Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Another Cycling Thread

I'm glad you don't ride with traffic - I'm sad the walking idiots are trying to injure you. You need a really loud horn. Give 'em a little beep, if no response, lay down on it and spook the piss out of them. Just be ready to calmly explain why you had to do so if you speak to them. If calmly doesn't work - be prepared to defend yourself.

https://www.amazon.com/Hornit-dB140...&hvtargid=pla-1504825790608&th=1

Reading the reviews on that horn are entertaining as hell.

Question then. 3-5 riders already in an intersection I'll stay stopped let'em roll its 5 folks no problem.10-50? I'll just ease out foot off brake no gas just a "hey the lights changed might want to stop before you become a stastic." No aggression on my part just nice easy roll. 89.5% will stop them others wont....until those 302 cubic inches and 4495 lbs gently but firmly explain that no matter how loud you cuss me and say bad things about my mother them laws of physics are unbreakable. So take your spandex your foul mouth and just run me over good. Hasn't happened probably never will.

For bringing out the hate, bike threads are only rivaled by Leupold threads. 😂

By my count there are at least 4 lane-splitters in that pic..............

I just got a new bike a month ago and it's been great to get back into bike riding. I'm not what you'd call a cyclist, don't own any spandex, and don't like to ride on the road with traffic. It's just great exercise, easy on the old knees, and more fun than most other forms of exercise. I read the cycling threads on here, and the way they usually go is a bunch of posters telling the cyclists they're idiots for riding on the road with vehicles, don't understand the laws of physics, and so on and so forth. Which I kind of agree with to a point and that's why I don't like riding on the road. You never know what a driver is going to do or even if they see you. All it takes is one driver looking at their cell phone and a cyclist is toast.

So I ride in a local state park, off road on their paved trails. The trails are concrete and 8 or 9 feet wide, wide enough to comfortably pass other riders and walkers as long as everyone understands they need to leave enough room on the left to pass. Riders understand this but walkers don't. I've had people walking toward me three abreast, looking right at me and just stand there blocking the trail. Or walking the same way I'm riding, walking down the middle of the trail with earbuds so they can't hear anything behind them. Or the woman today, walking down the center of the trail with her back to me yakking on her phone, not hearing me as I ride up behind her saying "passing on your left" until I'm actually passing on her left and she pivots to the left right in front of me so I had to lock up both wheels and skid off the trail.

What is it with these lame brains? The traffic on the trails is about 75% cyclists and 25 % walkers, you'd think after about the 30th cyclist passed them a light would go on and they'd say to themselves, "there's a lot of bikers out here, I need to pay attention so I don't get run over." You know, the laws of physics and all that.

And the thing is, every single one of these idiots drove an automobile to the park.

Before I read your last line, I had already crafted it as a response in my mind.

We have some very good bike/pedestrian infrastructure in our area and I use it for about 90% of my miles. Most of the miles I rack up not using it are used to get to it. In some places like City Park and Audubon Park the pedestrians are miraculously disengaged. Even on a well marked path like this one, pedestrians will amble about wherever they want. The ones that walk in the bike only lane ALWAYS do it in the direction of bike traffic so that they have no idea you are coming up behind them. NOBODY knows what the center markings mean, and to think those people drive cars. I don't get in any kind of hurry on this path. It's shaded, so it makes for a nice diversion, as do the yoga pants.

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign"

Even painted on the path now.

Sheesh.

y'all bicyclists need a bell, like we used to use on the concrete "boardwalk" at the beaches in SoCal. 6 pack of beer in the water bottle holders and backpack and such.

RING RING RING comin' through.

I just go around without a fuss most of the time.

Few things in this world are as annoying as a fûcking pedal biker, UNLESS ITS A CUTE CHICK BREAKING THE LAW AND PEDDLING PUZZY

Or the woman today, walking down the center of the trail with her back to me yakking on her phone, not hearing me as I ride up behind her saying "passing on your left" until I'm actually passing on her left and she pivots to the left right in front of me so I had to lock up both wheels and skid off the trail.

I passed the same woman on the trail yesterday. She gave me the stink eye but I noticed she was walking over on the right side and giving riders plenty of room to pass. Good on her.

I noticed a couple questions come up about riders and I'd like to shed some light on those for those who don't ride. The first one was "why don't cyclists ride as far to the right as possible?" The answer is twofold, potholes and debris on the shoulder. Potholes in the driving lane get fixed pretty quick, on the shoulder not so much. Then there's the debris on the road--gravel, nuts, bolts, nails, broken hose clamps, you name it. Debris in the driving lane gets kicked off to the shoulder. If you ride on the white line there's no debris because vehicles keep it clear. But get a few feet off to the right and you've got all kinds of schit that will puncture a bike tire. I've had two flats in the last two weeks.

The second question or comment rather was about bikers on trails riding fast and "pretending they're Lance Armstrong." Personally my top speed is around 23 mph so there are no time trials in my future. But I guess the question is, "why do you have to ride fast?" My answer is, if I give pedestrians the right of way and avoid hitting them (I do) why do you care how fast I ride? Also, the reason I ride is to get a workout. You can't get a workout on a bike unless you push yourself and if you push yourself you'll be moving at a good clip. If I wanted to lollygag along at 5 mph I'd get an ebike and be done with it. The thing is, if others using the trail exercise a modicum of courtesy, riding fast is never a problem. Last, there's these things called "hills." If you're riding downhill two things will happen in short order: 1) You'll get to the bottom of the hill; and 2) you'll start back uphill. I tell ya, it didn't take me long to figure out the faster you're going when you start up a hill the easier it is to get to the top. So yes, when I'm going downhill I take full advantage of the physics.

Last, I'll make a comment about a group of trail users that needs to clean up its act---dog walkers. You're in the middle of a thousand acre park with wide open spaces all around and you not only let your dog schit on a paved trail, but you leave it lay there?

And every single one of 'em drove a vehicle to the park.

So I guess the point of all this is: vehicle drivers, your schit does in fact stink.

Yep, I always slow down when I'm passing someone, especially old folks and little kids. If I hadn't done that with the woman who pivoted right in front of me I'd have mowed her down or run off the trail and crashed.

And also make noise so they hear me. The bell is kind of gay (no disrespect Paul) but it works.

I always speak. "I am easing around your left." Then I always bid them a good day or exchange some other cordiality. I often say something nice to the doggies. Kids on bikes get complemented on their cool bikes.

Good advice. If they don't move to the side to let you pass, do you apply the cycling version of rolling coal?

You know, crop dusting?

Last thing I want to do is rear back good and schidt myself to get back at someone.