Trump swore he would never get on one. I suppose he isn't amenable to it since he is overweight and has always tried to project a persona of fabulous wealth to which bicycling doesn't contribute anything. Therefore he could ridicule his opponent's choice to ride one. I suppose that Trumps personal rejection of bicycling has made it less popular among his fans, but Trump has not been the standard setter for conservatives.
Bicycling suffers from affiliation with urban centers, almost all of which are hard left. I read about bicycle culture in cities like Portland, and it sounds like it would be wonderful for cyclists, but I can't help but think that it is a package-deal. The culture is inevitably socialist, pro-perversion, pro-death, pro-welfare statism, keynesian, anti-gun, and anti-Christ. Bicycling is also favored by environmentalists and other misanthropists. Does this mean it's anathema to conservatives?
Trump swore he would never get on one. I suppose he isn't amenable to it since he is overweight and has always tried to project a persona of fabulous wealth to which bicycling doesn't contribute anything. Therefore he could ridicule his opponent's choice to ride one. I suppose that Trumps personal rejection of bicycling has made it less popular among his fans, but Trump has not been the standard setter for conservatives.
Bicycling suffers from affiliation with urban centers, almost all of which are hard left. I read about bicycle culture in cities like Portland, and it sounds like it would be wonderful for cyclists, but I can't help but think that it is a package-deal. The culture is inevitably socialist, pro-perversion, pro-death, pro-welfare statism, keynesian, anti-gun, and anti-Christ. Bicycling is also favored by environmentalists and other misanthropists. Does this mean it's anathema to conservatives?
Trump swore he would never get on one. I suppose he isn't amenable to it since he is overweight and has always tried to project a persona of fabulous wealth to which bicycling doesn't contribute anything. Therefore he could ridicule his opponent's choice to ride one. I suppose that Trumps personal rejection of bicycling has made it less popular among his fans, but Trump has not been the standard setter for conservatives.
Bicycling suffers from affiliation with urban centers, almost all of which are hard left. I read about bicycle culture in cities like Portland, and it sounds like it would be wonderful for cyclists, but I can't help but think that it is a package-deal. The culture is inevitably socialist, pro-perversion, pro-death, pro-welfare statism, keynesian, anti-gun, and anti-Christ. Bicycling is also favored by environmentalists and other misanthropists. Does this mean it's anathema to conservatives?
What a steaming pile of hot garbage.
You took a break from the Alaskan wilderness to get drawn into a bike argument thread😂
Hold on. It was a question, not an assertion. You are evidently a cyclist, so tell me what you think. I've got the impression that you think the answer to the question I posed in the original post is no, but how would you describe cycling culture in the US? First, can cycling culture be characterized as predominantly liberal or conservative? Second, is cycling a significant aspect of conservative culture?
BikeForums was an invaluable resource when I was prepping my bike and myself for my first cross-continent ride eight years back.
At that time there were topics in the General Discussion forum concerning where to keep a handgun while riding which prompted one guy to state how sick he was of “I ride and I carry” threads
There was talk at the time of opening a “2nd Amendment” forum, I looked just now, didn’t see one.
On the topic of bicycles, I believe Edward Abbey scored two out of three when he wrote the six pack, the bicycle and the pickup truck were among man’s greatest inventions 😎
Trump swore he would never get on one. I suppose he isn't amenable to it since he is overweight and has always tried to project a persona of fabulous wealth to which bicycling doesn't contribute anything. Therefore he could ridicule his opponent's choice to ride one. I suppose that Trumps personal rejection of bicycling has made it less popular among his fans, but Trump has not been the standard setter for conservatives.
Bicycling suffers from affiliation with urban centers, almost all of which are hard left. I read about bicycle culture in cities like Portland, and it sounds like it would be wonderful for cyclists, but I can't help but think that it is a package-deal. The culture is inevitably socialist, pro-perversion, pro-death, pro-welfare statism, keynesian, anti-gun, and anti-Christ. Bicycling is also favored by environmentalists and other misanthropists. Does this mean it's anathema to conservatives?
WJ,
would you rather walk to work, or carry your lunch?
Conservatives don't have time for cycling. They are too busy working and raising their kids.
It seems like teaching them to ride a bike is an important step in raising kids. It doesn't have to end at age 4 or 5 either. I've taken my sons in their early teens cycle touring and bikepacking. We've seen some of America's cities, national parks, and best wildnerness areas that way. I think it has been an influential part of raising them and I hope they continue to enjoy cycling after they get jobs and driver's licenses. I know they will at least have more regard for cyclists than some motorists.
Cycling, running, and hte other endurance activities skew left, no doubt. Strength activities skew right. This is best explained with testosterone levels. High T moves iron, low T runs about or rides their bike. FTR, right wing politics are high T, and left wing are low T. "Soyboy" is a meme for a reason.
But I don;t think cycling is anathema to "conservatives."
Despite having rode a bike to work for a few years, I get annoyed by most the bike commuter weenies. Lefty urban low T soyboys with no muscle mass preaching about how virtuous they are riding their bike to work and for everything. Thus, posting their Ls indicating they have no family and live in an urban warren.
Cycling, running, and hte other endurance activities skew left, no doubt. Strength activities skew right. This is best explained with testosterone levels. High T moves iron, low T runs about or rides their bike. FTR, right wing politics are high T, and left wing are low T. "Soyboy" is a meme for a reason.
But I don;t think cycling is anathema to "conservatives."
Despite having rode a bike to work for a few years, I get annoyed by most the bike commuter weenies. Lefty urban low T soyboys with no muscle mass preaching about how virtuous they are riding their bike to work and for everything. Thus, posting their Ls indicating they have no family and live in an urban warren.
I think as far as cycling, road cycling leans the farthest left (they are also the most allergic to weights), Triathletes probably run a little more center and mountain bikers and gravel probably have the most right politically.
For some reason I always enjoyed endurance events. I'm not good at them compared to people who take them seriously, but I do enjoy them. As far as strength workouts I usually choose to do kettle bells before traditional weight lifting, even if it isn't as effective at building strength.
Cycling, running, and hte other endurance activities skew left, no doubt. Strength activities skew right. This is best explained with testosterone levels. High T moves iron, low T runs about or rides their bike. FTR, right wing politics are high T, and left wing are low T. "Soyboy" is a meme for a reason....
Cycling, running, and hte other endurance activities skew left, no doubt. Strength activities skew right. This is best explained with testosterone levels. High T moves iron, low T runs about or rides their bike. FTR, right wing politics are high T, and left wing are low T. "Soyboy" is a meme for a reason....
What do you think?
Yeah. I was an avid runner for years. Habit I picked up in the Marine Corps. No serious competition or social events. Just running after work on the local farm to market road. Enjoying the scenery.
Trump swore he would never get on one. I suppose he isn't amenable to it since he is overweight and has always tried to project a persona of fabulous wealth to which bicycling doesn't contribute anything. Therefore he could ridicule his opponent's choice to ride one. I suppose that Trumps personal rejection of bicycling has made it less popular among his fans, but Trump has not been the standard setter for conservatives.
Bicycling suffers from affiliation with urban centers, almost all of which are hard left. I read about bicycle culture in cities like Portland, and it sounds like it would be wonderful for cyclists, but I can't help but think that it is a package-deal. The culture is inevitably socialist, pro-perversion, pro-death, pro-welfare statism, keynesian, anti-gun, and anti-Christ. Bicycling is also favored by environmentalists and other misanthropists. Does this mean it's anathema to conservatives?
It is amazing how so many people equate this activity or that to the political spectrum. It seems rather convoluted to me.
I live smack dab in the confluence of three 'wild rivers' and 5 wilderness areas, intersected by the yuppie freeway, the Pacific Crest Trail. The dimmest observer can easily note the frequency of certain outdoor activities with political stances. The dead giveaway is the Subaru fetish, probably 2/3 vehicles are Subaru suv's with all the appropriate stickers, you know, Free Tibet, CoExist, Constant War (the only one I like)Whirled Peas in our lifetime...etc. Just in case that isn't a clue, then we have the almost mandatory Thule roof carrier, the slightly lower class Yakima Rocket Box. If that doesn't nail it down yet, then we have the bike rack, kayak rack, and of course ski rack. In many years moving cattle twice a year over a stretch of the Pacific Crest, I have on many occasions engaged in conversations with these hardy folk. In all those years, One (1) older man was packing a Smith, asked if I had any spare T bone steaks, good sense of humor, and was obviously conservative. He did not chide me on not potty training cows and calves to not schidt on their trail. Safe to assume the vast majority of urban college pukes are socialist idiots around here.
The fact that a lot of Liberals or lefties get attracted to a certain activity such as cycling for reasons that they do, doesn't mean that there is not also a lot of Conservatives or right-wingers who also get attracted to that same activity but for different reasons. I was speaking to a guide in a hunting camp recently and he told me that often he gets clients who are gay or lesbians (yeah I know they're gay too) who hunt. That doesn't mean that all hunters are gay does it?
Sun Valley/Ketchum, ID - Idaho's blue county, full of ultra lefties. Bikes everywhere. They all wear the uniform - a foo foo suit and a helmet with a tapered back end. They ride many miles, mainly to get in shape for ski season. Most of them are unquestionably in very good shape. What kind of job does a guy in his 30's hold that gives him the time to ride enough miles to do what they do? You can see them any day of the week 40 miles from town climbing steep hills and they normally don't carry the bikes there on a Mercedes. They ride them there and back.
