the river shouting at one another waking up folks left and right. Do understand, it is common to have all windows, sliding glass WALLS open during the night there. Numerous complaints, formal and polite meetings with cyclists, homeowners and LEO have been going on for years and no change. They could clearly GAF. A loose bunch of pitt bulls could have been handy.

I once made it for several months riding a bike everywhere except dates and vacations before I got too lazy. I was much healthier.

Now I am worse. When I roll a jeep I do 45mph and wave at the tailgaters. Interestingly, when I am driving something else and get stuck behind someone doing 45mph out here in the country, I have to remind myself that I do the same obnoxious thing. Gotta share the road!

Bikes do not generally belong on sidewalks. It's dangerous. Motorists are not expecting traffic moving at bicycle speeds on sidewalks. I'll opine that the bicyclist you mentioned was safer in the center of the lane (cars had obviously seen him and reacted.) How many times have you hit a slower moving vehicle? I am going to guess none. It's easy to avoid running over someone if you are paying attention. If a driver isn't payin attention and hits a slow moving vehicle, it is THAT DRIVER that was unsafe, not the slow moving vehicle. I will never stack traffic up behind me. I'll ease over and let it vent.

The accident you described is a right hook, and they are generally avoidable. In fact most of the accidents mentioned in this link are fairly easy to avoid. http://bicyclesafe.com/

The most difficult to mitigate is the rear end. Cyclist lane position is often the source of much frustration for motorists, but is also often used by bicyclists to mitigate risks.

I have been the only vehicle (motorized or non) on the road for miles and have been yelled at and brush passed.

Thank you!! If you want to claim your right to the road pay up like everyone else license and yearly inspection. They skate way too much on violations of the vehicle code. I see some who are trying to be courteous and give them the same respect, But too many are just arrogant a-holes. The bigger the group the worse the behavior.

Then a true small government type should lobby to have the laws applied to motor vehicles stricken down rather than stand in favor of additional laws for bicyclists right?

Pretty simple - obey the rules of the road if you ride on the road. Corollary - obey the rules of pedestrians if you ride on the sidewalk (stop at intersections to walk bike across or ride across slowly after stopping).

I don't begrudge SxS riders on roads with no shoulders and narrow lanes. I do think that riding SxS way out in the driving lane on roads with wide lanes and wide shoulders is ridiculous.

That's a good point and is part of the reason I don't stack traffic up behind me. I take a very cooperative attitude toward other road users.

There are certainly jackwipes in all walks of life. I'd just ask folks to be fair minded and not let those few unpleasant encounters negatively shape your interaction with me on the road.

Wasn't there a shoulder on that highway?

Usually a 2x4 to the back of the head (or just below the helmet line if you're looking for maximum effect), clears up any misunderstandings we may have with bicyclists around here.

Everybody gets along great, I just don't see the problem.

Cycling on a sidewalk can be dangerous, but often much less so than in the road.

If a road is narrow with no shoulder and a side walk is available, a cyclist is far better off on the sidewalk if he cannot keep up with the pace of traffic. The thing is, he will now have to contend with pedestrians who are moving at a much slower pace and moving erratically.....just like the cars in the road have to deal with cyclists.

If you take pleasure in riding a bicycle on Route 2 through the state of Montana, you are an idiot.




Dave

ROAD RAGE!!!!! Lol.

That person is a grade A cockhole. I have been known to invite people back to have a chat with me. Those cyclists were almost all hugging the white line or to the right of it and weren't in any way an impediment to the driver. That was uncalled for. More and more cyclists have video cameras on their bikes.

The old frame mounted steel pumps were awesome. Heavy, but they didn't bend much when rapped upside a skull.

We have a law that if a slower moving vehicle is impeding five or more vehicles, the vehicle needs to move over to let them pass. As it was the morning commute, there were more than five vehicles behind him. He was oblivious to this and could care not. There wasn't a single person on the sidewalk and he could have easily and safely ridden on the sidewalk to allow traffic to pass him.

Slow moving vehicles do cause risks. There is a big difference between sharing the road and trying to own the road.

If they cannot go a min speed they should stay off of the road,, Here in the Mnts you come around a curve and bam there is one at a crawl right in the middle of your lane.

I ride a bike alot, but I stay off of the roads.

And if I ever witness a bicyclist get hit by a vehicle on 13 or 200 I will only slow down to make sure the motorist's car isn't too badly damaged.




Dave

Or Hwy 93. Inconsiderate, rude, and damned dangerous. Pretty much sums up the [bleep] bicyclists I encounter over on this side almost daily.

If I am ever given a ticket on a bicycle, I will frame it. I have NEVER met a motorist who obeys every law. If I come to a stop sign and there is no traffic coming, I slow roll it. On my bike and in my car. I almost always slow roll right on reds. I travel over the speed limit every time I drive. I don't give turn signals when there's nobody there to see it. Don't we all break the law. How often is it that a cyclist breaks the law and injures someone. It's exceedingly rare. It happens thousands of times across this country with people in motor vehicles. Yet bicyclists seem to be the subject of so much scorn.

There are times I break the law on my bike and it actually benefits the motorists I share the road with. They probably don't even realize it.

If you want an 'entertaining' drive, get behind a bike on Hwy 66 between Klamath Falls and Ashland, OR. Only a fool would ride a bike on it but Ashland is yuppieland and there are plenty of fools there.

I got a ticket once for riding on a sidewalk.

The cop surprised me coming around a corner and I actually stopped. Only time they ever caught up to me

I won't say I won't take the sidewalk to help motorists out, but I will avoid it as much as I can as it is less safe than traveling with traffic in the lane. There have been quite a few studies done on this. You are right that a cyclist dealing with pedestrians on a sidewalk is similar to a car dealing with bicyclists on the road. Can you think of one critical difference?

I want them to obey the rules (laws) of the road just like automobiles must do. In Oklahoma we have a traffic statute that mandates bikes must ride single file as close to the edge of the road as possible and one that require motorists to pass bike by at least 3 feet if safe to do so. The bike riders in my area insist on riding 3 or 4 across and can't be bothered to move to single file even when I honk to let them know I am coming up behind them. They also do not stop for stop signs or signal turns. That behavior pisses me off to know end.

Perry

I can think of several. Though I will stipulate that I'm not much for laws. I prefer common sense.

Many road cyclists are not actually commuting, they are training. That is a big reason they do not utilize sidewalks or get out of the way when the situation would warrant them to do so. It would "interrupt" their training/ride.

That is the type of selfishness that gets one the label of inconsiderate azzwhole.

Wife road for years. I did for a few, and realized it was too dangerous out there where we ride rurally.

She rode benefits, races, tri's, bi's etc....

I finally convinced her to quit, and ride only in parks and such because most bike riders in rides have no respect. They think they own the road. And someone will swerve to miss a group and end up hitting my wife that refused to ride in groups(funny she was once flagged for drafting though--- I'd have told that ignorant official a few things and left the stupid race... my wife drafting... yeah right but I digress)

Bikes around here, generally speaking are ok in the country. the riders that ride on our 2 lane roads without shoulders watch the rear, and move over or stop depending on traffic.

OTOH 2 years ago when we were called to an involved structure fire, there was a big ride in town. THe bike riders at the intersection would NOT yield ROW to our fire engine. While still putting on my gear I did manage to speak to the group out the window while putting my SCBA on....

The arrogant ones ruin it for the rest. Like Carolyn said, it was as bad as being in a run with Rick Perry, he'd stop anywhere and block the run for a photo op.... WTF, run or GTF out of the way, we could care less you are governor of TX....

Why is that Clark? It runs parallel to an interstate. I would think all the traffic in a hurry would be on the interstate. I examined a long stretch on google satellite and it was generally straight with wide lanes and a small stretch of shoulder. I would imagine that there are places it goes through mountain passes where the sightlines are limited and the road narrows.

Edit. Yep, I'd avoid those passes. Beautiful road, beautiful scenery, but too tight in some of those blend bends.

Craziest cycling accident I ever heard of was when a local kid was killed when a car that was passing him struck a deer. The deer went over the top of the car and struck the kid in the head, killing him.

I lived in AK for a while and loved that law. I will always find a way to keep from stacking traffic up behind me. The RVers up there in AK didn't seem to care too much about that 5 vehicle rule. They are a heck of a lot harder to go around than a bike too.

Enjoy your satellite views but anybody that takes pleasure in bicycling on that stretch is a moron.

What interstate are you referring to?



Clark

One of the few things I can't stand are elitists. It seems certain groups seem to have them, not naming all but cyclists, fly fishermen, traditional bow hunters, greenie hikers, etc.

Never outdrive your line of sight. You should never go so fast that you can't react to a hazard around the bend or over the hill. It's dangerous and dumb.

This hartebeest apparently doesn't like cyclist in his AO either.

There's a reason bicyclists are scorned across the country. Some people just refuse to see why and instead get on the internet and cry about it.

Spell it out for the "slower" folks that like to dress up and play with bikes on the highway.

They're a PITA on roads designed for automobiles, too slow, and often hog the lane creating passing hazards.

They're arrogant, feel entitled, inconsiderate, self-absorbed, passive aggressive (as opposed to outright aggressive like the motorists they piss off), elitists, and let's admit it, they look ridiculous in spandex outfits with a little foam helmet.

They're what's wrong with American values. Them and Walmart people.

Hmmm....But can they keep their wives happy?

Hitting close to home yet?

Jeeze, even if all 400 Montana residents were on that road at one time, seeing a bicyclist on that road shouldn't be an issue. Interestingly enough, the very part of that highway I zoomed in to street view, there were cattle on the road. Yet another reason to never outdrive your line of sight. Are the drivers up there that bad?

Rode with a friend for years,allways let her lead. And you would too.

Me? I'm homeless.

Highways are built, and funded, by modern transportation. They are not a [bleep] entertainment device or exercise equipment. If you are taking up space on the road, do the speedlimit. If you can't, go somewhere else.

Exceptions granted for farm equipment, heavy equipment, and trucks driven by courteous operators.

Safest place to be in threads like this!

I have driven in OK before. Based on my observations, few of your motorists obey the law.

The state of OK does NOT have a law that requires bicycles to stay as far to the right as possible. Bicyclists MAY ride two abreast according to OK law.

Do you really want bicyclists to obey every law all the time?

Probably - but it's still funny as hell..

Besides, compared to riding a bicycle in China one would think THAT Cummins smoke is as fresh as a newly blooming tulip..

Best wishes...

