Posted on 06/19/2008 9:32:28 PM PDT by george76
One thing that always strikes me about so many of my "fellow" cyclists that Roenfeldt is apparently not cognizant of, is how rude and arrogant cyclists tend to be.
I mostly ride the metro area's extensive trails and paths and I try to extend every courtesy to others. I rarely encounter fellow cyclists with the same view, though. Rather, I see them rocketing silently out of darkened underpasses causing elderly strollers to leap into the brush alongside the path and rushing in silence up behind unsuspecting families with pets and small children, never uttering a word of warning
From my own experience, their attitudes are, if anything, even worse on the streets.
There's a very, very good reason so many view those of us who are cyclists as rude, arrogant jerks. Most of us are.
(Excerpt) Read more at rockymountainnews.com ...
Funny thing though, when some of the same trails were open to motorized use there wasn't a problem, the dirt bike and Jeep crowd was always polite. The standard mountain bike greeting to a hiker is usually "out of the way m f."
ht comments
Last weekend a couple passed me and a friend while we were passing a jogger. They were completely silent.
I caught up to them and said “I am on your left, I say that so you know I am here. You passed me while I was trying to safely passed that jogger, you unsafely passed me and put all 5 of us at risk”.
The woman responded “thanks for the advice” I couldn't really tell if she was being sarcastic or not.
In Portland OR, the cyclists know their rights. If you are making a right hand turn and a cyclist is trying to pass on the right, they will kill themselves rather than slow down and let you turn.
Oregon cyclists are the most arrogant, condescending jerks to ever get squished by a bus/truck. I enjoy riding but most are idiots.
Pray for W and Our Troops
No comment on the so-called “cyclists”.
I ride my bike in shorts and a tee-shirt, They wear homo garb. ‘nuf said.
Not only are they rude, arrogant jerks, but they dress like rodeo-clowns from San Francisco. -Wb
And they tend have this liberal attitude that manages to condescend and look ridiculous all at once.
We own a ranch in Californias San Bernardino mountains. There is a trail around our ranch that the Forest Service put in for the bikers, but they prefer to go through our place. They throw snack wrappers and drink bottles on the ground, and mouth off if confronted. I am vertically challenged, and put “NO TRESPASSING” signs as high as I can, and they always manage to rip them down. They go over gates and fences and destroy it as much as possible. One of these days someone will get hurt. They may have problems with a bear or cougar or rattlesnake, or possibly even some of my livestock. These jerks would not hesitate to sue me if they hurt themselves in the process of violating my rights.
Just head a bit east from Coors in Golden. You’ll see over a dozen markers where they’ve been splattered.
Yet they still pedal along that winding and narrow road. 18-wheelers turning the corners, wildlife....
And then the family blames the driver of the large truck that they just splattered against at 40 MPH, instead of the moron who is going to assert his “rights”.
Sounds like you need to invest in a big dog and train him to eat cyclists.
No self respecting Walking Dude would like the cyclists.
Southpark’s “SMUG” episode comes to mind. The one where everyone starts driving hybrids and start acting totally condescending to everyone else...the one where liberal adults fart, then bend down and smell their own fart and think it smells wonderful...?
Boy they nailed the lib attitude on this one.
That would get them knocked right off their bike with me.
Somebody needs to post that image of the car plowing into the group of bikers a week or so ago...
BTW, spandex on men is just nasty. I don't care WHO you are!
When the weather isn’t cooperative, but mostly meaning early spring/late fall, I wear jeans with the right pant leg rolled up, so it doesn’t get caught in the sprocket.
Other than that, during warm days, shorts and T-shirt for me too. I know how to ride.
***Southpark’s “SMUG” episode comes to mind. The one where everyone starts driving hybrids and start acting totally condescending to everyone else...the one where liberal adults fart, then bend down and smell their own fart and think it smells wonderful...?***
I do that, smells terrible and I still laugh like an idiot.
I used to feel the same way until I just purchased a pair of biking shorts with the chamois padded insert. After a 28 mile ride this past Sunday I was still able to sit down.