Sun Valley/Ketchum, ID - Idaho's blue county, full of ultra lefties. Bikes everywhere. They all wear the uniform - a foo foo suit and a helmet with a tapered back end. They ride many miles, mainly to get in shape for ski season. Most of them are unquestionably in very good shape. What kind of job does a guy in his 30's hold that gives him the time to ride enough miles to do what they do? You can see them any day of the week 40 miles from town climbing steep hills and they normally don't carry the bikes there on a Mercedes. They ride them there and back.
I went to work with my daughter last week up there, she trains rich peoples cutting horses for them. It was the week of the annual "Billionaire Summer Camp". I never had any idea what a Learjet traffic jam looked like before. I guess they all go, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Buffett etc, etc. I thought maybe some would like ol' Flint's take on this-n-that, kept my phone on, but nobody called, go figure.
Sun Valley/Ketchum, ID - Idaho's blue county, full of ultra lefties. Bikes everywhere. They all wear the uniform - a foo foo suit and a helmet with a tapered back end. They ride many miles, mainly to get in shape for ski season. Most of them are unquestionably in very good shape. What kind of job does a guy in his 30's hold that gives him the time to ride enough miles to do what they do? You can see them any day of the week 40 miles from town climbing steep hills and they normally don't carry the bikes there on a Mercedes. They ride them there and back.
I went to work with my daughter last week up there, she trains rich peoples cutting horses for them. It was the week of the annual "Billionaire Summer Camp". I never had any idea what a Learjet traffic jam looked like before. I guess they all go, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Buffett etc, etc. I thought maybe some would like ol' Flint's take on this-n-that, kept my phone on, but nobody called, go figure.
Every year they have a big media confab called the Allen Conference in Sun Valley. All the big wigs in media are there. I was by there one year during the conference and counted more than 75 private jets parked along the airport fence. Air pollution only applies to the little guy.
I thought of Western Juniper on my 35 mile ride this morning.
I have been in AK for 2 weeks in 50-60 degree temps. I needed a good ride, but wasn't looking forward to 90+ degree temps. With the three hour time difference, I wasn't quite back in my routine. I like to start my rides at 6:30, that way I don't have to contend with traffic and oppressive heat. I didn't wake up until 6:30. I scrambled to get going, forcing a dump before I rolled out.
The ride was harder than it should have been. 2 weeks with no cardio shouldn't have found me feeling that sluggish. Most of the ride was on dedicated bike paths. Some of it was on city streets. I have one 1/4 mile stretch with moderate traffic. It's divided 3 lane. I can almost keep up with traffic by sprinting. I have to set up in the left most lane to turn left. If anyone is behind me, I give my turn signal to let them know I am not being a left lane hogging dick. Today a moron didn't seem to understand and blew his horn at me. Oddly he wasn't driving a full size Chevy/GMC pickup or SUV.
When I rode through River Town Kenner, I saw a good looking Latin woman taking pictures at a little park. She turned toward me a flashed a pretty smile as I was looking at her. I took a left so that my back was facing her. I looked back over my shoulder to find her taking a pic in my direction. Probably just wanted a pic of the street. It had fresh asphalt.
Oh. I almost forgot how this relates to Western Juniper. I mentioned that I forced a dump this morning. Well, apparently it wasn't bowel cleansing enough. About 10 miles into my ride, I felt an undeniable gut rumbling. There was no way in hell that I was going to make it to a restroom. No worries, the Coast Guard motto is Semper Paratus, Always Ready. I rode off of the levee and into a little wooded area. I keep TP in my pouch. Well, I had just switched out pouches. NO TP!!! I do keep some tools wrapped up in an old sock to keep them from rattling around. It would have to do. No sooner than I had got my spandex shorts pulled below my knees, Poltergeist came flying out of my ass with a fury. It was like high velocity, soft serve marsh mud. That's when Juniper came to mind. A steaming pile of hot garbage. The sock did a great job.
Take a look at the liberal color scheme on my American made titanium bike.
road bikers, the ones with the skinny tires and gay spandex clothes are probably mostly hillary voters. The mountain biker folks are sometimes conservatives.
road bikers, the ones with the skinny tires and gay spandex clothes are probably mostly hillary voters. The mountain biker folks are sometimes conservatives.
Was dodging pedal bikers today. 70 mph 2 lane road. No shoulders. Pulling a trailer with equipment, not exactly a zippy little sports car to cater to the asshôles that won’t ride in the thousands of miles of side roads. One of my biggest fears is me or worse one of my kids tagging one by accident.
They are killing hell out of Cyclists here in SC, crack and meth heads, idiots on phones just plow them over...what a shame.
And of course the road owning bikers don't know they're there and don't stay well off on the shoulder. You'd think they'd have enough sense of self preservation to stay out of the way.
Trump swore he would never get on one. I suppose he isn't amenable to it since he is overweight and has always tried to project a persona of fabulous wealth to which bicycling doesn't contribute anything. Therefore he could ridicule his opponent's choice to ride one. I suppose that Trumps personal rejection of bicycling has made it less popular among his fans, but Trump has not been the standard setter for conservatives.
Bicycling suffers from affiliation with urban centers, almost all of which are hard left. I read about bicycle culture in cities like Portland, and it sounds like it would be wonderful for cyclists, but I can't help but think that it is a package-deal. The culture is inevitably socialist, pro-perversion, pro-death, pro-welfare statism, keynesian, anti-gun, and anti-Christ. Bicycling is also favored by environmentalists and other misanthropists. Does this mean it's anathema to conservatives?
When cyclist start payin registration and taxes through fuel purchases I will "share" the road. Until then, stay out of my way.
Advocating for more government huh? Interesting.
I pay tax on every bit of fuel that I burn in my bicycle motor.
Nope, I'm advocating bikes staying off the damn road. You're acting like riding a fuggin 10 speed is a constitutional right.... pay your share to use the roadway or go somewhere else.... I don't get to ride my atv on the road.
When cyclist start payin registration and taxes through fuel purchases I will "share" the road. Until then, stay out of my way.
Advocating for more government huh? Interesting.
I pay tax on every bit of fuel that I burn in my bicycle motor.
Nope, I'm advocating bikes staying off the damn road. You're acting like riding a fuggin 10 speed is a constitutional right.... pay your share to use the roadway or go somewhere else.... I don't get to ride my atv on the road.
Do a little research and get back with me idiot. Start by googling "Do bicyclists pay for roads." You don't get to ride your ATV on the road because it is illegal. I get to ride my bike on the road because it is legal.
Do a little research and get back with me idiot. Start by googling "Do bicyclists pay for roads." You don't get to ride your ATV on the road because it is illegal. I get to ride my bike on the road because it is legal.
Bicyclers play an important role in society. No matter how gloomy the future looks, all you have to do is see a bicycler, and say to yourself, "at least I'm not a dum bass."
Just try walking in the bike path and hear all the crying and bitching from the cyclists... share the path...
Kent
I never really mind the pedestrians in the path. If they aren't strung across the complete width, I just go around them with minimal speed disparity. If they are strung out all the way across the path, I ease up behind them and say something like "I am coming up behind you." They have always moved over politely. What I don't do if they are strung out across the width of the path is announce "I am coming up your rear."
Was dodging pedal bikers today. 70 mph 2 lane road. No shoulders. Pulling a trailer with equipment, not exactly a zippy little sports car to cater to the asshôles that won’t ride in the thousands of miles of side roads. One of my biggest fears is me or worse one of my kids tagging one by accident.
Just try walking in the bike path and hear all the crying and bitching from the cyclists... share the path...
Kent
I never really mind the pedestrians in the path. If they aren't strung across the complete width, I just go around them with minimal speed disparity. If they are strung out all the way across the path, I ease up behind them and say something like "I am coming up behind you." They have always moved over politely. What I don't do if they are strung out across the width of the path is announce "I am coming up your rear."
Just try walking in the bike path and hear all the crying and bitching from the cyclists... share the path...
Kent
I never really mind the pedestrians in the path. If they aren't strung across the complete width, I just go around them with minimal speed disparity. If they are strung out all the way across the path, I ease up behind them and say something like "I am coming up behind you." They have always moved over politely. What I don't do if they are strung out across the width of the path is announce "I am coming up your rear."
This schidt ain't complicated.
Why would they move over?
Kent
Why is the internet littered with emotionally stunted 'tards?
Why would anyone believe your bullchit, 25% of people are hearing impaired, couldn't hear you say chit riding up behind them... you just make chit up to support your position.
I’m a mountain biker. I have to ride on the road for short distances between trails. I’m not a lib. I’m a flaming monogamous heterosexual.
If any one of the Puzzies here or anywhere else who hit me were to hit me when I’m on the road your saga would have just begun. Gut shooting you and leaving you in the woods for the coyote to finish off while you watched would be about appropriate.
Why would anyone believe your bullchit, 25% of people are hearing impaired, couldn't hear you say chit riding up behind them... you just make chit up to support your position.
Kent
Why is the internet littered with emotionally stunted 'tards?
I’m a mountain biker. I have to ride on the road for short distances between trails. I’m not a lib. I’m a flaming monogamous heterosexual.
If any one of the Puzzies here or anywhere else who hit me were to hit me when I’m on the road your saga would have just begun. Gut shooting you and leaving you in the woods for the coyote to finish off while you watched would be about appropriate.
Apparently you don't understand how hard it is to see and go around a bicyclist on the road. It is obviously physically and mentally taxing.
Why would anyone believe your bullchit, 25% of people are hearing impaired, couldn't hear you say chit riding up behind them... you just make chit up to support your position.
Kent
Why is the internet littered with emotionally stunted 'tards?
You quoted me, you couldn't resist... you and JeffO are the same kind of bullchit arguer... and have about the same kind of respect here.
Just try walking in the bike path and hear all the crying and bitching from the cyclists... share the path...