They must be a much bigger PITA where you are than where I live. I drive about 50K miles per year and can't think of a single instance where I was held up for even a full minute by a bicyclist. What's the longest you have ever been held up by a bicycle or a group of bicyclists? Tell me about that if you don't mind.

The drivers are great.

The cyclists are stupid.

What interstate were you referring to?




Clark

By law, bicyclists are allowed on most non-interstate highways. Their tax dollars are used to pay for the roads. Is it really that hard to move your steering wheel 2 degrees to the left or to press gently on your brake then on your gas?

Highway 13

So were folks walking along the road yelling at you or did they come out of their houses? Any idea what compels them to do so? You are clothed, right?

I see what you did there!

Highway 13 is the interstate paralleling Route 2?



Dave

You'll have to follow this with a thread about bike lanes, so the same bike bitchers can bitch about them!

I was looking at the highway 13 that runs south to north connecting Circle, Macon and Scobey. It's a narrow road, but straight with good sight lines. At first glance, it looks like the kind of road I enjoy. Wide open prairie with mountains in the distance. I can't imagine there would be much traffic.

Are you saying there are motorists who hate bike lanes?

I'm saying there are posters that will bitch about a problem and then bitch about a solution!

Because you routinely wave me to pass when approaching a curve, on a hill or in a no-passing zone.

If I pass you on a curve, double yellow and a car shows up, it's you that is getting pushed to the ditch.

You just follow the rules and I will too.

If you don't like me following you, then go faster.

Because you often do NOT follow the rules of the road.

An entire pack, 25+, ran a stop-sign in front of me, forcing me to choose between the opposite side ditch or having three of them as a hood ornament.

Oh yeah, and when you come to the coffee shop after your run, please dress, having a bunch of sweaty riders, with bulging quadriceps and mini peckers makes me pass coffee out my nose...............

You want to ride a 45# vehicle in traffic go ahead, have fun, I'm sure not all are jerks...........

You do have a good law in that one... I've seen it ignored quite often though, but it helps.

I will often communicate with drivers that come up behind me. I have waved plenty around. When I do that I am not giving a directive, but rather that's my way of telling them I am prepared for them to come around. I know full well I am the sacrificial lamb if things go south. I will also hold up my hand in a stop position if a detect a hazard. Again I am not issuing a directive, but rather letting them know I don't think it's safe to come around. I wave to those that are courteous as they pass. It's my way of saying thanks.

Obviously that group of cyclists should have stopped. Do you think each one of those cyclists should have come to a stop and moved individually through the stop sign?

Forums were invented so that we would all have a place to bitch.

Isn't that called being flexible?

Yes, but there's no denying, you have brought it upon yourself.

We just don't see that much, though I've been good at it a few times.

I knew full well coming in that I was providing a public service!

Should each car stop at the sign, or is it OK for 6 cars to go through!?!?!?

Or am I supposed to GUESS how many at once, and which ones will stop????

Well I'll just tell you up front I find bikers that pick out narrow curves hilly rural roads incredibly rude self centered jerks. Its not that I don't like bikes and I think programs to provide appropriate places to ride such as rails to trails etc fine ideas. I just don't think they belong in the road/street anymore than golf carts, go carts, jazzes kick scooters , riding lawn mowers , skateboards and other means of conveyance. Let me ask you, why don't you just ride on the sidewalk?

He lined 'em up pretty good. Not that it would be hard. Bet the pavement was, though.

No kidding!
I'm #11 in this line with more piling up behind me.

Yes, because she's breaking the law.

Let me see if I can do a better job of gauging your thought processes. If you were behind a group of 20 bicyclists, would you rather they stop, then move through as a unit or each one wait until the bike ahead clears then move through as an individual rider? I don't ride in groups of 20, but when I do ride in groups, we move through as a unit as opposed to a bunch of individuals. We do that so that we get out of the way of motorists more quickly. We always yield right of way. I assumed that drivers would appreciate the gesture.

Alrighty then. Here we is!

If you like. seems like irony to me.

And there was adequate room for the RV to pull over and let traffic vent.

That's why I damn near ran over 15 of you guys, I was on a straight road, there was a road that 'T' into the road I was on, they had a stop sign, and the pack ran through the sign and into my lane going the same direction as me..........but hey, the guy behind them didn't have to wait!!!!!

plus it's pretty ballsy that the back of the pack trusts the front guy with the decision........

As long as they stay outta the road IDGAF what they do, even if it is dressing like a herd of sackwashers on the way to a boy george concert!

Somebody buy that Hartebeest a drink.!

The best research I can do shows accidents are more likely to occur on a sidewalk than on the open road. You won't find a single person who has studied sidewalk bicycling who doesn't strongly recommend against it. I love rura backroads and have managed to ride many thousands of miles on them without an accidental close call. I have had people purposefully brush pass me. I doubt anyone has ever had to back off the gas for more than 30 seconds or so for me. Most of the time it's seconds if at all. Every single day of my life I have to back off the gas for longer than that for a slow driver in the left lane. What's the longest you have ever been held up by a bicyclist?

It's when they don't, it would be nice to roll coal.

We are talking about two different scenarios I think. So you are saying they didn't yield right of way? As I said in the previous post I ALWAYS do.

I hike and hunt in a multiple use area that mountain biker also use. What I have to say to them is: Stop throwing your G-D empty gel packs all over the F-N place.

THIS!


LMAO

I'd be honored to be mowed over that way!

Like I said, probably not all are jerks, YES they didn't yield....

you might have thought at least one of them would have looked for oncoming..... herd/pack mentality, IMHO.

Paul Barnard, you are probably a great guy, but IMHO, 'Let me see if I can do a better job of gauging your thought processes' doesn't sound exactly ..... Campfireish????

I will be right there on the road where I have a legal right to be. Your trip to the all you can eat buffet isn't more important than my health. It's fascinating how it's always men, and I assume you are a man, who get hung up on bicyclist apparel. Women who bitch about bicyclist never mention the shorts. Maybe there are more closet gays than I realized.

I will try again if it will do any good. I really would like to know if drivers would prefer a group of bicyclists each stop then proceed through individually or stop occupying the space of a single vehicle, yield right of way, then move through together. I always felt like I was doing the right thing moving together as a unit.

What does the Law say?

On my way home from work I crossed paths with 2 separate bike riders on the same narrow, winding road. This was a road too narrow to have a centerline painted on it. Thank God I was able to use my superior driving skills as well as the brake and accelerator pedals to avoid tragedy and was able to safely pass by both riders. It was, however, a huge inconvenience to do so.

I just now noticed that you are from FL. FL has a bicycle death rate that is twice the national average. I suspect what you saw explains it in part. There is something going on down there. I can honestly say I have never seen a cyclist blow through a traffic control device without looking.

I really shouldn't read your posts at work. About chit myself holding the belly laugh down, I did.

I don't think they drive/cycle any different down here, but being the smallest, geography wise, of the 3 largest state populations, with 365 days of cycling weather, I would expect the numbers to be higher....

but maybe they do!

Good job, Rainman!

And if Rainman can do it....

HMMMM, let me see:

I've been on estrogen for the last 30 years.
Have tried to murder every vagina that's ever been put under me.
Don't wear panties
Don't use drinking straws
Drink black coffee and tea
Drink scotch whiskey
Smoke cigars
Shoot guns and kill the hell outta animals, then eat 'em.


After all this kinder gentler medication I've been on, Yup, y'all still dress like girls.

Oh, and you DID ask for it, midol aisle 5, 10lb bags of ice out front, enjoy.

That looks deliberate. He moved over on the shoulder to hit them.

Well Hell, ole bicycle billy did ASK!

Just a few thoughts. I recently returned from a 3k mile roadtrip through Nv., Id. and Mt. and passed many bicyclists, few of whom pissed me off. I have observed over many years as a hiker, runner, biker and paddler that people on/in motorized conveyances have an attitude resentful of the self powered.

Jet skiers and Atv riders are worthy of a separate discussion by outdoors people.

mike r

Those guys look pizzed-some farmer must have butchered all their farm dates and made hamburger out of 'em.

There is no "the" law. Each state has different laws. Some states have laws that allow more than two abreast. I have never seen the issue of moving through together addressed legally. Even if it were illegal, I'd be inclined to do it if could do so without neglecting my duty to yield right of way.

I said earlier that I often break the law on my bike. Sometimes it's purely for selfish reasons. Sometimes it serves a greater good. I was stopped at a stop light the other day. The vehicle behind me honked. I noticed he had his right turn signal on. There was no cross traffic. I ran the red light. He honked and waved as he made his right. It worked out well for both of us.

If you are interested in looking at something, look at this. Google Pasadena Ave Metairie LA. Look at where it intersects with Metairie road. Then look across at Houma Ave. If I leave my house on Pasadena and want to take Houma because it leads me to the levee bike path, I have two choices. The legal way means I have to take a right and run down narrow congested Metairie road for several hundred yards, hit a U turn, then go back along congested Metairie road for several hundred yards before turning on Houma. Or I can do a quick sprint on Metairie Rd to the U, then when traffic clears go the wrong way on Metairie for 50 yards then turn on Houma.

If I follow the law, I am going to slow traffic considerably and expose myself to greater risks. If I break the law in the way I describe, it will not negatively affect anyone and I won't delay a soul for a second. I will be exposed to lesser risk. What do you think I should do? What do you think most motorists would want me to do?

To say they seldom obey traffic laws is being way too generous. They have a total disdain for traffic lights, stop signs, and even which side of the road they should be on. Turn signals are a mystery to them too, but then again, they are a mystery to most car drivers too.

I had never considered the 365 weather aspect of it. That surely contributes to the numbers.

In all 50 states, people on bikes are required to follow the same laws as other drivers.

Here are a few key principles that underpin all US traffic laws:

First Come, First Served
Everyone on the road is entitled to the lane width they need. This includes the space behind, to each side and the space in front. If you want to use someone else’s space you must yield to whoever is using it.

Ride on the Right
In the United States, everyone must drive on the right-hand side of the roadway.

Yielding to Crossing Traffic
When you come to an intersection, if you don’t have the right of way, you must yield.

Yielding when Changing Lanes
If you want to change lanes, you must yield to traffic that is in your new lane of travel.

Speed Positioning
The slowest vehicles on the road should be the furthest to the right. Where you position yourself on the road depends on the location of any parked cars, your speed, and your destination. Always pass on the left.

Lane Positioning
Bikes can share the same lane with other drivers. If a lane is wide enough to share with another vehicle (about 14 feet), ride three feet to the right of traffic. If the lane is not wide enough to share, “take the lane” by riding in the middle.