I think they look kind of homo-ish but they do serve a purpose and thats to pad your butt when you have to ride on a hard, narrow carbon fiber racing seat.
With that being said, I DID put a pair of regular shorts over them so I wouldn't look like a homo....... LOL!
Because nothing says funny like a drunk driver killing innocent people! You're sick.
Cyclists are all in your face about their “right to use the road” for their recreation and so smug that they are not polluting. They are at best passive-aggressive and at worst confrontational and militant. They will ride two abreast up a narrow mountain road and completely ignore the mayhem they create. I try to tell them there are truckers and delivery men who need those roads for their jobs. They have got families to feed and need to stick to a tight schedule. Imagine if your boss was pressing you to met a deadline and a bunch of guys barge in to play hockey. Trying to penetrate some people’s arrogance with comparative reasoning is like talking to plaster.
I just wish cyclists would obey traffic lights and signs like they are suppose to. I have had them cut in front of me, when I had the green light then look at me like I was the evil one, but had there been an accident I would have sued them because they ran the red light! I have no qualms about hitting a cyclist who is stupid enough to run a red light, and I will sue their estate for damages on my truck!!!
When I was growing up, we were taught to say in a non-startling way “on your left” or “on your right.”
Even some signs with bike etiquette might help or posters in bike shops. People are ignorant AND arrogant.
This is what cameras are for. Put some up and start posting their pics on the internet. Start a blog called Rude Arrogant Anti-Nature Lawbreakers.
Like this guy?
Exactly like that guy.
I wrestled for the better part of my life so far, and I filled out a singlet quite well if I do say so myself. :)
padded bike shorts are an entirely different matter than the outfits the biking clubs wear. I’m guessing those shorts are black, not brightly tri-colored. Spandex looks good on maybe .00000001 percent of the female population. It never looks good on men. The biking equivalent of a speedo.
I used to help out with communication on charity bike tours, and in the pre-start briefings, they’d always emphasize to the participants that they had to obey the rules of the road—stay far right, ride single file, don’t obstruct traffic, etc. For the most part, they did.
But there were the ones—always identifiable because they were fully pimped out like they were Lance Armstrong’s homeboy—that didn’t think the rules applied to them. They’d ride three and four abreast blocking an entire lane, come screaming down mountain curves at 45+ mph, dive into opposite lanes on blind downhill curves to keep their speed up, etc. How we never had somebody get splattered by a logging truck, I’ll never know.
One time I was using my pickup truck as a “sag wagon” and picked up a guy who cramped up. He threw his bike over the side into the back of my truck, left the handlebars hanging over the side so the fittings on his brake cables scratched the hell out of the paint, and when I got him to the rest stop, he grabbed the bike and walked away without a word of thanks or apology.
Most of the folks were really nice. But the weekend warriors who thought they were one step away from the Tour de France...those guys were jerks. Interestingly, I also helped out with a couple of ultra-marathons (a 50-mile “Mountain Masochist Trail Run” through the Blue Ridge), and to a man and woman, the runners were great. Very polite, thankful we ham radio geeks were there for communications support, very fun to hang out with.
}:-)4
Yes they are the only reason why they’re a good buy - a good, heavy-duty chamois. Plus the spandex itself can prevent any chafing on the inner leg.
If you don’t want to be seen in them, however, just wear a pair of shorts over them. That way you can carry a few items in pockets.
I'm very fortunate, I just got into biking this summer at the urging of a friend who has been a biker all his life.
Fortunately we have a marvelous paved bike path at our disposal that spans about 13 miles at this point but our normal route on Sunday mornings will give us an out and back ride of about 20 miles......with no road riding at all.
This past Sunday morning I decided to meet him at his house for the start of the ride with the intention of taking an alternate route of all roadways. However, once we made it to the major road I wanted to take along Jefferson Ave. in order to ride to my sister's house in Grosse Point shores, MI, that road had no biking lane, which I was never aware of until I actually road the bike there.
When we headed west on it, I realized that was not a comfortable route considering we were relegated to the extreme right side with traffic whizzing by at 40 - 50 mph.......I immediately told my buddy that I was uncomfortable with that so we headed back to where we could hitch up with the bike path........