Kent
I never really mind the pedestrians in the path. If they aren't strung across the complete width, I just go around them with minimal speed disparity. If they are strung out all the way across the path, I ease up behind them and say something like "I am coming up behind you." They have always moved over politely. What I don't do if they are strung out across the width of the path is announce "I am coming up your rear."
This schidt ain't complicated.
Kinda hypocritical to object to pedestrians across the lane, ain’t it?
Why would anyone believe your bullchit, 25% of people are hearing impaired, couldn't hear you say chit riding up behind them... you just make chit up to support your position.
Kent
Why is the internet littered with emotionally stunted 'tards?
You quoted me, you couldn't resist... you and JeffO are the same kind of bullchit arguer... and have about the same kind of respect here.
Kent
Why is the internet littered with emotionally stunted 'tards?
Just try walking in the bike path and hear all the crying and bitching from the cyclists... share the path...
Kent
I never really mind the pedestrians in the path. If they aren't strung across the complete width, I just go around them with minimal speed disparity. If they are strung out all the way across the path, I ease up behind them and say something like "I am coming up behind you." They have always moved over politely. What I don't do if they are strung out across the width of the path is announce "I am coming up your rear."
This schidt ain't complicated.
Kinda hypocritical to object to pedestrians across the lane, ain’t it?
I don't object to them occupying any amount of the path that allows me room to go around. When they don't, I announce my presence. It's up to them what they want to do. I am not sure what's hypocritical about that.
The hypocrisy is pedal pushers spread across THE lane of traffic, that you’ve defended.
Sure, one can get around them in a few seconds, but fraught with penalties hitting one or slowing gruffs load to allow it. Then there are hills, curves, etc. complicating it yet further.
The hypocrisy is pedal pushers spread across THE lane of traffic, that you’ve defended.
Sure, one can get around them in a few seconds, but fraught with penalties hitting one or slowing gruffs load to allow it. Then there are hills, curves, etc. complicating it yet further.
But you knew that. 😉
I have never defended bicyclists being spread across a lane that is wide enough for an auto and a cyclist to safely share. I have said that riding 2 abreast or occupying any part of a narrow lane (one that is too narrow for a cyclist and motorist to safely share) is of no consequence when motorists will have to enter the oncoming lane to go around.
There aren't any criminal penalties for hitting a cyclist unless the driver is impaired. In fact, it may be the best way to get away with murder. How much was Gruff slowed? There is nothing complicated about driving at a speed that allows time to avoid any obstacle that may be around a blind bend or over a blind hill. Not doing so is negligent. There my be free range cattle, a mail truck making a delivery, a rock slide, an accident, a tree down, a farm implement or any other thing in the lane.
I stay on bike paths most of the time now because drivers are too distracted to see you. Road ragers see you but try to kill you because their lives suck and if they think you're having fun they go ballistic. I once turned a corner on a bike path and encountered an infant lying on a blanket. Mom was getting ready to change its diaper right there in the middle of the path. I commonly do laps on a three-mile bike path in a park designed to hide a large sewage treatment facility. Its official name is kind of long and most refer to it as the poop loop. The nice thing about the poop loop is that people don't walk there much. The only road riding I do now is on two farm roads I use for hill repeats. But enough about politics...
Why would anyone believe your bullchit, 25% of people are hearing impaired, couldn't hear you say chit riding up behind them... you just make chit up to support your position.
Kent
Why is the internet littered with emotionally stunted 'tards?
So much for that relaxing fishing vacation to put ones emotions into perspective, eh, Paul. 😝
The Fire was almost like a mirror on a pond, then you come back, stirring up waves and making this place fun.
Choosing to recreate at 50mph below the average speed on a road with no shoulder is dumb. Feel free to be as dumb as you want, don’t get hurt feelings when everyone points out how dumb you are.
Why would anyone believe your bullchit, 25% of people are hearing impaired, couldn't hear you say chit riding up behind them... you just make chit up to support your position.
Kent
Why is the internet littered with emotionally stunted 'tards?
So much for that relaxing fishing vacation to put ones emotions into perspective, eh, Paul. 😝
The Fire was almost like a mirror on a pond, then you come back, stirring up waves and making this place fun.
Paul, why do youse guys do the bike riding bit? Exercise, health, to send a message to drivers, show off to chicks, what?
Mainly to piss off people on the internet.
I guess we figured, but you forget, we figured you out and we are correct, you and your buds are all alike and you are all out there to piss off people on the road.
Finally, the truth comes out, as if the rest of us didnt already know it.
Poor Sam has to suffer all of those cyclists causing traffic jams in Cousinfugk Montana.
I don't know if you're aware or not but bicyclists are quite the problem in that AOR in the summers.
The route is some sort of retard mecca or something. They're a massive pain in the ass.
Yes, of course. They are a pain in the ass everywhere. Everywhere but the places I have driven from coast to coast. You'd think with my luck that I'd be a magnet for lane hogging bicyclists.
Paul, why do youse guys do the bike riding bit? Exercise, health, to send a message to drivers, show off to chicks, what?
Mainly to piss off people on the internet.
I guess we figured, but you forget, we figured you out and we are correct, you and your buds are just like you and you are all out there to piss off people on the road.
Finally, the truth comes out.
Miraculously, I very rarely piss off drivers. Pissing off low emotional IQ knuckle draggers on the internet seems to be my forte.
Yes, of course. They are a pain in the ass everywhere. Everywhere but the places I have driven from coast to coast. You'd think with my luck that I'd be a magnet for lane hogging bicyclists.
You just said this before you reversed course and decided you only want to piss off knuckle daggers. "Mainly to piss off people on the internet." Well, bikers were dragging knuckles before drivers were.
Yes, of course. They are a pain in the ass everywhere. Everywhere but the places I have driven from coast to coast. You'd think with my luck that I'd be a magnet for lane hogging bicyclists.
Everything makes sense when you lie to yourself.
You got me Flave. I really do have good luck with everything but cyclists. lololol
A fun way to approach cyclists riding 50mph slower than prevailing traffic is to pass them safely, then slowdown with your warning lights on, and make them pass you. Then repeat as necessary, all while chortling at point blank range.
Was dodging pedal bikers today. 70 mph 2 lane road. No shoulders. Pulling a trailer with equipment, not exactly a zippy little sports car to cater to the asshôles that won’t ride in the thousands of miles of side roads. One of my biggest fears is me or worse one of my kids tagging one by accident.
How long did it take you to get around them?
Although they do clog things up, my post wasn’t about that. It was about the guilt and liability assigned to a motorist if the worst case scenario happens. I try my damndest to avoid them, but there are times it’s a close run thing. My point is in my area there are literally thousands of miles of road someone can go pedal on and do there thing. The ones that choose to do it in a damned dangerous venue are disrespectful and arrogant as hell.
Paul, why do youse guys do the bike riding bit? Exercise, health, to send a message to drivers, show off to chicks, what?
Mainly to piss off people on the internet.
I guess we figured, but you forget, we figured you out and we are correct, you and your buds are just like you and you are all out there to piss off people on the road.
Finally, the truth comes out.
Miraculously, I very rarely piss off drivers. Pissing off low emotional IQ knuckle draggers on the internet seems to be my forte.
Say's the guy that can't go 2 posts without calling someone names... no one knew you were only here for the trolling, really...
Was dodging pedal bikers today. 70 mph 2 lane road. No shoulders. Pulling a trailer with equipment, not exactly a zippy little sports car to cater to the asshôles that won’t ride in the thousands of miles of side roads. One of my biggest fears is me or worse one of my kids tagging one by accident.
How long did it take you to get around them?
Although they do clog things up, my post wasn’t about that. It was about the guilt and liability assigned to a motorist if the worst case scenario happens. I try my damndest to avoid them, but there are times it’s a close run thing.
What is the longest you have ever been held up by a bicyclist?
How could a worse case scenario happen to you or yours, if you/yours and the cyclists were operating safely and legally?
Can you give me an example of a close run you have had? As a driver, I have only had 2 somewhat close calls in my life and in both cases the cyclists were operating illegally. One was riding on the wrong side of the road, and the other was on the sidewalk.
As a driver, I have only had 2 somewhat close calls in my life and in both cases the cyclists were operating illegally. One was riding on the wrong side of the road, and the other was on the sidewalk.
As a driver, I have only had 2 somewhat close calls in my life and in both cases the cyclists were operating illegally. One was riding on the wrong side of the road, and the other was on the sidewalk.
As a driver, I have only had 2 somewhat close calls in my life and in both cases the cyclists were operating illegally. One was riding on the wrong side of the road, and the other was on the sidewalk.
Poor Sam has to suffer all of those cyclists causing traffic jams in Cousinfugk Montana.
I don't know if you're aware or not but bicyclists are quite the problem in that AOR in the summers.
The route is some sort of retard mecca or something. They're a massive pain in the ass.
Yes, of course. They are a pain in the ass everywhere. Everywhere but the places I have driven from coast to coast. You'd think with my luck that I'd be a magnet for lane hogging bicyclists.
Rt 2 east -west along the Hi Line across Montana, it’s part of the Northern Tier Trans-America bicycle route (or whatever the name is). I rode part of it from Havre over towards Jim’s place.
A major transportation artery in that part of the world, heavy vehicle traffic, semis, farm machinery. Absolutely horrible bicycle road for long stretches; bad pavement, no shoulder. I’m recalling just two lanes in places. Crossing bridges over streams and low spots was even worse, metal crash barriers over these spots actually force you into the lane.
I’ve ridden highways rather a lot, this was among the worst I’ve seen. I’m surprised it weren’t littered with dead cyclists.