Intersection positioning
When there is a lane that is used for more than one direction, use the rightmost lane going in the direction you are traveling.

Follow all street signs, signals, and markings

http://bikeleague.org/content/traffic-laws

Don't blame me, I didn't write it................

I am a motor boater and a kayaker. Kayaks are to motor boaters as bicycles are to motorists.

That's not exactly right there Paul, the UN-powered vessel HAS the right-of-way.............

With all that lawlessness and reckless abandon, you'd think that bicycling deaths would be more common than they are. As it stands the numbers aren't much higher than accidental gun deaths. I suspect that the riders are more in tune to their surroundings than many realize. Do you unfailingly obey every traffic law?

Can you cite the navigation rule that sets that forth?

This is true but I believe I must be invisible when in a kayak, or just a slow moving target.


mike r

So far in this conversation, I don't think any of that has been the source of disagreement.

I thought the same thing. Pretty stupid!

Jerry

I have seen that before. In motorcycle speak I suspect it was target fixation. The rider looked at what he wanted to avoid rather than where he wanted to go. The bike follows the eyes.

I'm planning to get back on my bicycles after a decade of not riding. Motorists playing with their cell phones has scared me off from riding the road bike so I'll ride the mountain bike on some dirt back roads and two tracks.

I've seen bad manners from cyclists and from motorists.

The difference is a motorist with poor road manners can and has killed cyclists while cyclists can only irritate you.

I bike home from work. At least half the route is within a big greenway near the Salt River. It's one of the great blessings in my life. Dunno if I'm supposed to get spandex or not, but seeing as I've made due with regular shorts for about 45 years now, spandex is probably not on my shopping list.

As far as cardio goes, it's a whole lot kinder than running. And in the summer, biking is cooler than walking.

Follow the law and I'm ok with it. Bunch up and stop traffic and I'd just as soon see your ass run over.

Actually I have been held up quite a bit of time multiple times, but maybe it just me being too careful, as I would really hate to run over somebody no matter how inconsiderate he/she is. The slow downs are especially long on a local road that leads down to the nearby lake. The road is curvy and hilly with no shoulders and is frequented by cars pulling boats. Often there will be quite a backup as some of these cars with heavy boats cannot safely pass thus traffic backs up considerably. I would say 10 -30 minutes isn't uncommon. I know a lady that lives down that way and she leaves for work on 2nd shift an hour earlier than she would normally as this is becoming a popular spot with the local bikers. Think of that she is giving up 5 hours a week because of folks like you.

Also thank you for your response. regarding the sidewalk. I ask it often and always get some BS anecdotal reference that its too dangerous. Talk about screwed up logic a collision between a 220 lb bike and rider and a 175 lb person is too dangerous but a collision between a 3500 lb block of steel and the same 220 lb bike and rider at much greater speed is OK. Isn't what you are really saying is I don't want to have to maybe slow down and be inconvenienced by watching for pedestrians, Id much rather inconvenience everyone else so I can do what I want. Thats what I hear you saying , and frankly i consider you on the same level as the transexuals wanting to use the other sexes bathroom or any other special interest groups wanting special treatment at everyone else's expense.
If the bikers want some place to ride why don't you lobby for a law that requires adequate bike lanes be added or built to hwys and figure out some way to finance it thru taxes. I put forth the excise tax on firearms and ammo and hunting and fishing license fees as good examples. Put a tax on your equipment and require licenses for the roadway and use the money to build places to ride.
I also applaude the thought mentioned that all bikes should meet the insurance and safety requirements , (lights, turn signals brake lights etc.) requirements the same as autos on the road. Sorry Bud but your wrong and you know it and no matter how trite your answers and justification is its BS.

I'm a little late to this but fu ck anyone riding a bike in the middle of the road. Thanks that is all

I quit riding a damn bike when Dad turned me loose with his '50 Ford pickup!!

Before that it was a Mustang....a REAL ONE!!

Some of you guys must absolutely lose it when you get caught at a couple red lights in a row.

Will tell this with a different slant, no pun intended.

Average sized Vietnamese male trying to get out of Dodge on a bike, peddling like a mad man. I would'a been doing something myself if a Charlie model Huey was at my six acting like he was the new sheriff in town, but probably not peddling straight down a dirt trail to Hell.

A H/E quick fuse on a 10# warhead, propelled by a 2.75" FFAR slithered just under the peddler's cheeks, detonated on the seat and whaddya know, bikers can fly!

Made a mess of the bike too.

Lesson here for bike riders is don't pizz off a chopper pilot. Act calm and casual, do not run or peddle fast. Always be polite and don't mince words when he asks for directions to the nearest bar.

I've raced mountain bikes and done a lot of stupid things on motorcycles but I'll never ride another road bike unless it's a closed course. Watched a buddy get taken out by a pickup on a narrow road. He was hugging the right side of the road and the pickup thought he would just squeeze by so as not to wait for the oncoming car to pass. Nope.

After years of riding bicycles in urban traffic, if you expect cars to not run you over, all of them, you have already lost.

Riding in heavy traffic will quickly teach you to pay attention.

Sorry about your bud.

My knees are slaughtered. I limit the amount of impact I subject them to.

[s][/s]Get off the road ! . your ride has no lights , can't keep up with traffic u got a perfectly good bike trail 10' on one side of the road or the other .....yet u get in my f/ing way , to top it off u paid no taxes to build or repair any of it !!!!!!!!! ....bikers are like teenage unwed mothers ......easy ,pay for nothing ...take take take....use use use ...

That you think bicyclists only interact with pedestrians in sidewalk bicycling is very telling of the amount of thought you have put into it.

I must also say that I am a bit disappointed on a forum like this that so many are advocating for more taxation and more regulation. Hillary appreciates your support!

How much money are you willing to bet on your belief that cyclists don't pay for roadways?

I am sorry about your friend. That is the very reason that many cyclists don't hug the white line. It seems to invite a squeeze pass.

I don't mind the bike riders too much. I wish they would give up on the multi color tour de France outfits that effectively break up their outline though. Especially along rural roads with an autumn foliage back drop. I'm happy to see the solid florescent green becoming popular.

That's because they're holding up traffic flow. And as far as how often and how long do I have to deal with it? Every single time, that's how often, until I can get around them, every single time.

Get's real old. And I detest going into oncoming traffics lane when I have a perfectly good lane being used by some toad on a tricycle.

I stick to paths as much as possible, but when I am in traffic, I always wear bright clothing. I have never been treated more respectfully as I was when I started wearing this American flag and USA shorts combo though. My riding bud who isn't really safety minded even commented how well the motorists were treating us the first time I rode with it. I think when they see it, it somehow humanizes the experience. I am no longer just this irritation they encounter or some Lance wannabe, I am a human. A human who loves this country.

Here we go ...now your to tell me since your a unwed mother ..that u pay taxes to , so the free b's from .gov are part of what is available in the system ...here we go ...I want to see user fees !!!

Nope, why don't you do some homework on how local, state and federal road construction and maintenance are funded and get back with me.

Welll what I can say, is I despise lights. We used to have 2 in town. then 3. They just added 3 more. I"m not happy at all.

And the fact I have to yield at stop signs now is what I run around saying... point is, used to be you rarely had to do anything but stop and then go... traffic was a none issue.

But I'm told I'm 100 years too late and born in the wrong state to boot...

I really like riding bikes for exercise. Need to get back to it, but on teh farm and not out on the dang roads.

I ride all the time. I'm not a racer, but I love to ride my mountain bike in the sad hills. I haven't driven anything but my bicycle since Sunday, other than to take my wife to dinner last night. If the weather is nice, and I'm not pulling a boat, why burn gas?

Bicyclist have the right away period! just as a pedestrian would.

What the dumbassed prick headed inconsiderate Bicyclist seems to forget sometimes is that the right of way doesn't do you any good when your dead.

Ride smart, stay safe.

We cut across 8? on the way home and end up on the parks.. I hate the parks... But I have to say on the 20th of September most everyone was kind enough to pull over if they were slow. Was a blessing with all the rain and wind.

First year we came up, 86, I'd never heard Mom say much of anything bad.... we were in my truck, and had been all over the state when we come around a curve going up a slope, somewhere around TOK I think... anyway it was Dad, Mom and I in a single seat truck.... and we come around the curve and see a motor home in front. No one says anything, until mom says, great, another MF Motor Home... that was before the law and the first time I"d heard MF from her in my life.... LOL. Dad and I had a great laugh.

No, but it sure helps with the lawsuits. I have a special insurance policy for the express purpose of it being used to file and win a suit if negligence on the part of a motorist kills me.

I work in Loudoun County and there is a bike trail which extends all the way to DC. One of the areas where the bike trail winds through Leesburg, I always see bicyclists riding on the paved road while the paved bicycle trail is less than 30 ft away. The trail runs parallel with this winding road with many blind turns. Many times the bicyclists are holding up traffic on this road which has 45 mile an hour speed limit. Why would a bicyclist choose to get on this road and not stay on the trail? I don't understand the mindset.

I don't understand that mindset either. There are some bicycle lanes that run parallel to a parking lane. Some of those lanes are entirely in the door zone of parked cars. I won't ride in those. Around here we have quite a few that are mostly in the door zone. I ride the outer edge of the bike lane. Sometimes motorists buzz me, obviously oblivious to the danger I face riding in a door zone. Dedicated infrastructure like you pointed out though. I'll use it.

The out of state dumb [bleep] like to ride on our 70 mph highways.

The same highways loaded with a bunch of grain trucks not to mention 'traffic'.


Complete and utter stupidity.

It should be illegal.

Haven't read many but I am an avid bike rider - even during the winter in MN..
Most riders have the elitist mentality that they are more virtuous than you! I hug the fog line, wear ear buds and listen to the radio! No helmet - after 63.9 years, what's the difference?
Two or more and they drive down county roads side by side 'til someone comes up from behind. I honk my horn and swear at the axxholes - its a violation of state law.
I do wear lycra because it keeps the "boys" in proper order and out of harms way.

Amen brother, they ride up and down 421 and the log trucks scare me when I'm in my car.

It sounds like liberal cyclist are the problem (like everything else). Nobody around here would dream of riding in traffic, even if legal.

Well that just speaks volumes.

I'll go ahead and help you out since you are having a bad day hun. This is more than a BS anecdotal reference, and it's from but one of many studies done on sidewalk cycling. I hope the cramping eases up soon.

http://www.bike.cornell.edu/pdfs/Sidewalk_biking_FAQ.pdf

It sure does. It tells you that I want my loved ones well cared for if some idiot kills me.