An observation tho, as we were riding along the road (a 2 lane with no paved shoulder) we passed a group of cyclists coming in the opposite direction riding to their extreme right in single file. They had no where else to ride because of the gravel shoulder nor did my friend and I. Anyway, just as we were passing them on the opposite side of the road, a big Dodge Ram came up behind them and laid on his horn!!! Had I been the last rider in that group, I would have been startled so bad that I probably would have swerved into the path of that idiot truck driver.........
I guess my point is that there are idiots on both sides of the spectrum. And as for myself, at this point in my cycling career, I'm staying off the highways......
It’s true. However, it remains true when they are not on their bicycles. They are this way always and everywhere. Got to say, if somebody like that is reading this: enjoy it while it lasts.
I don’t really see why you have to announce yourself. You don’t announce yourself in a car when you pass somebody. I ride hard and don’t have a lot of spare air. If everybody is being smart and sticking to their lanes except when forced out you can pass and be passed safely with nobody having to announce themselves. Most of the people I encounter on the trail that complain when you don’t announce yourself are in the middle of the path making it so you can’t get around them without it being a tight squeeze. My favorite was another bike hogging the center line and the guy had one of those mirror thingies on his helmet, hey dude keep to your lane and use the mirror and you won’t get any surprises.
I ride dirt bikes in the mountains. On one ride some bike riders came through while we were resting and yelled, “Out of the way, a**holes!” We immediately caught up to them and continued to roost them with mud until they got pissed and stopped. I got off my bike and got the apology I deserved. That “tough yuppie” act is from nothing but a bunch of cowards who were chess team members in high school.
My favorite cyclist stunt is when they blow through stop signs without pause, expecting me to stop at my stop sign and wait while all 42 of them get through the intersection.
And democrats...
A nice long walking stick made out of good straight grained hardwood would stop that kind of $hit very quickly. Taking a header over the handlebars can realign their thinking.
.
From Page 36 of the "Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws" ( http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/pdf_forms/HSY-7607.pdf ) (Emphasis added):
When passing to the left, the law requires that a driver overtaking another vehicle do these things:
1. Sound the horn to warn the driver of the vehicle being overtaken that he/she is about to be passed.
2. Signal the intent to pass.
3. Pass to the left of the vehicle being overtaken at a safe distance and return to the right side of the roadway only after the overtaking vehicle is safely clear of the vehicle being overtaken.
4. Return to the right lane as soon as the pas has been safely completed and before coming within 200 feet of any approaching vehicle.
The law must be different where you live.
I agree with you. I don’t think the guy was saying that cyclists have a monopoly on jerks, it’s more that people have gotten more jerk-ish. He was pointing out what’s happened with cyclists. But you are right to point out that in general there are more jerk drivers out there as well.
It is one reason I haven’t been on the road for years on a bike.
Bush’s bike looks just like mine! Handlebars are exactly the same...
Does anybody actually do that? I mean really, honk every single time you pass a car on a one by one? Don’t know what the law is here but I do know I have never once had anybody do that when passing me, not here in AZ, not visiting the in-laws in NM, not visiting my friend in CA, not when passing through parts of TX, OK, KS, IL or WI for a funeral.
Every Sunday since I got the new bike. The old bike couldn’t cruise at better than 18 1/2, the new bike is smoother. Oddly enough while the new bike cruises faster it hasn’t beaten the downhill top speed of 24.3, of course I haven’t goosed it before an underpass yet either, maybe this week. Dirt is really where the speed gets scary, over 13 or 14 all steering seems to cause at least a little skid, never really feel in charge. Kind of fun actually.
“Does anybody actually do that?”
In the modern age of air conditioned cars with radios, CD players and closed windows it’s kind of hard to tell. :)
Many but not all used to do so—on two lane roads of course, not freeways or multi-lane city streets.
I think some still do when they are passing bicycles on narrow roads. Some of those aren’t being courteous though.
Exhibit 1.
Mine is toed with a brass horse hame. The other day a silent bikepsycho brushed my arm with his as he went by. I just missed.
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