Poor Sam has to suffer all of those cyclists causing traffic jams in Cousinfugk Montana.
I don't know if you're aware or not but bicyclists are quite the problem in that AOR in the summers.
The route is some sort of retard mecca or something. They're a massive pain in the ass.
Yes, of course. They are a pain in the ass everywhere. Everywhere but the places I have driven from coast to coast. You'd think with my luck that I'd be a magnet for lane hogging bicyclists.
Rt 2 east -west along the Hi Line across Montana, it’s part of the Northern Tier Trans-America bicycle route (or whatever the name is). I rode part of it from Havre over towards Jim’s place.
A major transportation artery in that part of the world, heavy vehicle traffic, semis, farm machinery. Absolutely horrible bicycle road for long stretches; bad pavement, no shoulder. I’m recalling just two lanes in places. Crossing bridges over streams and low spots was even worse, metal crash barriers over these spots actually force you into the lane.
I’ve ridden highways rather a lot, this was among the worst I’ve seen. I’m surprised it weren’t littered with dead cyclists.
That’s one of the safest stretches of it.
Anybody doing that should be charged. Their and your behavior is nothing short of criminal.
Poor Sam has to suffer all of those cyclists causing traffic jams in Cousinfugk Montana.
I don't know if you're aware or not but bicyclists are quite the problem in that AOR in the summers.
The route is some sort of retard mecca or something. They're a massive pain in the ass.
Yes, of course. They are a pain in the ass everywhere. Everywhere but the places I have driven from coast to coast. You'd think with my luck that I'd be a magnet for lane hogging bicyclists.
Rt 2 east -west along the Hi Line across Montana, it’s part of the Northern Tier Trans-America bicycle route (or whatever the name is). I rode part of it from Havre over towards Jim’s place.
A major transportation artery in that part of the world, heavy vehicle traffic, semis, farm machinery. Absolutely horrible bicycle road for long stretches; bad pavement, no shoulder. I’m recalling just two lanes in places. Crossing bridges over streams and low spots was even worse, metal crash barriers over these spots actually force you into the lane.
I’ve ridden highways rather a lot, this was among the worst I’ve seen. I’m surprised it weren’t littered with dead cyclists.
MDTs website shows traffic counts for Montana highways.
From random samples average traffic counts on US HWY 2 east of Glasgow are 50-100 vehicles per hour. 10-15 large trucks per hour.
Random street view samples show road design similar to this.
That road design is fine with me, as there is plenty of room to the right of the rumble strips. While traffic isn't heavy by my standards, there would be constant road noise that takes away from the peace I seek when I ride.
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement, or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
I understand that Beave. I do encounter the occasional inconsiderate ass on a bicycle. The reality is though that they are but a blip on the radar of inconveniences that I face as a motorist. They are not a threat to my safety as a motorist. I guess that's why my indignation meter scarcely registers them. The thing that so perplexing to me in these bicycling discussions is why the level of indignation over bicyclists far exceeds any relative inconvenience that they pose. I almost NEVER drive anywhere without some idiot motorist inconveniencing me or endangering me. What do you think it is about cyclists, other than the spandex of course, that causes people to lose their schidt over them.
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
I understand that Beave. I do encounter the occasional inconsiderate ass on a bicycle. The reality is though that they are but a blip on the radar of inconveniences that I face as a motorist. They are not a threat to my safety as a motorist. I guess that's why my indignation meter scarcely registers them. The thing that so perplexing to me in these bicycling discussions is why the level of indignation over bicyclists far exceeds any relative inconvenience that they pose. I almost NEVER drive anywhere without some idiot motorist inconveniencing me or endangering me. What do you think it is about cyclists, other than the spandex of course, that causes people to lose their schidt over them.
If you want to have a real discussion about safety and American roadways you’re going to have to stop lying.
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement, or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
It’s actually far worse than that but I don’t expect somebody like you or Paul to realize it.
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
I understand that Beave. I do encounter the occasional inconsiderate ass on a bicycle. The reality is though that they are but a blip on the radar of inconveniences that I face as a motorist. They are not a threat to my safety as a motorist. I guess that's why my indignation meter scarcely registers them. The thing that so perplexing to me in these bicycling discussions is why the level of indignation over bicyclists far exceeds any relative inconvenience that they pose. I almost NEVER drive anywhere without some idiot motorist inconveniencing me or endangering me. What do you think it is about cyclists, other than the spandex of course, that causes people to lose their schidt over them.
I’ve had to deal ~ navigate, almost daily, with all types and skill levels of bicyclists where I live. Country roads that meander through farm country, to coastal roads that overlook the Pacific Ocean.
Most cyclists don’t want to get hurt or die, and ride with a heightened level of self awareness…The cyclists ass-holes that I’ve had the most trouble with is the small group of 5-6 riders, all wearing their sponsors spandex, cool Oakley glasses and tear shaped and vented helmets.
These road warriors typically won’t have a ‘mirror’ attached to their helmet ~ that would take away their cool factor.
It’s almost like these type of riders believe they should cover both lanes on a straight away, and me, in a truck, can pass them on the shoulder of the road, because for them to ride single file is unacceptable.
Ass-hole, douchbaggery on two wheels is mind boggling.
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
I understand that Beave. I do encounter the occasional inconsiderate ass on a bicycle. The reality is though that they are but a blip on the radar of inconveniences that I face as a motorist. They are not a threat to my safety as a motorist. I guess that's why my indignation meter scarcely registers them. The thing that so perplexing to me in these bicycling discussions is why the level of indignation over bicyclists far exceeds any relative inconvenience that they pose. I almost NEVER drive anywhere without some idiot motorist inconveniencing me or endangering me. What do you think it is about cyclists, other than the spandex of course, that causes people to lose their schidt over them.
If you want to have a real discussion about safety and American roadways you’re going to have to stop lying.
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement, or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
It’s actually far worse than that but I don’t expect somebody like you or Paul to realize it.
Like most things it will have to be explained.
I’d run you over on your Ruckus, take your beer, and laugh.
out here in Alasker, some of us use mt bikes to roll our shot dead creatures out of the trees... I've done blk bear, moose, elk & deer..... on Afognak Island (Kodiak) a good many miles of logging roads exist.... where a bike is an indispensible tool of transportation .. & dead stuff extraction .... also, for some reason the roosie elk & blktl deer don't fear the reaper on a bike rolling through vs a fat fk waddling his fat gut around.....
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement, or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
It’s actually far worse than that but I don’t expect somebody like you or Paul to realize it.
Like most things it will have to be explained.
I’d run you over on your Ruckus, take your beer, and laugh.
out here in Alasker, some of us use mt bikes to roll our shot dead creatures out of the trees... I've done blk bear, moose, elk & deer..... on Afognak Island (Kodiak) a good many miles of logging roads exist.... where a bike is an indispensible tool of transportation .. & dead stuff extraction .... also, for some reason the roosie elk & blktl deer don't fear the reaper on a bike rolling through vs a fat fk waddling his fat gut around.....
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement, or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
It’s actually far worse than that but I don’t expect somebody like you or Paul to realize it.
Like most things it will have to be explained.
I’d run you over on your Ruckus, take your beer, and laugh.
🦫
Sure you would.
LOL
Okay, I wouldn’t run you over. Just push you down, take your beer and laugh, then.
I’ve had to deal ~ navigate, almost daily, with all types and skill levels of bicyclists where I live. Country roads that meander through farm country, to coastal roads that overlook the Pacific Ocean.
Most cyclists don’t want to get hurt or die, and ride with a heightened level of self awareness…The cyclists ass-holes that I’ve had the most trouble with is the small group of 5-6 riders, all wearing their sponsors spandex, cool Oakley glasses and tear shaped and vented helmets.
These road warriors typically won’t have a ‘mirror’ attached to their helmet ~ that would take away their cool factor.
It’s almost like these type of riders believe they should cover both lanes on a straight away, and me, in a truck, can pass them on the shoulder of the road, because for them to ride single file is unacceptable.
Ass-hole, douchbaggery on two wheels is mind boggling.
🦫
Are you saying that cyclists are taking up both travel lanes that go in the same direction? I have never seen or heard of that. I'd take issue with that kind of crap.
Cyclists not going single file when a motorist will have to enter the oncoming lane to effect a safe pass on a 2 lane road with narrow lanes actually makes it faster for the motorist to pass.
I rarely ride in groups, but when I do, even taking the above into consideration, I'll single up. It tends to make ignorant (and i don't mean that as a perjorative) motorists feel better.
I don't ride with a mirror. Even with my bad hearing, I don't get caught by surprise. I keep my head on a swivel. I believe there is value in looking over my shoulder to let motorists know that I know that they are there.
out here in Alasker, some of us use mt bikes to roll our shot dead creatures out of the trees... I've done blk bear, moose, elk & deer..... on Afognak Island (Kodiak) a good many miles of logging roads exist.... where a bike is an indispensible tool of transportation .. & dead stuff extraction .... also, for some reason the roosie elk & blktl deer don't fear the reaper on a bike rolling through vs a fat fk waddling his fat gut around.....
I'm going on a mt gote hunt on a bike in Aug
🦫
Oh now we’re gonna change the definition of a bicycle.
I’ve had to deal ~ navigate, almost daily, with all types and skill levels of bicyclists where I live. Country roads that meander through farm country, to coastal roads that overlook the Pacific Ocean.
Most cyclists don’t want to get hurt or die, and ride with a heightened level of self awareness…The cyclists ass-holes that I’ve had the most trouble with is the small group of 5-6 riders, all wearing their sponsors spandex, cool Oakley glasses and tear shaped and vented helmets.