Get bigger tires and sidewalks, rocks etc. won't be a problem for you. Unless you're racing or traveling cross country, there is no reason to ride on skinny tires.

Sidewalks are a dangerous place for bicycles. That's why sidewalk bicycling is illegal in so many places. I have fat tire bikes. I use them off road. I use my bikes with road tires when I ride on the road.

Yeah, 70 mph highways are way safer.



You are a self righteous dumbchit.

Pay her no mind Bangeye, this thread was obviously started by a lactating over ovulating hoe who's biological clock went out when fuggin Globes were hot!

Can you point out where I said I ride on 70 MPH highways?

The guy who makes those rickymouse youtubes frequently sets his camera up at that spot because it's a notorious decreasing radius curve.

Motorcycles and cars frequently lose control at that spot. Someone who would ride a bicycle around there must have a death wish.

Why do you ride on the road?

To get to where I am going. The same reason I drive on the road.

2 and 13 are 70 mph highways.


Mountains in the distance, yeah only about 400 miles away.


You're either trolling or incredibly ignorant.


Either way you lose ass pirate.

Coulda' saved a lot of bandwidth by just titling this POS thread as such, to start with.
Metarie didn't EXIST when I was a boy in NOLa.,....it was founded and populated by a boom in out of state cretins.
I see nothing's changed much.
You are a self proclaimed prick with ears.
GTC

I ride a bike a lot, but I guess I'm on the water to much. I believe that the ROW belongs to the biggest vehicle and cringe at the thought of one of my boats stalling in front of a super tanker.

I said "at first glance it looks like..." I made it pretty obvious that all I did was pulled it up on the internet and did a Google map and street view. Watch out for those cows on the road. I'll bet they really piss you off.

There is no limit to the temptation to test the Darwin Theory of Evolution.

Unless a drunk drove through the fence cows aren't allowed on 2 or 13.


Keep googling.

I had to check what website I was on again. I simply cannot believe my conservative brethren are here advocating for more taxes, more government and are now voicing an unwillingness to accept responsibility for their own negligence. What the living phuc is going on in this world.

The part of 13 I pulled up south of the Indian Reservation had cows on it.

I am going to call it a night. Please don't take me making sport of you too seriously.

You also initially referred to it as an interstate.


You are full of chit sport.

No worries, pricks with ears are kinda' like a buzzy chit fly,...a nuisance issue, and nothing more.

GTC

Nothing wrong with riding a bike buddy, but just like everything else, you gotta understand that you're rights end where somebody else's begins. Not necessarily directed at you personally, but there are lots a dumfuks out there that don't understand that. Not just bicyclists.

Just Sunday on my way to work, very quiet, no traffic, 4 bike idiots. Just 4 and they couldn't ride single file in their marked bike lane on the narrowest stretch of the road right in front of a school. There's my reason.

LMAO.




Travis

No schitt. I fall down going slow.

Paul, Yes, about as wide as the lanes of the interstate!!!!!! memtb

I'd say this thread solidifies people's view toward bicyclists pretty well.

And when somebody figures out how 13 is an interstate that parallel's Route 2, please let me know.








Clark

Google "interstate" and "parallel" before you come back.




Dave

Hell...I am a bicyclist and I stay out of the damn road, or at least out of any lane of traffic. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

Ha ha..

Ha Ha Ha...

Inner city folk walk down the center of the lane because they know we all drive within the boundaries of our line of sight.

And all this time I thought it was because they were stupid fugks looking for trouble.

Myth busting at its best!




Dave

Not so, I ride thousands of miles a year with nary a stitch of lycra, nor crotch padding, 'course, most folks find my style odd....




...and to answer the obvious, many motorists don't like bicyclists because many pi$$y morons in lycra impede the flow of traffic and create a hazard.

Birdwatcher

http://youtu.be/xLhEs_KDpMM

Oh crap, you ARE a pi$$Y moron, I shoulda read more of the thread first...

Bikers are sort of like the British with that air of arrogance. But besides that, I don't have any problems with you bicyclists.


....even if most of you are gay or gay-like.

YES!

I have no idea why Highway 2 is not greasy with bicyclists.



I had a buddy chase one into the ditch with a swather. Not intentionally, just happened that way.

Yep on all counts. If get hit, I figure its ALWAYS gonna be my fault, and ride with that mindset.

Depends on the road, and depends on the sidewalk.

I've only skimmed through the thread so may have missed it, but have we started bitchin' about Christian cyclists yet?



Added: Never mind, I see they're doing that on the why does everybody hate Christians thread.

I have not read the entire thread so I do not know if this has been addressed, but I am not so sure that a bicyclist is entitled to use the road...maybe in some areas (especially cities with established bike lanes and such) but to legally use roads they need to maintain a safe speed, have brake lights/signals or use the hand signals.

People riding their bikes doing 10 MPH right on the white line of a 60 MPH highway piss me the [bleep] off. I have to get in the opposing lane to safely pass them. If a car is coming the other way, I have to slow ways the [bleep] down.

If they'd stay in established bike lanes or well out of the way of regular traffic I wouldn't have any issue with bike riders. I have a HUGE problem with them the way I normally see them doing their thing.

H0w to make friends

Nailed it.

Quoting yourself is way under rated.

The biggest takeaway from this thread is that a fella that calls himself "muffin" apparently prefers bulging peckers and micro quads.

I love the Campfire!

Not true. There are indeed areas where the air is really bad - Beijing, Guangzhou etc...

But I did 20km in 39:10 last night on my mountain bike, riding here in Haikou. The air is comparable to the USA. It's the most densely populated area on the island. Everywhere else the air is even better.

As for the whole of this thread - All I have to say is "Man, 1st world problems." I'll have to grab some video some time of the electric scooter traffic here. Mind-blowing. Yet, life manages to somehow go on in spite of the utter chaos...

I'm going to go off topic and rant at joggers around here too. WTF is it all about jogging in the street when there is a sidewalk and even nicely groomed DG paths.
Are they bicyclists that got a flat and don't know how to fix it?

must one jog with a DG rifle on the DG path?

Now that you are sober, do you want to quote where I called it an interstate?

The best way to get away with murder is to run over a bicyclist. If the motorist is sober, it's all but guaranteed there won't be any legal action taken at all. I ride defensively and courteously. It's served me well so far.

Couldn't happen to more deserving people, motorcyclist included. Anybody the rides or drives anything where their butt is higher than their head, deserves a good wreck.

we have 2 or 3 run over and killed here every yr it seems.

Sam, I called it a highway, not an interstate. Clark mentioned 200 and 13 in one of his posts. I looked at 13 on google and commented that I had seen cattle on it. I didn't mention whether I saw cattle on 13 or 200. He asked which interstate I was referring to and I cleared up what I was referring to by calling it HIGHWAY 13.

I think when Travis asked which interstate I was talking about he was going back to my first response to him after he mentioned Highway 2. I told him what I saw of 2 ( generally straight with a shoulder) looked good with the exception of the passes and that it paralleled an interstate. Further saying most traffic would favor the interstate. I was referring to Interstate 90. 2 parallels 90 where I viewed it.

Tell me again why your knickers are in a knot.

OK, what about Muslim skinnies on bicycles carrying goats?

How do we feel about them?

Male or female goats?

looks nubile to me...

I think you've demonstrated why people see most bicyclists as morons.




Dave

Because I can't keep your name straight or because I call highways highways and interstates interstates?

Annoying as hell.

Is it true that a woman riding a bike on a road without a bike lane is breaking the law?

In Austin we have the "Bicycle Nazis", cause trouble on purpose.

There are several communities like that. I don't get why they do it.

A couple years ago my hunting partner and I were hiking up a trail while hunting deer. Idaho doesn't require orange and we weren't wearing it just so we wouldn't be so conspicuous to all the hikers/bikers in the area. A hot shot biker came down the trail past us and the snob SOB said 'why aren't you wearing orange.' I thought too slow but a good response would have been 'why aren't YOU wearing orange?' I was the one with the gun and I wasn't likely to shoot myself. After all, what's the purpose of orange anyway?
FWIW, he was wearing a shade of blue that would have looked gray in the right light. He looked much more like a deer than we did.

Jerk store would have smoked that guy.



Clark

Back several years ago bicyclist would organize rolling roadblocks through downtown Huntsville, AL.

If they all wore patriotic spandex nobody would have cared.




Dave

Hubris.

That's what paying homage to a 1 nut steroid user will do...

Hubris.


Good word.

OTOH don't drive to close to azzholestrong. Aquaintance of a fried evidently was inside the 3 foot rule and sat in jail for some years or such for it.

Or even folks walking. The black ones around here, some of them just decide they have to be as close to center as they can be, rather than at the curb or on the sidewalk where I would be if I was walking...

What's the hardest thing about winning the Tour De France?

Telling your parents that your gay!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A pedestrian stepped off the curb and into the road without looking one day and promptly gets knocked flat by a passing cyclist.

"You were really lucky there," said the cyclist.

"What on earth are you talking about! That really hurt!" said the pedestrian, still on the pavement, rubbing his head.

"Well, usually I drive a bus!" the cyclist replied.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted before oh well, it's still a good one.
makes me want another diesel pickup.

Here in Annapolis, capital of all that's PC and yuppie-crap, biking is a really big deal. I don't have an issue with that, per se, but whyinhell do they have to clog the arteries in and out of town at rush hour? The town sits on a narrow peninsula with but a couple of main thoroughfares in and out- what with the roads clogged with asshats shaving/putting on makeup/fixing their hair/yakking on cell phones (illegally)/etc. driving mindlessly and at speed on their way to work, it's a dam wonder more bikeys aren't killed.

I like a good bike ride for the exercise as much as the next guy, but those times I get off my butt and actually do it, I jump on one of the bike trails they converted from railroad lines for that purpose. At least there the only traffic I interfere with is old ladies limping along on the wrong side of the path, and I'm not likely to get plastered by a drunk cell phone talker in a Prius.

I do wear a brain bucket, for the same reason I buckle up in the car. Clothes: any old dammed pair of raggedy-assed shorts that happen to be on top of the pile. Those dweebs that wear the colorful spandex, $100 biking shoes, spiffy aero-helmets while gasping for air on a slight rise make me smile...

I sold bikes ...and I've sold auto tires...one pays ones fee free.. Lol ..I'm let in u have it ...

An another thing... snowmachines and 4 wheelers make a trail to and from ...state comes along builds a road ...kicking us to the ditch, after a few years they "find funds " to build a bike path ...and boot the snowgo and wheelers off BOTH !aaaa Wholes!!!!

