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6 signs you're a Twin Cities bike jerk
Star Tribune ^ | 6-18-15 | Steve Stratman

Posted on 06/22/2015 5:14:28 AM PDT by TurboZamboni

Let’s face it, bicyclists are becoming unlikable, even to other bicyclists. And if you think there are more important issues, you’re right — homelessness, political corruption, pet laws or ISIL. But there are good articles about those issues already. As a man who enjoys Netflix like any other guy, eats cheap Chinese food with chopsticks and just spent $40 on premium decaffeinated coffee, I feel I’m qualified to talk about The Breakdown of the Family Bike Trail. I’ve compiled a checklist, a self-intervention of sorts, that the average bicyclist can use to determine if he or she is indeed, a bike-jerk: 1. Traffic laws are a matter of personal taste. We’ve all seen it, haven’t we? Messengers catapulting up wrong ways, shirtless waifs wobbling down crowded sidewalks, cyclists decked in battle armor tailgating buses in rush hour and the ubiquitous stalwarts: knots of defiant men on a $3,000 bikes, shoulder to shoulder, baiting us while they parallel the curb by 8 feet.

(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...


TOPICS: Outdoors
KEYWORDS: bedpanheads; bikes; mn; passiveaggressive; spandexfetish
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1 posted on 06/22/2015 5:14:28 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
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To: TurboZamboni

I’m a cyclist myself, and I agree with all of those criticisms.

Some bike-hating articles irritate me, but this guy is basically right across the board.


2 posted on 06/22/2015 5:17:52 AM PDT by babble-on
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To: TurboZamboni

"Look at me! I'm Lance Frickin' Armstrong!"

3 posted on 06/22/2015 5:24:51 AM PDT by Dr. Thorne (The night is far spent, the day is at hand.- Romans 13:12)
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To: Dr. Thorne

Lycra, the wonder fabric of our age!


4 posted on 06/22/2015 5:27:01 AM PDT by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: babble-on

Yep, and it is worst in places like Minnesota and Vermont because not only is the cycling season so short, the areas are populated by a large number of leftists with attitude.


5 posted on 06/22/2015 5:31:47 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: TurboZamboni

Nothing cogent or even real about his “list”. It’s all based on his perceptions. A jerk writing about “jerks”.


6 posted on 06/22/2015 5:35:30 AM PDT by raybbr (Obamacare needs a deatha panels.)
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To: TurboZamboni

We’re starting to experience this now in Pittsburgh, as Millenial bikers are a key part of the weird coalition that elected Bill Peduto as Mayor. He is now closing down perfectly good (and busy) streets to placate their demand for bike lanes. Odd as perhaps no city save San Francisco has less hospitable terrain for bicycling.


7 posted on 06/22/2015 5:35:58 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: TurboZamboni
Got my day glow spandex, my tiny tires and my aerodynamic helmet. I am a bad-ass! The modern day effeminate Hells Angel. And damn I'm fast! At speeds up to 20 mpg I will take on rush hour traffic, riding in the street with those lazy unenlightened cars. I don't need no stinking sidewalks and pedestrian crosswalks. Hell no! I will boldly go where no sane person can...in the left turn lane of a busy intersection, waiting for the green light,because I'm FASTBIKE GUY!
8 posted on 06/22/2015 5:36:39 AM PDT by Awgie (truth is always stranger than fiction)
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To: Dr. Thorne

I bet his camel backpack is filled with frosting or melted butter.


9 posted on 06/22/2015 5:36:53 AM PDT by Cowgirl of Justice
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To: Vigilanteman
a large number of leftists with attitude.

From the department of redundancy department.

10 posted on 06/22/2015 5:37:20 AM PDT by verga (I might as well be playng chess with pigeons.)
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To: Awgie

Yep.

Reminds me of the soccer dads in their Land Rovers with the brush guards in the front bumper. I guess you never know when you will have to barrel down a rocky gully while being chased by a pride of lions while carpooling.


11 posted on 06/22/2015 5:39:24 AM PDT by Cowgirl of Justice
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To: babble-on

I sometimes think they live to cause head on collisions between the cars who have to pass them and the on-coming car.
By the way, we ride scooters on the back roads often favored by the spandex warriors, and honestly, cyclists are the most miserable looking people we see all day. scowling, grimacing, and over-stressed. But there goes a “Human Machine Guy” wave and admire.
Tempting car and truck drivers is a dangerous sport. They may have the right of way, but they have to survive to prove that in court.
I won’t even get into the trail riders at the state parks.
For many years, when I lived in south FL, my 10 speed was my only mode of transportation. So I’m not just ragging on cyclists.
That sign “Share The Road” applies equally to pedal pushers.


12 posted on 06/22/2015 5:39:34 AM PDT by two23 (Ignore the media. It isn't propaganda if we don't listen.)
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To: TurboZamboni

And if you mention to them that if they hit a pothole and end up under my car you ruined not only my life but my children’s life too, they get really indignant.

I wish I had said something years ago it I had known it would have made you stop talking to me!

LOL


13 posted on 06/22/2015 5:56:49 AM PDT by Uversabound (Our Military past and present: Our Highest example of Brotherhood of Man & Doing God's Will)
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To: TurboZamboni
Since I had both my knees replaced, I've stuck to the Air-Dyne stationary bike. If I was to fall off my regular bike and injure one of my knees, which is probable, I would need new surgery to repair it. Too big a risk.

I walk daily for about an hour but I have been thinking about getting a balloon tire Schwinn with riser handle bars and a big seat to make it easier to go riding and control getting on and off. We used to call them beach bikes. Give me a change of pace from the walking everyday. But then it would be harder to take my dog with me like I do on my walks.

This reminds me, I should clean up my old Trek 15 speed mountain bike and put it on CraigsList to sell. I'll never use it again.

14 posted on 06/22/2015 5:57:59 AM PDT by HotHunt
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To: Dr. Thorne
I'm glad that guy got on a bike, but he could have used from friendly wardrobe advice from the folks at the bike shop. As in: "You don't wear that kind of stuff until after you hit your weight target."
15 posted on 06/22/2015 6:02:28 AM PDT by sphinx
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To: TurboZamboni

I’d like to see a national bounty on bicycle thugs.


16 posted on 06/22/2015 6:04:07 AM PDT by JJ_Folderol (Diagonally parked in a parallel universe...)
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To: Vigilanteman

That is so true!

It used to be terrible commuting to work to downtown Minneapolis, because the road was filled with bikes that thought they were cars, and jay-walkers with chips on their shoulders.


17 posted on 06/22/2015 6:04:24 AM PDT by MNDude (God is not a Republican, but Satan is certainly a Democrat.)
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To: TurboZamboni

These aggressive bicyclist should take a vacation and chill out in Holland for a week or two. They can smoke all the hashish and marijuana they want and cyclists are everywhere. Holland has a long standing bicycle culture


18 posted on 06/22/2015 6:10:36 AM PDT by dennisw (The first principle is to find out who you are then you can achieve anything -- Buddhist monk)
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To: JJ_Folderol

so you’d like to legalize the murder a few hundred thousand people. Neat. You sound like a reasonable person.


19 posted on 06/22/2015 6:34:14 AM PDT by babble-on
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To: babble-on

Bicycling is just an excuse for guys to wear spandex in public.


20 posted on 06/22/2015 6:38:11 AM PDT by JJ_Folderol (Diagonally parked in a parallel universe...)
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