These road warriors typically won’t have a ‘mirror’ attached to their helmet ~ that would take away their cool factor.
It’s almost like these type of riders believe they should cover both lanes on a straight away, and me, in a truck, can pass them on the shoulder of the road, because for them to ride single file is unacceptable.
Ass-hole, douchbaggery on two wheels is mind boggling.
🦫
Are you saying that cyclists are taking up both travel lanes that go in the same direction? I have never seen or heard of that. I'd take issue with that kind of crap.
Cyclists not going single file when a motorist will have to enter the oncoming lane to effect a safe pass on a 2 lane road with narrow lanes actually makes it faster for the motorist to pass.
I rarely ride in groups, but when I do, even taking the above into consideration, I'll single up. It tends to make ignorant (and i don't mean that as a perjorative) motorists feel better.
I don't ride with a mirror. Even with my bad hearing, I don't get caught by surprise. I keep my head on a swivel. I believe there is value in looking over my shoulder to let motorists know that I know that they are there.
Yes, riding abreast, 4-5 riders spanned across both lanes of a 2 lane country road. And not competition riding. Just working out, I assume.
So, that would piss you off? Oregon riders are some of the most self entitlement fûcks you could come across.
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
I understand that Beave. I do encounter the occasional inconsiderate ass on a bicycle. The reality is though that they are but a blip on the radar of inconveniences that I face as a motorist. They are not a threat to my safety as a motorist. I guess that's why my indignation meter scarcely registers them. The thing that so perplexing to me in these bicycling discussions is why the level of indignation over bicyclists far exceeds any relative inconvenience that they pose. I almost NEVER drive anywhere without some idiot motorist inconveniencing me or endangering me. What do you think it is about cyclists, other than the spandex of course, that causes people to lose their schidt over them.
I personally think a lot of cyclists act like entitled dicks myself. It may be that they appear to act like entitled dicks.
When I'm riding on the road I make a noticeable move to the right when a vehicle comes up behind me. Practically speaking this accomplishes nothing as the driver still basically has to go into the other lane, but it does show that I'm trying to cooperate with the vehicle. If I stay in the center of the lane like so many riders do the vehicle driver still has to go into the other lane, but to their eyes I look like an A-hole.
Generally speaking the roads I ride on are very straight with long sight lines and no trees blocking the view with low traffic. If I saw 50 cars in an hour I'd be wondering what the hell was going on.
I did see group of entitled dicks the day before yesterday. At a 4 way intersection with a large flat gravel area on the NW side they decide to take a break in the middle of East bound lane and South bound lane right at and just past the stop sign. A truck heading South had to go into the North bound lane to get around the ride leaders who were blocking the South bound lane. I'm pretty sure he was cussing cyclists.
The route they were riding heads East and turns South at the intersection and admittedly is fairly low traffic. I have seen a Southbound pickup towing a toy hauler, blow that intersection at 40+ MPH before though. I ride bikes and I thought what they did was a dick move as well as being stupid.
Might be a State by State thing. The major bike cities being Oregon, Washington, Colorado and CA, to name a few, always do a deep dive into legislation that gives bicyclists special treatment ~ almost like they do for retards.
Bonds get passed to build bike and ped only bridges. Bike lanes only in cities that reduce vehicle access, yet bikes still ride into traffic, as if their bike lane isn’t enough.
When Liberal States push the ‘Green’ they immediately give funding to alternative, non fuel transportation. Even if it’s at the expense of vehicles, traffic congestion, and safety.
Empowering liberal minds, creates an attitude that they are better than the rest of the fuel burners. Why be respectful and share a road, when we as drivers are causing the world to circle the drain?
I like Paul. I’m sure he and others who ride like him, aren’t the problem we encounter on a daily basis with bicyclists.
But a self entitled liberal on a bike, is a different story, different animal. IMO.
Paul, if more bicyclists rode the way you do, maybe there wouldn’t be as much friction between drivers and people on bikes.
Unfortunately, while bike riders have a legal right to share a road with a vehicle. Their ignorance, lack of awareness, and attitude that it’s someone else’s responsibility to keep them safe has put a lot of cyclists on the pavement or worse, turned them into a stain on the ground.
Being dead right, ain’t much of a win.
🦫
I understand that Beave. I do encounter the occasional inconsiderate ass on a bicycle. The reality is though that they are but a blip on the radar of inconveniences that I face as a motorist. They are not a threat to my safety as a motorist. I guess that's why my indignation meter scarcely registers them. The thing that so perplexing to me in these bicycling discussions is why the level of indignation over bicyclists far exceeds any relative inconvenience that they pose. I almost NEVER drive anywhere without some idiot motorist inconveniencing me or endangering me. What do you think it is about cyclists, other than the spandex of course, that causes people to lose their schidt over them.
I personally think a lot of cyclists act like entitled dicks myself. It may be that they appear to act like entitled dicks.
When I'm riding on the road I make a noticeable move to the right when a vehicle comes up behind me. Practically speaking this accomplishes nothing as the driver still basically has to go into the other lane, but it does show that I'm trying to cooperate with the vehicle. If I stay in the center of the lane like so many riders do the vehicle driver still has to go into the other lane, but to their eyes I look like an A-hole.
Generally speaking the roads I ride on are very straight with long sight lines and no trees blocking the view with low traffic. If I saw 50 cars in an hour I'd be wondering what the hell was going on.
I did see group of entitled dicks the day before yesterday. At a 4 way intersection with a large flat gravel area on the NW side they decide to take a break in the middle of East bound lane and South bound lane right at and just past the stop sign. A truck heading South had to go into the North bound lane to get around the ride leaders who were blocking the South bound lane. I'm pretty sure he was cussing cyclists.
The route they were riding heads East and turns South at the intersection and admittedly is fairly low traffic. I have seen a Southbound pickup towing a toy hauler, blow that intersection at 40+ MPH before though. I ride bikes and I thought what they did was a dick move as well as being stupid.
Your thought processes are entirely too reasonable.
"When I'm riding on the road I make a noticeable move to the right when a vehicle comes up behind me. Practically speaking this accomplishes nothing as the driver still basically has to go into the other lane, but it does show that I'm trying to cooperate with the vehicle. If I stay in the center of the lane like so many riders do the vehicle driver still has to go into the other lane, but to their eyes I look like an A-hole."
I do the exact same thing to appease motorists. It's no skin off of my back to do it.
Might be a State by State thing. The major bike cities being Oregon, Washington, Colorado and CA, to name a few, always do a deep dive into legislation that gives bicyclists special treatment ~ almost like they do for retards.
Bonds get passed to build bike and ped only bridges. Bike lanes only in cities that reduce vehicle access, yet bikes still ride into traffic, as if their bike lane isn’t enough.
When Liberal States push the ‘Green’ they immediately give funding to alternative, non fuel transportation. Even if it’s at the expense of vehicles, traffic congestion, and safety.
Empowering liberal minds, creates an attitude that they are better than the rest of the fuel burners. Why be respectful and share a road, when we as drivers are causing the world to circle the drain?
I like Paul. I’m sure he and others who ride like him, aren’t the problem we encounter on a daily basis with bicyclists.
But a self entitled liberal on a bike, is a different story, different animal. IMO.
🦫
FWIW, some bike lanes are built entirely within the door zone of cars parked to the right of the lane. I DO NOT ride in door zones. There can be other issues with bike lanes that would find a reasonable rider eschewing them. Entitled athhole riders will use those excuses to eschew perfectly good bike lanes. Most motorists are too ignorant to discern the difference.
The rain has passed, I am going to saddle up. I wonder if I'll encounter a dick in a full-sized Chevy/GMC today. Only 6 of my 30 miles will be on roads.
I don't really think of it as appeasing drivers it's more of a politeness thing. I generally try to be polite in public. I say please, thank you Sir, Ma'am, hold open doors etc.
I'm not actually a nice person, but I do try not to be a dick even if it's a struggle sometimes.
Might be a State by State thing. The major bike cities being Oregon, Washington, Colorado and CA, to name a few, always do a deep dive into legislation that gives bicyclists special treatment ~ almost like they do for retards.
Bonds get passed to build bike and ped only bridges. Bike lanes only in cities that reduce vehicle access, yet bikes still ride into traffic, as if their bike lane isn’t enough.
When Liberal States push the ‘Green’ they immediately give funding to alternative, non fuel transportation. Even if it’s at the expense of vehicles, traffic congestion, and safety.
Empowering liberal minds, creates an attitude that they are better than the rest of the fuel burners. Why be respectful and share a road, when we as drivers are causing the world to circle the drain?
I like Paul. I’m sure he and others who ride like him, aren’t the problem we encounter on a daily basis with bicyclists.
But a self entitled liberal on a bike, is a different story, different animal. IMO.
🦫
FWIW, some bike lanes are built entirely within the door zone of cars parked to the right of the lane. I DO NOT ride in door zones. There can be other issues with bike lanes that would find a reasonable rider eschewing them. Entitled athhole riders will use those excuses to eschew perfectly good bike lanes. Most motorists are too ignorant to discern the difference.
The rain has passed, I am going to saddle up. I wonder if I'll encounter a dick in a full-sized Chevy/GMC today. Only 6 of my 30 miles will be on roads.
I’ve zero doubt you’ll encounter a full sized dick.
Poor Sam has to suffer all of those cyclists causing traffic jams in Cousinfugk Montana.
I don't know if you're aware or not but bicyclists are quite the problem in that AOR in the summers.
The route is some sort of retard mecca or something. They're a massive pain in the ass.
Yes, of course. They are a pain in the ass everywhere. Everywhere but the places I have driven from coast to coast. You'd think with my luck that I'd be a magnet for lane hogging bicyclists.