In my area, Charleston SC there is a National Forest. In said National Forest there are a few curvy roads in an otherwise straight road world so to speak..

The leftist cyclers flock to these roads, two wide, four wide etc in big groups, small groups, doubles and singles..

There is no shoulder on these roads and the yellow line is the dirt demarcation zone.

It simply appalls me that someone or some group has so much cushion time on their hands that they feel the need to ride a bike on a dangerous road risking not only my life but theirs.. The only way around them is to pass and to pass is to pass on a blind curve so you are forced to ride behind them or move into the possibility of oncoming traffic..

Physics in the end is getting the best of them as one is smashed into the idiot of soft flesh hambuger that results when a logging truck takes the turn wide... Is it worth it? Spandex must feel incredible or the bike seat up your crotch one..

Personally I think its about as left winged pussy as it comes period, grown adults with nothing better to do than play dress up in pink stockings, eating gel cookies and chest thumping how fast they can go on a bicycle.. Get a MTN bike for Gods sake.. At best a weird group of people that would rather tout health and nature than live the real thing and all the while risking their lives , their childrens future and the lives of others to ride a bike on a paved road no less..

The law in Colorado as I understand it is , If I hit a bicyclist I'm at fault.

There is a "single file law" for the bicyclists to keep them out of traffic but it's not uncommon to roll around a corner in the mountains and have 4 wide, chatting as they mosey along an uphill grade.

If I leave my lane to go around, It's on ME.
If I'm travelling at road speed and roll around a corner and hit a rider in the road, It's on ME.

When the traffic light is red, the bikes hit the side walk to keep going and jump back to the street at their convenience, which I'm now obliged to avoid because they are Bikes, It's on Me.

If I grumble too loudly I'll be beaten into submission for not respecting the "rights" of fellow commuters that have no License,Registration,Insurance,and are not responsible for their action, That too is on ME.

Yes, I have a mountain bike and no, I don't ride with cars.

what I hate is how they just blow thru stop signs, think the entire road is for them as a priority since they " 'arent consuming fuel..... being 'green'...."

they all seem to have the same attitudes of arrogance, that they are royalty and the rest of us are all peasants.... just like the average democRAT.....

I'm not against bicycles, its their attitudes I can't stand...

Courteously for you is a pack of cyclists travelling far below traffic speed while tying up a whole lane and presenting a hazard to themselves and others. Almost always this is done for no other purpose other than mere recreation. But hey, other vehicles only had to wait to pass once so that's apparently OK.



If a pedestrian or pack thereof were walking anywhere on the road, much less down the middle of a lane, one would be hard-pressed to press charges against anyone who hit them either.

Whats the difference?

Birdwatcher

I honestly didn't think I could have any more disrespect for bicyclists until reading some of the schidt PaulBarnard has written on this thread.

As if riding a bike in spandex in the middle of the fuggin road wasn't attention whore-ish enough, you gotta come up with this buncha bullschidt?

What a supreme douche.

I am 65 and I bike everyday for 12 miles 528 feet of elevation gain, in 45 minutes for a average speed of 16 mph. If those hills were not there it would be 20 mph. I am in a 25 mph or 30 mph zone. Cars pass me on blind corners and blind hills. There is plenty of room for passing me with narrow cars. The trucks pulling trailers that are barely faster than me, that meet another car head on in a hairpin, and then run me into the ditch... those trucks bother me.

Worse are the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, BMWs, and Mercedes Benz hot rods that meet me head on as they pass in blind corner.

The absolute worst are cars in a race in 25 mph zone that are sliding sideways using both lanes drifting through a blind hairpin as I am coming the other way leaning into the corner.

Because there are so many fiords on the island where I live, hot motorcycles come from off island to go through all hair pins. They are not very dangerous as they are not very wide.

As it should be. It would be on any motorist if they rounded the bend and hit a mail truck, deliver truck, farm equipment, stalled vehicle, etc.

I knew what I was getting into when I started this thread Clark. I volunteered to be a punching bag. I hope you have thick skin, they are coming after you!

When you can't substantively refute or constructively reply to my comments, there's always ad hominems. You go sweetheart!

Although they are in violation of the single file law, I'm still the responsible party with no recourse, and bicyclists wonder why car and truck traffic have no respect/patience for bikes...

I live in a rural area and am used to tractors, combines, mowers and all sorts of machinery so I've gotten to where I'm not bothered by it. It's a slower pace and figure that it would be some beautiful area to bike ride if you're under 16 years old or gay. 😉 I give the bicyclists a wide berth and usually a 5 fingered wave. It's the urban areas where I have to keep my head on a swivel with all the 2 wheeled hornets in spandex buzzing around. I'm far less patient with all the stupidity from everyone, not just bicyclists, in suburbia.

Here they gather in a parking near my house before setting out. If you're at the light to make a right, they all pull up next to you in stead of behind you. So I roll down the window, "hey, if your next to me when I turn right, it's really going to hurt".

I turn right they stay put. Good times.

I don't ride in packs taking up the whole lane.

What the hell difference does it make if my reason for being on the road is recreation or fitness. Are you suggesting people on the road for recreational pursuits shouldn't be there? Does that mean the guy slowly trailering his horses to the national forest to ride doesn't belong on the road?

I have encountered packs of people walking down the road before. It wasn't difficult at all avoiding them. Some of them were purposefully discourteous. I let that be their problem, not mine.

I never filter to the right at stops or lights. I proceed through the intersection with traffic, then duck out of the way as soon as I possibly can.

i came close to killing a mescan today....

Anybody 'Keeping Score'???

I went into a Chevrolet dealership today intent on buying a new 2500HD High Country Diesel I'd found in their online inventory. 30 minutes later, I was so infuriated by the cork soaker sales staff that, when I walked out, I contemplated finding the nearest bike shop.

I was on driving on 550 in Colorado with my wife. We were on one of the downhill sections when we saw two bikes side by side ahead. My wife asked why are they blocking the road. I told her they weren't. Even if they were in single file, to pass them at a safe distance I would have to enter the oncoming lane. I couldn't do that until I had adequate distance with no vehicles approaching. I spend less time in the oncoming lane if they are side by side rather than end to end.

26 yrs ago I was a 'Sprocket Head'

Mtn Bikes was just getting rollin' in Utah....

Had a ball.......was in the best physical shape of my life...

Ride 30 miles on a single track trail at 9000'...

Beer was cold back at the truck.....lots of hot babes too...

Somewhere earlier you mentioned it was fun to ride with a groups. You ride in groups that DON'T take up the whole lane??

Later you stated how two cyclists riding side by side was "safer" for the motorist.



Fitness in this context IS recreation.

Any motorized vehicle (or horse drawn in the case of the Amish) moving that slow on a legal highway or roadway would be properly required by law to be marked with a large reflective warning triangle.

Furthermore, the general public obstructed by such traffic understands that those guys in said vehicles are not out there merely to get their jollies, they are there because they need to be.



Are you suggesting it should be legal for folks to walk down the road for recreation and fitness in a manner that obstructs passing traffic? Whats the difference?



What? Horse trailers always roll down the highway at 10 to 20 miles per hour, slower on the uphills?

You are merely trolling here. You started this thread for attention; a verbal form of putting yourself out there on the road in colorful spandex. But no worries, after your demise its in your will that somebody gets sued or whatever.

Birdwatcher

i'm guilty of doing that with my 12 valve.

I prefer mountain biking, but there is literally no place to do it in this area. It was about 26 years ago that my bud Lew White got me into mountain bike racing. That was a lot of knee and shoulder surgeries ago. I still enjoy it, but can't ride hard.

If one of the cyclists invited you back to talk about it, would you go back, or keep on rollin?

Exactly.

I certainly haven't gone back through these 29 pages, but If I were to take a tally, I do believe that Hillary would poll higher with this group than PB.....

So bicyclists are arrogant, elitists, self absorbing, road hogs, stop sign runners, royalty, dangerous, and on and on. Duly noted. No chance any motorist would ever go over the posted speed limit, tailgate, roll a stop sign, cut a corner in the opposing lane, not use a turn signal, ride without a seatbelt, text, phone, blast the the radio, drive drunk, pass in a no passing zone or cut someone off. EVER.

I have been biking the white line on a straight road then get passed and cut off by motorist with the horn blaring. Nearly ran me off the road intentionally. No other traffic, no hill, no curb, no reason to do that other than to be an azzzzhuel. Bubba didn't realize that in addition to being arrogant, self absorbing elitists, bicyclists can read a license plate number.

I ride in groups. I mentioned that I won't ride with road hogging groups. I will only ride with groups that treat motorists respectfully.

I am pretty sure I didn't say two bicyclists riding side by side was safer for the motorist. It does take less time to pass them if they are side by side rather than end to end.

I don't ride down the middle of the road and obstruct traffic. When someone comes up behind me I make room for them as quickly as I reasonably can.

I didn't say that horse trailers ALWAYS go well below the speed limit. I have been caught behind them in Colorado for several miles, going well below the speed limit. It's much easier to pass a slow moving bicyclist than a slow moving horse trailer or trailer boat as the case may be.

I rode Independence Pass from Twin Lakes to Aspen several years ago. I didn't hold up a single motorist for more than a few seconds. On the downhill into Aspen I was held up for long stretches by cars. I passed a few, but not one made an effort to move over for me. I didn't get worked up about it.

I mentioned earlier that I knew full well coming into this thread what would happen. I offer that every single thread started on the internet is for attention. Attention in the form of conversation. Would you start threads if you knew nobody would respond?

I do have an accidental death rider on my life insurance policy. I have told my wife that if someone was negligent in killing me she should use the extra money on the accidental death insurance to sue the. Ultimately that is up to her. Why is that a problem? I don't want to be sued for what little I have, so I don't drive negligently. I am having a hard time seeing how that's a point of contention at all.

You are at liberty not to crash the spread you know?

And when it's right before sundown and bunch of bicyclists are riding the white line on a highway with a mile of people just trying to get home(or to wherever) backed up behind them that's okay?

Talk about creating a problem.


Call me bubba all you want but people trying to get chit done shouldn't be held up by a bunch of FUUCKING idiots trying to get some exercise.

Ride your bike down the damn railroad tracks.

Are you suggesting that the very people bitching about bicyclists breaking the law might break the law too. That's troll talk 'round these parts. More and more bicyclists are riding with video cameras these days.

Recreating(slowly) on a highway has got to be one of the most retarded ideas of all-time.


Maybe that's why the locals never do it?

I am struggling to visualize a one mile bicycle induced traffic jam in Montana.

We feel sorry for bicyclists up here.

Most often they have lost their licence to drive an actual vehicle.

Its nice when winter comes and the cyclists go home.

I guess its not cool to bike wearing your Carhartts.

I have encountered bicyclists on the highway before. I have never had the issues going around them that you have. Maybe it's a you thing.

Coming soon to a winter road near you.....

Not surprised.


Highway 2 is a peaceful little two lane.....



Maybe there is a reason why we try to move large farm equipment at 4-5 AM rather than 5 PM on a Friday afternoon.


The herds of ass phags peddling through during harvest must especially stupid.

Damn and blast!

Winter bikes?

I am sorry that their actions are so hurtful to you. Rest assured, I don't hold folks up for more than a few seconds.

But I have seen a cattle drive on MT state highway 278 (70 mph posted speed limit) that covered both lanes plus 50 feet on either side. Traffic had to come to a complete stop 300 head of cattle strolled around the stopped cars. Anybody bitchin about that?

Big groups of them make me wish I had a GD snowplow sometimes. They're usually the types whose Prius' have "13.1" decals on the back.

The one thing that pizzes me off about bicyclists, more than anything else, is they will "ride the line" - even with a complete lane on the right ("parking lane")

Did they have flaggers and were the cows(and workers) out there for recreation purposes?


We used to move cows across Highway 2 but it has become to dangerous/busy that we no longer risk it.

Takes more time but we corral and trailer them to the next pasture.


Trust me dealing with highways is not something I look forward too when becoming 'the pain in the ass'.

People becoming 'the pain in the ass'(on purpose and for fun) annoy me and apparently most everyone else.

[bleep] around on the highway is one thing, thinking you belong there is another.

I hate cows, unless I am eating it. Then I love them.

Trust me. There was only gravel, grass and a ditch to my right.

[/quote]But I have seen a cattle drive on MT state highway 278 (70 mph posted speed limit) that covered both lanes plus 50 feet on either side. Traffic had to come to a complete stop 300 head of cattle strolled around the stopped cars. Anybody bitchin about that? [/quote]

The only time we put cattle on the highway (intentionally) is when there is no other practical way to get "there" from "here"

That's a consideration I had, and NOT the source of my bitchin'

See - pavement to the right!

Neither cows or bicycles belong on a highway.

If you have to be there, be considerate. Acting like you belong there with either is a sure path to douchebaggery.

Amen.

The only time we put cattle on the highway (intentionally) is when there is no other practical way to get "there" from "here" [/quote]

Not doubting that is the best way to run the cattle drive. Actually I believe cattle drives on the highway is somehow covered under the rules of free ranging. Just like biking is permitted by state law subject to the rules of the road.

Flaggers front and back is the only way we move them on the pavement.

You couldn't beat me hard enough to try Highway 2 with cows.

I wish I had a Walmart on both sides of me, would cut the traffic down nicely.

Maybe bicyclists should be required to have flaggers front and back? They might get a group rate on pilot cars.

One difference is in many cases the Rancher probably owned the road, before the state cut his ranch in half...........

This Paul guy has proven hisself to be downright "special", ain't he.

We have two highways and a set of busy railroad tracks running through our home place.

That doesn't count power lines, fiber optic, gas lines and buried power not to mention a fricken river for a boundary.

And an airport is a mile away.

Traffic is actually getting so bad that I would seriously recommend that all future bicycle trips to the area be cancelled ASAP.

Haha!

Sound advice.

Jim, I'm sure you've noticed the same thing lately.

I don't mind cyclists as long as they do what I've always done when biking.... don't pretend you're the equal of a 2-ton vehicle. (Oh, and when the signs say "Bicycles use sidewalk", I resent the idiots who drive down one of the two narrow, curbed lanes of the in-town roads.)

Yep, best to just completely bypass the Hi Line now as well.

Don't mind bike riders at all, except when they ride six abreast on a 22' wide blacktop that runs thru hilly country, run stop crossings without paying attention to what's coming the other way and showing up a functions wearing their smelly azz riding gear. Ragbrai comes thru my part of Iowa every few years and some azzwipes show up everywhere thinking their cool smelling up the place, restaurants, bars, stores ect. Know one around here would walk into the same places covered in pig or cow [bleep], but some riders always do

Used to try to creep up on bicycle people and roll the power window down and my buddy would stick his asscheeks out the window till it almost touched the side of their head.



Was so much fun, we did it to an out county constable too lmao.

I personally wouldn't associate with a (known)one.

Paul,
You asked why so many Americans don't like bikes on the road. Dozens of folks have told you why.

Then you keep trying to tell these people that they haven't experienced the incidents that they have described to you.

I think you got plenty of answers to your question. Why don't you make it your mission to get the thousands of inconsiderate, self-centered bike riders to follow your rules of good riding manners? You obviously have all the answers and you can make the world a better place.

One of the problems many people mentioned was the bike riders' sense of arrogance. You yourself may have the best riding manners in the world, as you keep claiming to us, however you also seem to suffer from that common bike-rider malady: extreme arrogance.

You, yourself admit that riding in traffic is dangerous and an easy way to get killed. So dangerous, in fact, that you have added accidental death coverage to your life insurance and instructed your wife to sue if you are killed by an errant motorist.

Then when many Campfire members tell you that we don't like bikes on the road because we consider it too dangerous for them and us, you try to argue that it isn't.

Common sense says that if bikes on the road were not a problem then there wouldn't be very many complaints. Since there are so many complaints, common sense says that bikes on the roads must be a problem. Denying it doesn't change a thing.

I love to ride a bicycle. Seven years ago I broke my leg and almost got it amputated, had to have emergency surgery. Was on crutches for 11 weeks. Doc told me to get with the physical therapy, most especially riding bicycles.

Well I live way out in the woods in the NC mountains.
I got my mountain bike geared up and went out and rode for 5 minutes the first day. That was painful but got through it.
After a week was riding for a half hour.
Felt better every day.

In two months I was riding for 2 hours a day.
I can tell you the mountain people of North Carolina have no use for a grown man riding a bicycle. They whiz by you, their mirror missing you by 8 inches.
Some yell stuff at you.
I do not wear that gay Tour de France outfit, I wear a white t shirt. No gay French helmet for me, I wear a baseball hat, to which I clip my little rear view mirror. This way I can see which vehicle is coming up upon me from behind.
No fancy bicycle shoes, just wear tennis shoes.

Definitely a hostile reception from the local NC inhabitants.

Now, I am 6-3 and 225, nobody stopped their car and invited me to a fistfight, I would have gladly joined in on that, and probalby won, but they sure enjoy messing with you while they buzz by at 50 mph.

One point that is constantly brought up is a cyclist legal right to the road.

Caitlyn Jenner has a legal right to use whatever pisser he likes, but start waving your pecker around the ladies room and your gonna get chit on.

Go in, be considerate, take care of your business and leave, chances are no one will bother it/him whatever.


Why the simple concept of being considerate when you are obviously somewhere you don't belong, even when you have a legal right to be there, escapes so many is puzzling.

True story. More'n a few Cops around here are also bicycle guys. About five of 'em would get off of their late shifts and then ride a ten mile, early hours of the am loop around downtown before going home to sleep.

One night two ex-con type in a passing vehicle cut 'em off and threw a soda, causing one of the Cops to wreck. Shouted insults were exchanged. The car stops, backs up, and the passenger gets out, flashes gang signs, and asks if any of them bicycle pu$$ies wanted a piece of him.

Turns out they did

The only time it really bothers me is when one of them is towing a kid in those phoney trailers.

Thats an ambulance run I would gladly miss out on.

17 page thread.... I'm curious. Not sure if I'm THAT curious.

Paul, I'm a cyclist too. It has transformed my life in the last several years and pulled my ass out of a very dark place. I'm typing this from a high altitude deer camp and I won't be huffing and puffing tomorrow because cycling (climbing) has me in very good aerobic shape.

Are the clothes goofy as hell? Yep. Can bikes be annoying? Yep. Do I love cycling? Yep.

Climbing is my thing. My ideal ride is around 30 miles with lots of long steep climbs and ripping downhills. Love the aerobic rush of having a maxed out heart rate. Love going 40 mph on a featherweight carbon fiber frame and tires an inch wide.

I can see where people get aggravated by a peloton of 20 bicyclists, hogging the road and running stop lights etc.

But, I was riding by myself on lonely country roads, not impeding any traffic. In fact, if I was coming up on a curve, and saw in my rear view mirror that a car would have to slow down to pass me, I would just pull over on the shoulder and let the car pass. I am a polite bike rider.

Nonetheless the mountain inhabitants disliked me.

One day I saw four people out in the yard. They had a big dog with them.
As I rode by, Fido ran out and ran up towards me. I saw that he was going to bite my ankle!
This goes way back to the wolf days, the wolf bites than ankle of the elk and cuts the achilles tendon, the elk cannot run, and the wolves kill it.
This mutt was trying to cut my achilles tendon. Hell I already had a broken leg I didn't need a severed achilles tendon.
At the last second, I put my foot out and the damn dog bit my tennis shoe. He got a mouth full of rubber, and he backed off, and I rode on down the road.

A few days later I was riding past the same spot and those people were standing near the mailbox. The dog was not there. I stopped and told them that their dog had almost injured me badly.
These people told me that they were upset with me. They saw how their dog had bitten my shoe, and were concerned that my shoe could have injured their dog's teeth!
All the while they looked at me with a look of contempt.

No, the NC hillbillies have no use for a grown man riding a bicycle.

Ya really want to piss off a hillbilly with something he has no use for.....show him a tooth brush.

Apoplectic.

I ride rural roads primarily. Light traffic. I try to be considerate. Sometimes there's just no way around it, a car has to slow down for a second. The horror! I mean the poor driver had to move their right toe over a couple inches and press a pedal, then move it back! It's a lot to ask.

I don't know if this has been said so I will. It seems like drivers often assume that bikes should be on the shoulder. In Oregon at least, the cyclist has discretion to do what they think is safest; and I'm here to tell y'all that hugging the far edge of the road is often not safest at ALL. For multiple reasons. First, shoulders aren't bike lanes; they can suddenly vanish, have mailboxes sticking into them, debris, dead animals, potholes, etc. One of the most dangerous things a cyclist can do is swerve into the lane, yet, if you ride a shoulder you will be forced to do so with frequency. Not good. Motorists assume that the cyclist is gonna stay over there and don't give enough room. Second, if you are on the shoulder cars will attempt the dreaded "squeeze pass"; it's much better to force cars to respect you as a vehicle and pass accordingly when it's safe to do so. I'm not saying get out in the middle of the lane. I like to ride about a foot from the fog line, that gives me some buffer to my right if I need it, and makes cars pass safely. Better for everybody.