Rt 2 east -west along the Hi Line across Montana, it’s part of the Northern Tier Trans-America bicycle route (or whatever the name is). I rode part of it from Havre over towards Jim’s place.
A major transportation artery in that part of the world, heavy vehicle traffic, semis, farm machinery. Absolutely horrible bicycle road for long stretches; bad pavement, no shoulder. I’m recalling just two lanes in places. Crossing bridges over streams and low spots was even worse, metal crash barriers over these spots actually force you into the lane.
I’ve ridden highways rather a lot, this was among the worst I’ve seen. I’m surprised it weren’t littered with dead cyclists.
MDTs website shows traffic counts for Montana highways.
From random samples average traffic counts on US HWY 2 east of Glasgow are 50-100 vehicles per hour. 10-15 large trucks per hour.
Random street view samples show road design similar to this.
That road design is fine with me, as there is plenty of room to the right of the rumble strips. While traffic isn't heavy by my standards, there would be constant road noise that takes away from the peace I seek when I ride.
Street view on up through the Cut and let me know if its a minor annoyance getting caught behind Schwinn Armstrong feygits 'taking the lane' and I'm the c.unt
...To their credit the pavement is pristine, so I understand why they like it as opposed to say, the the miles of bike trail in this county and adjoining counties. Sparta-Elroy trail is only 32 continuous miles or so. Probably scared they'll run out I guess. Great River trail only connects 100+ miles of trails, probably get boring knocking that one down in a couple hours and being ready for more.
Was dodging pedal bikers today. 70 mph 2 lane road. No shoulders. Pulling a trailer with equipment, not exactly a zippy little sports car to cater to the asshôles that won’t ride in the thousands of miles of side roads. One of my biggest fears is me or worse one of my kids tagging one by accident.
How long did it take you to get around them?
Although they do clog things up, my post wasn’t about that. It was about the guilt and liability assigned to a motorist if the worst case scenario happens. I try my damndest to avoid them, but there are times it’s a close run thing.
What is the longest you have ever been held up by a bicyclist?
How could a worse case scenario happen to you or yours, if you/yours and the cyclists were operating safely and legally?
Can you give me an example of a close run you have had? As a driver, I have only had 2 somewhat close calls in my life and in both cases the cyclists were operating illegally. One was riding on the wrong side of the road, and the other was on the sidewalk.
I'll give you one example. 2 lane road, middle of summer so heavy traffic. There is a bridge over a small river, there's hardly any room outside the fog line. I'm driving my pickup pulling a flatbed tandem axle trailer loaded with small square bales of hay. As I approach the bridge I could not see the pedal bikers on my side of the road because of the vehicles in front of me. I'm on the bridge, pedal biker now beside me and a semi with a belly dump or a dump truck (I can't remember but it was a big heavy truck) is coming the other way. Everyone in this situation is legally allowed to be where they are. I try like hell to avoid hurting anybody if I can help it, but I'm not going to turn into a semi and wreck my vehicle, and myself to preserve the life of a dumbass arrogant fûcking pedal biker. Even had I wanted to and I stomped on the brakes I'd have never stopped in time. That pedal biker was within an inch of my trailer fender as I went by. I had a knot in my stomach that took a bit to go away, as I really thought I was going to hit them.
It's comical to listen to people like PaulFugktard advocate for stupidity because they simply will not acknowledge reality.
Remove the laws that give them protection on those roadways. See how quickly they get right the fugk off of them. They know full and well the dangers they are imposing on everybody else, they simply don't give a fugk.
Poor Sam has to suffer all of those cyclists causing traffic jams in Cousinfugk Montana.
I don't know if you're aware or not but bicyclists are quite the problem in that AOR in the summers.
The route is some sort of retard mecca or something. They're a massive pain in the ass.
Yes, of course. They are a pain in the ass everywhere. Everywhere but the places I have driven from coast to coast. You'd think with my luck that I'd be a magnet for lane hogging bicyclists.
Rt 2 east -west along the Hi Line across Montana, it’s part of the Northern Tier Trans-America bicycle route (or whatever the name is). I rode part of it from Havre over towards Jim’s place.
A major transportation artery in that part of the world, heavy vehicle traffic, semis, farm machinery. Absolutely horrible bicycle road for long stretches; bad pavement, no shoulder. I’m recalling just two lanes in places. Crossing bridges over streams and low spots was even worse, metal crash barriers over these spots actually force you into the lane.
I’ve ridden highways rather a lot, this was among the worst I’ve seen. I’m surprised it weren’t littered with dead cyclists.
MDTs website shows traffic counts for Montana highways.
From random samples average traffic counts on US HWY 2 east of Glasgow are 50-100 vehicles per hour. 10-15 large trucks per hour.
Random street view samples show road design similar to this.
That road design is fine with me, as there is plenty of room to the right of the rumble strips. While traffic isn't heavy by my standards, there would be constant road noise that takes away from the peace I seek when I ride.
Street view on up through the Cut and let me know if its a minor annoyance getting caught behind Schwinn Armstrong feygits 'taking the lane' and I'm the c.unt
...To their credit the pavement is pristine, so I understand why they like it as opposed to say, the the miles of bike trail in this county and adjoining counties. Sparta-Elroy trail is only 32 continuous miles or so. Probably scared they'll run out I guess. Great River trail only connects 100+ miles of trails, probably get boring knocking that one down in a couple hours and being ready for more.
My first thought is how far away are those trails? My second thought is what if they are using the pictured road as part of a route that includes those trails? My third thought is if this is a recurring "problem" for you, why don't you take a different route?
Oh, and I suppose, in the interest of balance, that there is no reason to take the pictured road other than to piss you off.
They know full and well the dangers they are imposing on everybody else, they simply don't give a fugk.
I am well aware of the horrible dangers that cyclists pose to motorists. Hell, every time I catch breaking news it's another account of a drunk cyclist killing someone in a GMC pickup truck. lololol
Poor Sam has to suffer all of those cyclists causing traffic jams in Cousinfugk Montana.
I don't know if you're aware or not but bicyclists are quite the problem in that AOR in the summers.
The route is some sort of retard mecca or something. They're a massive pain in the ass.
Yes, of course. They are a pain in the ass everywhere. Everywhere but the places I have driven from coast to coast. You'd think with my luck that I'd be a magnet for lane hogging bicyclists.
Rt 2 east -west along the Hi Line across Montana, it’s part of the Northern Tier Trans-America bicycle route (or whatever the name is). I rode part of it from Havre over towards Jim’s place.
A major transportation artery in that part of the world, heavy vehicle traffic, semis, farm machinery. Absolutely horrible bicycle road for long stretches; bad pavement, no shoulder. I’m recalling just two lanes in places. Crossing bridges over streams and low spots was even worse, metal crash barriers over these spots actually force you into the lane.
I’ve ridden highways rather a lot, this was among the worst I’ve seen. I’m surprised it weren’t littered with dead cyclists.
MDTs website shows traffic counts for Montana highways.
From random samples average traffic counts on US HWY 2 east of Glasgow are 50-100 vehicles per hour. 10-15 large trucks per hour.
Random street view samples show road design similar to this.
That road design is fine with me, as there is plenty of room to the right of the rumble strips. While traffic isn't heavy by my standards, there would be constant road noise that takes away from the peace I seek when I ride.
Street view on up through the Cut and let me know if its a minor annoyance getting caught behind Schwinn Armstrong feygits 'taking the lane' and I'm the c.unt
...To their credit the pavement is pristine, so I understand why they like it as opposed to say, the the miles of bike trail in this county and adjoining counties. Sparta-Elroy trail is only 32 continuous miles or so. Probably scared they'll run out I guess. Great River trail only connects 100+ miles of trails, probably get boring knocking that one down in a couple hours and being ready for more.
My first thought is how far away are those trails? My second thought is what if they are using the pictured road as part of a route that includes those trails? My third thought is if this is a recurring "problem" for you, why don't you take a different route?
Oh, and I suppose, in the interest of balance, that there is no reason to take the pictured road other than to piss you off.
LOL, I gifted you the Google map...you tell me.
Why don't I take a different road to avoid the bicyclists? Had not considered that...got me there!
Was dodging pedal bikers today. 70 mph 2 lane road. No shoulders. Pulling a trailer with equipment, not exactly a zippy little sports car to cater to the asshôles that won’t ride in the thousands of miles of side roads. One of my biggest fears is me or worse one of my kids tagging one by accident.
How long did it take you to get around them?
Although they do clog things up, my post wasn’t about that. It was about the guilt and liability assigned to a motorist if the worst case scenario happens. I try my damndest to avoid them, but there are times it’s a close run thing.
What is the longest you have ever been held up by a bicyclist?
How could a worse case scenario happen to you or yours, if you/yours and the cyclists were operating safely and legally?
Can you give me an example of a close run you have had? As a driver, I have only had 2 somewhat close calls in my life and in both cases the cyclists were operating illegally. One was riding on the wrong side of the road, and the other was on the sidewalk.
I'll give you one example. 2 lane road, middle of summer so heavy traffic. There is a bridge over a small river, there's hardly any room outside the fog line. I'm driving my pickup pulling a flatbed tandem axle trailer loaded with small square bales of hay. As I approach the bridge I could not see the pedal bikers on my side of the road because of the vehicles in front of me. I'm on the bridge, pedal biker now beside me and a semi with a belly dump or a dump truck (I can't remember but it was a big heavy truck) is coming the other way. Everyone in this situation is legally allowed to be where they are. I try like hell to avoid hurting anybody if I can help it, but I'm not going to turn into a semi and wreck my vehicle, and myself to preserve the life of a dumbass arrogant fûcking pedal biker. Even had I wanted to and I stomped on the brakes I'd have never stopped in time. That pedal biker was within an inch of my trailer fender as I went by. I had a knot in my stomach that took a bit to go away, as I really thought I was going to hit them.
I don't really think of it as appeasing drivers it's more of a politeness thing. I generally try to be polite in public. I say please, thank you Sir, Ma'am, hold open doors etc.
I'm not actually a nice person, but I do try not to be a dick even if it's a struggle sometimes.
I am a very nice person. I'll give you an example from today's ride.
I'll start by saying that I carry spare tubes and some tools in my pouch. I offer to help anyone I see stopped on the path. Today, up ahead on the right hand side of the path, I see what looks like a bike laying down. On the left hand side of the path looks like a large person. I slow and prepare to offer to help. As I close in, I can see that it's a roided up looking older guy and a fitness model looking younger woman trying to suck each other's tonsils out. They broke their embrace as I got close. They turned to me and looked. I said "I was going to offer you help, but it looks like you have things well under control." They both laughed out loud.
Was dodging pedal bikers today. 70 mph 2 lane road. No shoulders. Pulling a trailer with equipment, not exactly a zippy little sports car to cater to the asshôles that won’t ride in the thousands of miles of side roads. One of my biggest fears is me or worse one of my kids tagging one by accident.
How long did it take you to get around them?
Although they do clog things up, my post wasn’t about that. It was about the guilt and liability assigned to a motorist if the worst case scenario happens. I try my damndest to avoid them, but there are times it’s a close run thing.
What is the longest you have ever been held up by a bicyclist?
How could a worse case scenario happen to you or yours, if you/yours and the cyclists were operating safely and legally?
Can you give me an example of a close run you have had? As a driver, I have only had 2 somewhat close calls in my life and in both cases the cyclists were operating illegally. One was riding on the wrong side of the road, and the other was on the sidewalk.
I'll give you one example. 2 lane road, middle of summer so heavy traffic. There is a bridge over a small river, there's hardly any room outside the fog line. I'm driving my pickup pulling a flatbed tandem axle trailer loaded with small square bales of hay. As I approach the bridge I could not see the pedal bikers on my side of the road because of the vehicles in front of me. I'm on the bridge, pedal biker now beside me and a semi with a belly dump or a dump truck (I can't remember but it was a big heavy truck) is coming the other way. Everyone in this situation is legally allowed to be where they are. I try like hell to avoid hurting anybody if I can help it, but I'm not going to turn into a semi and wreck my vehicle, and myself to preserve the life of a dumbass arrogant fûcking pedal biker. Even had I wanted to and I stomped on the brakes I'd have never stopped in time. That pedal biker was within an inch of my trailer fender as I went by. I had a knot in my stomach that took a bit to go away, as I really thought I was going to hit them.
Was dodging pedal bikers today. 70 mph 2 lane road. No shoulders. Pulling a trailer with equipment, not exactly a zippy little sports car to cater to the asshôles that won’t ride in the thousands of miles of side roads. One of my biggest fears is me or worse one of my kids tagging one by accident.
How long did it take you to get around them?
Although they do clog things up, my post wasn’t about that. It was about the guilt and liability assigned to a motorist if the worst case scenario happens. I try my damndest to avoid them, but there are times it’s a close run thing.
What is the longest you have ever been held up by a bicyclist?
How could a worse case scenario happen to you or yours, if you/yours and the cyclists were operating safely and legally?
Can you give me an example of a close run you have had? As a driver, I have only had 2 somewhat close calls in my life and in both cases the cyclists were operating illegally. One was riding on the wrong side of the road, and the other was on the sidewalk.
I'll give you one example. 2 lane road, middle of summer so heavy traffic. There is a bridge over a small river, there's hardly any room outside the fog line. I'm driving my pickup pulling a flatbed tandem axle trailer loaded with small square bales of hay. As I approach the bridge I could not see the pedal bikers on my side of the road because of the vehicles in front of me. I'm on the bridge, pedal biker now beside me and a semi with a belly dump or a dump truck (I can't remember but it was a big heavy truck) is coming the other way. Everyone in this situation is legally allowed to be where they are. I try like hell to avoid hurting anybody if I can help it, but I'm not going to turn into a semi and wreck my vehicle, and myself to preserve the life of a dumbass arrogant fûcking pedal biker. Even had I wanted to and I stomped on the brakes I'd have never stopped in time. That pedal biker was within an inch of my trailer fender as I went by. I had a knot in my stomach that took a bit to go away, as I really thought I was going to hit them.
What's the speed limit on that road?
60. And I was doing 5-10 under
That sounds like the kind of road I'd try to avoid. I have found myself in an uncomfortable squeeze like that on an unfamiliar road. Scared the hell out of me. I would have dismounted and walked on the outside of the guard rail, but it was a sheer drop off.
They know full and well the dangers they are imposing on everybody else, they simply don't give a fugk.
I am well aware of the horrible dangers that cyclists pose to motorists. Hell, every time I catch breaking news it's another account of a drunk cyclist killing someone in a GMC pickup truck. lololol
You and your ilk think that because you have chosen to accept the higher risk of death or personal injury that nobody else has any skin in the game.
You don't consider that reasonable people are going to do everything in their power to keep from hurting you or killing you. And that the actions they take to prevent that may hurt themselves or others. Intentional or not.
Not to mention that if something horrific does happen to you or one of the other dumb fugks that engages in such activity that you leave an undue emotional (and often times financial) toll on the motorist and their family that you played fugk-fugk with.
And for what? Because you're too fugking lazy to do real exercise.
[quote=PaulBarnard][quote=deflave] You don't consider that reasonable people are going to do everything in their power to keep from hurting you or killing you. And that the actions they take to prevent that may hurt themselves or others. Intentional or not.They
Nope. No law abiding, alert driver will ever have to take such evasive action on my account.
Random street view samples show road design similar to this.
That road design is fine with me, as there is plenty of room to the right of the rumble strips. While traffic isn't heavy by my standards, there would be constant road noise that takes away from the peace I seek when I ride.
Here ya go, a non-random section of Hwy 2 along the Hi Line, one of the better sections along maybe a ten-mile stretch. I guess I musta hit it on a day considerably above the mean, I’m recalling lots of two-way traffic including semis and especially them big fuggin’ RV’s driven by semi-skilled tourists.
This was actually a scenic shot rolling towards Big Jim’s booming megopolis rather than a polemic on highway safety, I do realize the pesky rumble strip might disturb your harmony.
At the time I was thinking who dafugg would route a major bicycle route through here. But of course in Montana their generally ain’t many options.
IM maybe 600 mile E in that state, most Montana highways suck for bicycles about like this one coming out of Great Falls.
This actually was a polemic on highway safety. On a road like that when both lanes are occupied when vehicles are passing I’ll bail clear off the asphalt in a heartbeat, but there really wasn’t a dirt shoulder to speak of, I was having to bail so often it was barely rideable, even for me.
Same highway, further up, better shoulder, the truck coming at me teamed up with that guy passing me to try to kill me but I seen the other guy coming in my mirror 😎
bicyclists, like enthusiasts of any variety, come in both left, right and center leaning varieties.
it's 104F in TX right now. if I'm going to get a "workout" outside - a bike is the coldest means of doing so - better evaporation of sweat - and not in direct contact with the hot black asphalt that makes up the roads around my neighborhood. I took an 8 mile ride yesterday morning, before I went to my hyperconservative church.
I will say that one thing common among bicyclists, is that they are typically in pretty good shape. if you wanted to "group" them, I'd say "healthy" is a fairly appropriate label.
Conservatives versus liberals on bicycle it's really not hard to tell which ones which the conservatives haul their bike to a biking trail riding area. The ignorant levels right down the middle of the f****** highway
They know full and well the dangers they are imposing on everybody else, they simply don't give a fugk.
I am well aware of the horrible dangers that cyclists pose to motorists. Hell, every time I catch breaking news it's another account of a drunk cyclist killing someone in a GMC pickup truck. lololol
In 2019, I met Bill Lewinski in a class. He's the guy behind the Force Science Institute. He was researching time-to-stop shooting, and he's also published in the past a number of articles on unintentional discharges: https://www.forcescience.com/research/ A colleague of his, John O'neill, published a Functional Behavior Assessment of the Unintentional Discharge... in which he identified six distinct antecedent classes in which UD can be categorized: contact with objects, medical symptoms, muscle coactivations, routine tasks, startle stimuli, and unfamiliar tasks. I recall that Massad Ayoob had a UD in a class a few years ago which he detailed and described as a case of "Look But Fail To See." He describes opening the cylinder, looking down into the chambers, and yet he failed to see a cartridge in one chamber. For Mass, this incident would have fit O'neill's "routine task" class because clearing a gun and demonstrating something with dry-fire was a routine procedure in MAG-40. Drivers can make this same kind of error.
Jay Winsten is a health communications expert at the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School whose work focuses on traffic safety. His work in the 1990s introduced the designated-driver concept into American culture through a collaboration with media companies. In a study of serious crashes, it was found that inattentive driving was a critical factor in 30 percent to 40 percent of such incidents. Inadequate surveillance — failing to actively monitor the road and surroundings — was shown to be the largest single factor. Winsten has described eye-tracking studies that show a driver's eyes stop scanning left and right when their mind is not primarily on driving. This isn't just about "distracted driving" due to texting or looking at phones. Winsten has described how getting lost in thought, "you can miss a lot of things in the periphery — a bicyclist you’re about to cut off, a child dashing into the street after a ball, or a driver running a red light and heading your way." “We get away with distraction most of the time. And an uneventful trip reinforces our belief that we can handle it, that we’re not the problem, that we’re great at multitasking. But the truth is we’re playing a dangerous game of probabilities.”