Dogs are a bummer. I've pepper sprayed a half dozen of them. I've considered McGyver'ing a holster in my frame triangle for a Glock, too.

Jeff O, good reply. Enjoyed the read

Pages and pages dedicated to a pathetic minority that feels entitled to something they have no right. Highways were made for automobiles and paid for with related taxes. Along comes some self appointed bicyclist and demands room and respect.

Bicyclists are all over the place with an industry that has made a fortune off their stupidity. When we were kids, we rode bikes to get somewhere and didn't need plastic brain pans and spandex to ride the bike. When we rode our bikes, we steered clear of cars and understood the hazards of automobiles. Our town is full of bicycle trails paid for by taxes of city residents and less than 1% of the population even use them.

Now, just like gays, transgenders, and countless other super minoritys, bicyclists make such a outcry for consideration they don't deserve. They peddle their asses all over the place expecting special treatment, when they don't get it, all of a sudden we have an intolerant society.

Ban the bastards...

I don't like to see that Mark. Let me ask you this though. Is that bicycle lane completely within the swing radius of parked cars doors? Riding in that "door zone" is extremely dangerous.

The only time we put cattle on the highway (intentionally) is when there is no other practical way to get "there" from "here" [/quote]

Not doubting that is the best way to run the cattle drive. Actually I believe cattle drives on the highway is somehow covered under the rules of free ranging. Just like biking is permitted by state law subject to the rules of the road. [/quote]

I enjoy watching a good cattle drive. Especially if dogs are being used.

Come on, you can do better than that.

Even where there are NO parked cars?

I'd laugh my ass off at that.

I was shocked to read that JeffO is a bicycle enthusiast.





Clark

Bicyclists on the roads don't present a danger at all to an alert motorist. As a bicyclist I use risk mitigation strategies that make bicycling about as safe as driving. I ride with respect to my own vulnerability and with respect to other road users.

Most of the complaints motorists have, based on my experience, are just so much idle whining. I have been driving about 50,000 miles a year for the past decade. From coast to coast on all manner of roadway. On my average commute to work I am held up more by discourteous motorists than I have been by all bicyclists combined over the whole of my life. Most honest people will tell you they have been held up by the actions of one stupid motorist in a single incident more than they have by all bicyclists over the whole of their lives. That's perspective for you.

It's a new world folks. Bicycles are here to stay. Get used to it.

I am 5'11" 170. I have invited a few rude jackholes back to talk. Only one took me up on it, and he ended up apologizing. Most those folks that do that crap are bullies and cowards. Interestingly, 80% of the time a motorist does something especially dumb dangerous or discourteous to me, it's an out of shape middle aged white male. That's what I would bet my life most of the spittle launching blowhards look like. I live in an area that has as many blacks as whites. I have never had a black treat me rudely. NOT ONCE.

I don't ride where I don't belong.

Then stay off the highway!

Paul, re: the title of your thread -

Does "careful what you ask for - you might get it" come to mind?

I live at sea level. I love getting to the mountains to ride and do it at least once a year. Talk about a tough transition. Here's my best climb to date.





And a fun descent

I passed by a trailer where there were a few people in the front yard. Four pit bulls came tearing after me. I had the jump on them so I just rode off. A Sheriffs deputy just happened to be behind me. I let him catch up with me down the road. I told him that if I ever got attacked I was going to deal with it, pointing to my seat bag. He smiled and said "do what you have to do to deal with the threat."

They should be in the bicycle lane if there aren't parked cars.

For the most part I do. Sometimes I end up on a highway that's less than ideal for bicycles. When I do, I do my best to protect myself and to not inconvenience motorists. This is the kind of highway I enjoy riding. Low traffic with a good shoulder.

I knew it was coming. I figured it'd be would be good therapy for folks to let them tee off on me.

I don't need therapy! At least not for this.

Yet here you are.

I wish all bicyclists would stay that far right of the fog line.
Many won't even move over when there is oncoming traffic, and some can't hear you coming up from behind because of their earbuds.
Seems the music is more important to some than their lives!

And it really hasn't changed anything.

If the next cyclist I encounter is as courteous as you all is good.

If the next is an AZZhat, that is what he is.

No different than shooters, hunters, drivers and shoppers!

Whatever that means.

IIRC, you invited me.

I didn't expect it to change anything. How many minds or attitudes to you think ever get changed in these campfire threads? I have been in these bicycle on the road discussions on a variety of boards. I hear the same complaints. Some valid, and some not so much. Here are some of the common complaints. And the basic response.

You don't pay road taxes. Yes I do. Ad valorem taxes build local roads. Gas taxes don't cover all the expense of state and federal roads, so my income taxes go to that.

You wear spandex. Well, mine is Lycra to be exact, and why do you care what I wear? When you go to the grocery store, do you check out all the men's apparel?

You break the law. So what, you do to. The difference is when I do it, it doesn't endanger you, and sometimes it helps me get out of your way more quickly.

You are in my way. Maybe for a brief moment. In reality though, stupid and inconsiderate motorists hold you up more than bicyclists do.

There's more. I may touch on them later.

I am about to go look at 19 acres of recreational land that's for sale. It has about 8-9 acres of stocked ponds and adjoins government and paper company land.

I always loved bicycles. From the time I was 10 yrs old I would tie my 22 rifle to the handlebars and ride for miles hunting rabbits, tin cans, etc. Great times.
Then I moved to Durango, CO. Now I despise those arrogant worthless, spandex clothed, road hogs. I could say much more, but I just repeat whats already been said.

I would bet most of the spandex wearing Bicyclist also wear there wife's panties when shes not Home......

no traffic here..........

Paul,

If you love it, good for you. Some of your colleagues are brain dead and around here a few have left this world as road kill. My wife is a Triathlete. She doesn't train on public roads. Here it is hilly, too many blind curves, and traffic goes from light at midday to bumper to bumper at Rushhour.

Speaking of Rush hour around here in Suburbia, Every Tuesday we have a group of 20-30 that insist on riding as people make there way home. They ride on hilly roads with double yellow "do not pass' the whole way. They string cars back 3/4 of a mile or more. Going up hill, this peloton will slow to 10 mph as these recreation cyclists huff and puff.

They tell me they have the same right to the road as cars. I disagree. I use my car for transportation, they are cycling for recreation. I can't play golf down the middle of a road.

Further along with that thought is cyclists must follow the same rules as motorists. Yeah, right!!! They blow through stop signs, pass on the right, weave in and out of stopped traffic, etc.

You want to ride in flat assed rural Iowa, go for it. Tell your Bernie Sanders Urban and Suburban buddies to GTFO the roads during the week. There. I said it!

I've learned a lot from this thread and decided that I'm going to make an effort to be more courteous to bicyclists with whom I share our roadways.

From here on out I'm going to switch to drinking beer from cans instead of bottles, even though I prefer bottles. That way it won't hurt so much when I toss my empties at them when I go by.

I feel the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders! I feel enlightened and empowered at the same time. I may go vote for Hillary to celebrate my newfound inclusiveness! Ok, maybe not Hillary, but at the least I might think of voting for the pot smoking dude.

Paul,

If we hypothetically agree that YOU are not the problem, and that YOU are never the problem, will you admit that a considerable number of other bicyclists ARE a problem?

Can you possibly see that we are not all just making up these stories to torment you?

Just yesterday I saw an adult male run a red-light and almost get hit.It was due to inattention on his part apparently and it was a very close call. The alert driver slammed on his brakes and stopped inches from the startled biker.

The alert drivers in the two following vehicles also had to slam on their brakes and barely avoided rear-ending each other.

Even I got a jolt of adrenaline just seeing the incident up close, as I was first in line waiting at the cross-street for my light to turn green.

Fortunately the only result was a few black tire marks left in the intersection.

Paul, are you going to suggest that I didn't see what I saw? Or even suggest that this is the first time I have ever seen such a thing happen?

Bicycles on bike paths or good bike lanes, or well off on wide shoulders, as in your picture, are not a problem, usually.

Bikes carelessly or arrogantly mixing with automobile and truck traffic definitely are a problem. Why can't you understand that?

You absolutely have to see some of the same stuff we see. Do you wave down those bikers and counsel them?

That would be much more productive than trying to tell us that we don't know what we are talking about.

The law is what it is, Nifty. In Oregon a bike is a vehicle; further, you are required to give enough room when passing that if they crashed you'd still miss them (that's a relatively recent law).

Car drivers are in no physical danger from cyclists. Cyclists are in mortal danger from cars 24/7/365. Virtually all of the anti-bike angst expressed here and elsewhere has to do with "feelers" and the psychology of driving a car. Look that up. People's personalities change.

I ride rural roads and do my best to play fair. Nonetheless I've annoyed a few drivers. Funny, they never stop, even when I give them the bird right back with gusto. Any of you ever want to have a heart to heart with a cyclist, look me up. I'm the big guy in bright yellow west of Eugene. Given that most drivers are lardasses and I've got a pretty good pump on when riding, I'd be quite happy to have that little talk.

I think it goes both ways, as in the video of the retard smoking out the cyclist above.

For every cyclist you see doing something stupid, I guarantee that a rider like Paul has seen an order of magnitude more from douchebag motorists.

I've certainly been on both sides. Being hit by drink bottles, cut off, swerved at, as a cyclist and riding in a car when my buddy driving tossed a full chew spitter out the window and hit a cyclist.

I'd of taken a shot at the prick if it was me on the bike.Lol.

"Let Me Have It. I Am a Bicyclist"

I have nothing to say, your life sucks enough as it is.

Nifty, that wasn't aimed at you, sorry about that.

Hypocrisy is an unattractive human trait.

Vegans think I am a barbarian.

Members of the Sawtooth Society have threatened to cut my tires at the trailhead because I hunt in their wilderness.

Outfitters have cursed me because I exited the trail on the uphill side of their packstring .

"hunters on ATVs have ruined day long stalks.

fudds call me tacticool because I shoot an AR.


I am glad I have my Constitutional right to denigrate anyone who fails to agree w/ me on the internet.


mike r

I'm cool with cyclists. I ride a bit myself.