Jeremy Wolfe is the director of the Visual Attention Lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of ophthalmology and radiology at Harvard Medical School. Wolfe has said that although driving is routine for many of us, it is also a complex, dynamic activity that requires one to rapidly — sometimes instantaneously — make sense of many things at once: the vehicle’s position on the road, its speed, the speed and direction of other cars, roadway conditions, visibility, and the activities of pedestrians and cyclists on the shoulder and sidewalks. “Doing anything perceptual in the world requires a vast set of inferences. You’re continuously making your best guess about what’s going on in the world." “Part of being an expert at anything is learning what the right inferences are to make in this setting and making them quickly.”
Wolfe’s scientific interest is in what’s called “Look But Fail to See” errors, such as when one repeatedly proofreads a document but keeps missing a grammatical error someone else picks up their first time through. The term “look-but-fail-to-see” comes from auto accidents. Wolfe has used the example of when drivers tell police that they looked but didn’t see the red light, the other car, or the bicycle rider. “In many cases you can be pretty damn sure the cyclist was perfectly visible. But the driver isn’t lying, in the sense that the driver didn’t say, ‘Oh look, there’s a cyclist. Maybe I’ll hit him.’ In some meaningful way, they did not see the cyclist or the other victim of the accident.” “These sorts of errors are going to be influenced by — among other things — how good a set of inferences you’re making at the time, and those inferences are going to be influenced by distraction.”
Ray Bradbury was prescient when he wrote stories like The Pedestrian, where he described a culture that had progressed beyond pedestrianism and came to regard it as deviant and even unlawful. Ray had written about science fiction and other literature set in the future like that of George Orwell, that it doesn't attempt to predict the future, so much as it examines what will be "if things continue the way they've been going." The Pedestrian preceded the world of Fahrenheit 451 where pedestrianism was also deviant behavior and drivers were maliciously callous toward them and would run them down in their jet beetles with impunity. Clarisse McClellan was different. She didn't watch the parlour walls (something like surround television that displayed content that had features of reality TV and social media), but she was a pedestrian and she thought drivers should slow down to appreciate the natural environment as it was originally intended to be viewed instead of looking at different colored blurs as they speed past. She thinks that drivers should take the time to notice the grass, flowers, cows, and houses they casually fly past on an everyday basis.
Nothing is more conformist in our culture today than driving a motor vehicle, and one of the most popular ways to do it is with callous indifference, distraction, and negligence while maintaining an expectation of entitlement to do so with impunity. I referred to the story of a young mother Beth Ann Huey and 1-year-old Paul Zebulun Huey earlier in this thread, but I'll mentioned them again. Just last week, they were mowed down by a driver of an Infiniti sedan who struck their bicycle and trailer. Also hit was Beth's husband Daniel and their daughter Faith who survived but were hospitalized. Several of the news stories emphasized how the roadway was blocked for 5.5 hours. There's no mention of the driver facing any charges. It was, evidently, an "unintentional discharge." Some people would say, "an accident."
In 2019, I met Bill Lewinski in a class. He's the guy behind the Force Science Institute. He was researching time-to-stop shooting, and he's also published in the past a number of articles on unintentional discharges: https://www.forcescience.com/research/ A colleague of his, John O'neill, published a Functional Behavior Assessment of the Unintentional Discharge... in which he identified six distinct antecedent classes in which UD can be categorized: contact with objects, medical symptoms, muscle coactivations, routine tasks, startle stimuli, and unfamiliar tasks. I recall that Massad Ayoob had a UD in a class a few years ago which he detailed and described as a case of "Look But Fail To See." He describes opening the cylinder, looking down into the chambers, and yet he failed to see a cartridge in one chamber. For Mass, this incident would have fit O'neill's "routine task" class because clearing a gun and demonstrating something with dry-fire was a routine procedure in MAG-40. Drivers can make this same kind of error.
Jay Winsten is a health communications expert at the Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School whose work focuses on traffic safety. His work in the 1990s introduced the designated-driver concept into American culture through a collaboration with media companies. In a study of serious crashes, it was found that inattentive driving was a critical factor in 30 percent to 40 percent of such incidents. Inadequate surveillance — failing to actively monitor the road and surroundings — was shown to be the largest single factor. Winsten has described eye-tracking studies that show a driver's eyes stop scanning left and right when their mind is not primarily on driving. This isn't just about "distracted driving" due to texting or looking at phones. Winsten has described how getting lost in thought, "you can miss a lot of things in the periphery — a bicyclist you’re about to cut off, a child dashing into the street after a ball, or a driver running a red light and heading your way." “We get away with distraction most of the time. And an uneventful trip reinforces our belief that we can handle it, that we’re not the problem, that we’re great at multitasking. But the truth is we’re playing a dangerous game of probabilities.”
Jeremy Wolfe is the director of the Visual Attention Lab at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of ophthalmology and radiology at Harvard Medical School. Wolfe has said that although driving is routine for many of us, it is also a complex, dynamic activity that requires one to rapidly — sometimes instantaneously — make sense of many things at once: the vehicle’s position on the road, its speed, the speed and direction of other cars, roadway conditions, visibility, and the activities of pedestrians and cyclists on the shoulder and sidewalks. “Doing anything perceptual in the world requires a vast set of inferences. You’re continuously making your best guess about what’s going on in the world." “Part of being an expert at anything is learning what the right inferences are to make in this setting and making them quickly.”
Wolfe’s scientific interest is in what’s called “Look But Fail to See” errors, such as when one repeatedly proofreads a document but keeps missing a grammatical error someone else picks up their first time through. The term “look-but-fail-to-see” comes from auto accidents. Wolfe has used the example of when drivers tell police that they looked but didn’t see the red light, the other car, or the bicycle rider. “In many cases you can be pretty damn sure the cyclist was perfectly visible. But the driver isn’t lying, in the sense that the driver didn’t say, ‘Oh look, there’s a cyclist. Maybe I’ll hit him.’ In some meaningful way, they did not see the cyclist or the other victim of the accident.” “These sorts of errors are going to be influenced by — among other things — how good a set of inferences you’re making at the time, and those inferences are going to be influenced by distraction.”
Ray Bradbury was prescient when he wrote stories like The Pedestrian, where he described a culture that had progressed beyond pedestrianism and came to regard it as deviant and even unlawful. Ray had written about science fiction and other literature set in the future like that of George Orwell, that it doesn't attempt to predict the future, so much as it examines what will be "if things continue the way they've been going." The Pedestrian preceded the world of Fahrenheit 451 where pedestrianism was also deviant behavior and drivers were maliciously callous toward them and would run them down in their jet beetles with impunity. Clarisse McClellan was different. She didn't watch the parlour walls (something like surround television that displayed content that had features of reality TV and social media), but she was a pedestrian and she thought drivers should slow down to appreciate the natural environment as it was originally intended to be viewed instead of looking at different colored blurs as they speed past. She thinks that drivers should take the time to notice the grass, flowers, cows, and houses they casually fly past on an everyday basis.
Nothing is more conformist in our culture today than driving a motor vehicle, and one of the most popular ways to do it is with callous indifference, distraction, and negligence while maintaining an expectation of entitlement to do so with impunity. I referred to the story of a young mother Beth Ann Huey and 1-year-old Paul Zebulun Huey earlier in this thread, but I'll mentioned them again. Just last week, they were mowed down by a driver of an Infiniti sedan who struck their bicycle and trailer. Also hit was Beth's husband Daniel and their daughter Faith who survived but were hospitalized. Several of the news stories emphasized how the roadway was blocked for 5.5 hours. There's no mention of the driver facing any charges. It was, evidently, an "unintentional discharge." Some people would say, "an accident."
Bullshit
I've noticed some participants in this thread express utter contempt for cyclists who ride on the road in traffic, and others who may not resent cyclists who do so, but who consider it dangerous and irrational and are unsympathetic to what they perceive as stupid behavior.
People are inclined to sympathy for others that make choices similar to their own. The more they've rationalized their decision, the more prone they may be to regard a different choice as irrational and stupid. Motorists have a moral and legal demand imposed on them to regard other road users with due care. They're not as likely to resent another similar motorist as a person making a choice that deviates more radically from their own -- like those "damn Prius drivers," or heaven-forbid a cyclist or pedestrian.
Despite the vile rhetoric expressed here, I suspect the deterrence of potential legal consequences and the conscience of even the motorists most resentful toward non-conforming road users would compel them to exercise a measure of due care with regard to other human beings.
If we are capable and willing to safeguard by way of exercising due care the life of other humans because we possess the conservative value that regards the sanctity of life (it is the other side that is pro-death), how will we choose to regard the prerogative that others possess as to where they go and how?
In previous posts, I've associated motoring with conformity. I've described the statist demands for authentication prior to being authorized to go anywhere by this means. There is an overwhelming compliance to these demands of licensing, registration, identification cards displayed upon demand, the display of license plates, participation in insurance schemes, and excessive mandatory taxation. Motoring is also for most people the activity of theirs that is most heavily policed by the state. Conservatives and small-government Republicans are likely to concede to these statist impositions because of the overwhelming urgency of conforming. They regard non-conformance to motor vehicle transportation as too costly, impractical, irrational, even stupid.
How should we regard the person who makes a non-conforming choice to cycle on the road, or skateboard, or to even be so deviant as to walk? Isn't their non-conforming choice a unique expression of that prerogative they alone possess to decide where they go and how? Can we call that prerogative what it really is? It's called freedom.
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