That said, each time I see a "cyclists have rights" bumper sticker I have to chuckle;

The next cyclist I see stop for a stop sign will be the first.

their

I have never seen problems of the scale described here. I don't doubt that there are problems. I know for a fact (from my participation on a bike forum) that there are inconsiderate bicyclists. I wasn't kidding when I said earlier that I have never been held up by a bicyclists for more than a minute. I drive a LOT. I get held up by idiot inconsiderate motorists more than that every day. To be fair though, I live in a flat area with straight roads, so that explains some of it. I have vacationed in NM and CO 7 of the past 10 years. I encounter a lot of bicyclists out there. Never have had a problem. I guess my own experiences unfairly shape my perception of the problem.

I always ask folks to tell me about the time they were most inconvenienced by a bicyclist. Most folks have never really been held up by a bicyclist. Every driver I have ever talked to has been held up by one idiot motorist in a single incident more than they have been held up by all bicyclists over the whole of their lives. I got stuck on a bridge for 3.5 hours as crews cleaned up the mess from a texting driver crash. I mention that just to put bicyclist inconvenience in perspective.

That rider you saw that was inattentive and rolled through the red was just that. Inattentive. As vulnerable as bicyclists are, you don't stay healthy long riding around with your head up your butt. Multiple times every day I encounter inattentive motorists. People by their nature will be inattentive sometimes.

Part of my skepticism relative to the claims people make stems from this. I have seen a lot of videos of bicyclists taken by indignant motorists. Much of the time I see those videos, I wouldn't have an issue negotiating the riders. It's instances like the video posted in this thread where the douchnozzle was rolling coal on bicyclists who were on or to the right of the fog line. I have seen people complain about that kind of bike traffic. On another forum someone posted a video of bicyclists rolling through a stop sign. Only one of 20 or so came to a full stop. During the time the video was rolling not a single car came to a full stop. That's perspective.

Yes there are problem riders. Yes there a problem riders who cause traffic problems. No I have never encountered a single one. Yes I have seen people exaggerate what they perceive as bicycle problems.

That right there was funny, I don't care who you are.

My bike has 4 wheels, front and rear racks 750cc,and bungee cords holding a case of beer.....and I wear a pair of sweats and a pocket tee wit mybeat up tennie' runners

Calling BS on this one. When's the last time you saw a bike actually stop for a stop sign, or even pause before pullling out onto a street. They don't do it.

I have a good bud who is an APD detective. I was driving around with him a few years back and saw one of those groups during the tail end of rush hour traffic right in the middle of downtown ATL. I wouldn't have anything to do with that schidt. I'd rather slam my junk in the sliding glass door than to be a part of that. Oddly though, they didn't have traffic backed up behind them. Maybe at a point bikes are faster in congested areas.

I think you misunderstood my post. Yes they break the law, but probably not without exercising a degree of care in doing so. Do you come to a full stop at every stop sign? Signal every turn and lane change? Never go over the speed limit?

As a Bicyclist, do you catch a lot of discrimination from Cyclists? At what age did you officially come out.?

Is that really the best you can do?

If you haven't seen the problem, then you can't see the Forest for the trees.

All you have to do is go on Youtube and search "Hate Cyclist" and you'll see why people despise you and your ilk.

The fact that you've got basically 30+ pages of people that hate cyclists guts ought to tell you something.

The only thing that could make this picture more gay, is an AIDS ribbon.

Maybe a dilldo.





Clark

It's not always the Auto drivers fault.

Aww,,they quit filming too soon,.it was just getting good.!

Paul,

You keep mentioning that many car drivers are inattentive and do stupid stuff and don't obey the laws. Yes, that is true. So what?
That is not what this thread is about. You asked why drivers have problems with bicyclists. That is what we are all talking about.

If you are defending the bad behavior of many bikers by saying that many drivers are worse, you are certainly not elevating the cause of bicyclists.

Whether drivers are good or bad doesn't change the fact that motor vehicles and bicycles are not a good mix.

Studies of highway traffic have shown that when vehicles are traveling at close to the same speed, accident numbers are reduced. The same studies show that when vehicle speeds vary by more than 20 mph on the same road, regardless of vehicle type, accident rates go up. That certainly includes bicycles using the same road.

You mentioned that being delayed momentarily by a bicycle is no different than being delayed by a mail truck, etc.
I beg to differ. Mail trucks, garbage trucks, and school buses are providing an essential service to all in the community. Bicyclists using the road for fun and fitness are not in the same category.

The person that said that drivers are not in any physical danger from bicyclists only gets half a point for their argument. Ask any driver that has caused a death if it has had a major effect on their life. Twenty years ago my niece killed a pedestrian with her car. It haunts her to this day, despite the fact that she wasn't found at fault and the pedestrian was on drugs and stepped out right into her path, possibly on purpose.

Common sense on the part of drivers and bicyclists would eliminate most problems. In that statement I include most bicycles staying out of most traffic lanes most of the time. In my mind that is common sense. Unfortunately common sense is hard to legislate, and we don't want more laws and restrictions.

I always figured a guy who acts like an entitled douchebag on a bike probably acts like an entitled douchebag when driving a car.
Yes I do ride, but mostly gravel roads because there is a lot less traffic to deal with. No I don't wear spandex.

You guys are wasting your time.

He's making roads safer for all of us, you should thank him.

Funny how he can't comprehend why people hate cyclists...

Now that is quality content. Travis, can you give 444Whackoff some lessons?

This will make all better........



And.......

You'll never get these guys to stare longingly at you dressing like that.

I am not at all defending bad behavior in bicyclists. I abhor it. I don't consider slow rolling stops, not signaling turns and speeding on a bicycle, when they don't affect other road users to be bad behavior. Certainly no worse than it is driving a car. I ride my bike the way I drive my car. I am courteous to other road users and I bend the law a little when in my learned opinion I can safely and courteously do so. Don't we all?

I didn't ask why motorists have a problem with bicycles. I know why and I offered myself up as the target of your rage. I didn't say I wouldn't shine a little perspective on the subject while you tee off on me.

Why is the reason a vehicle is on the road important? Should delivery vehicles have priority over a family driving to Disney World since the delivery vehicle is providing an essential service and the family going to Disney World is on the road purely for recreational reasons. When I am towing my boat, should I get out of the way of people driving to work?

Not only are drivers not in danger from bicyclists, they have a hell of a lot of control over whether they run over one or not. If you are unfortunate enough to be involved in a not at fault fatality with a bicyclist, I can't imagine it would be any more traumatic than being involved in a not at fault fatality with a motorist.

You are right in that there is an elevated risk associated with speed disparity. Especially given a bicyclists vulnerability. I do my best to mitigate that risk by riding lightly traveled roads, using strategies to make myself more visible and staying out of the way as much as practicable.

I am a safety specialist by profession. There is no such thing as the absence of risk. We all have a threshold for what we consider acceptable risk. Some people are afraid to fly.

I have poured over volumes of data on bicycle accidents and fatalities. Bicycle fatality rates are on the decrease and have been for years. When I look at the leading causes of bicycle fatalities, I see risks I can eliminate. There are just over 700 bicycle deaths per year. If I don't ride on the wrong side of the road, don't ride under the influence and don't ride at night without lights, That number is cut in about half.

Then if I don't ride in door zones, use extreme caution and slow down at intersections and road entrances, I further reduce the chances I'll be killed. Further yet if I am alert for right hooks and stay out of door zones.

That leaves sideswipes and rear end strikes as the chief remaining type of fatality. The best strategies for eliminating this risk are unfortunately the very strategies that piss motorists off. Riding off of the fog line increases visibility and discourages squeeze passes. Riding in groups increases visibility and discourages bullying behavior.

I rarely ride in groups. Most often alone or with one other person. I am keenly aware of traffic behind me. I wear bright colors. When a vehicle is well off behind me I often tend toward the middle of the lane and weave a little to increase my conspicuity. Then I look over my shoulder to let the motorist know I am aware they are there. Then I move as far to the right as practicable. At that point I am at their mercy. I monitor them closely and am prepared to bail if I have to and have time.
That technique has served me well. I have stripped away all the manageable risks and am left at what I consider an acceptable risk.

Even with all of the risks associated with bicycling, studies have shown it adds to longevity.

There are almost as many accidental gun discharge death in the US each year as there are bicycle deaths. That doesn't dissuade any of us. We feel confident that we can manage the successfully manage the risks.

Paul you said.... '...Not only are drivers not in danger from a bicyclist, they have a hell of a lot of control over whether they run over one or not...'

I beg to differ, when 'the pack' ran the stop sign, I was left with the choice of driving up their collective AZZes or leaving the lane....I did not have time to slow down. I DID have control over whether I ran over them or choose to move into the oncoming lane, and as I passed them they were still coming through the stop sign. Had a car been coming in the opposite lane I would absolutely have been in danger.

I spent 24 years as an Air Traffic Controller, lots of 'routine tasks', but mostly looking for things that would, could, might go wrong and fixing it before babies and Samsonite were scattered all over several counties.

It strikes me odd that a Safety Specialist could not possibly forsee the possibility that a bicycle could be a causal factor in creating DANGER to a driver.

By that's just my opinion!

I get what you are saying. I didn't do a good job of explaining what I meant. A motorist is not likely to be killed or injured by a bicyclist. In your case the bicyclists could have been a catalytic force in a crash. Situations like that are a relative rarity I would think. I can't say I have ever read about a bicyclist being a catalytic factor in an accident. I feel certain it has happened but would reckon it to be so rare as to make it almost a non-issue.

On that we agree.

I am fortunate in that I can commute to work on a bicycle, I live just 15 minutes away but by taking longer routes I can turn it into up to a two-hour commute each way. I love this self-imposed hardship, the necessity of rolling out before dawn and the fact that being out there in the weather, whatever it is, has become part of my daily routine.

More than that the opportunity for epic endeavors. I have ridden from Texas to New York, and recently England, Scotland, Ireland and France. I used to think of my motorcycles as freedom machines, and I suppose they still are. The sight of a loaded-up motorcycle in the driveway, camping gear and bags attached and the world waiting at the end of your driveway, is a fine thing.

Heading out for distant places on a bicycle is like that, but better. You never know what the day will bring, or where darkness will catch up to you, or upon what patch of ground you will spend the night. I could live that way, easily.

Birdwatcher

Yep.

Sounds like you and I are on the same page. I am forever aware that I am the one putting myself out there in or in immediate proximity to public roadways, and act accordingly. If I get hit, it will always be my fault.

I will say I ride slower than the spandex crowd commonly does. Part of this is the fact that the faster you go, the more your eyes have to be fixed on nothing but the pavement ahead of your front wheel, I actually like to be able to look around when I ride.

Another reason for going slower is I will bail off of the asphalt and onto the roadside grass in a heartbeat rather than impede traffic. You cant do that very well when you're rolling fast.

Birdwatcher