Bingo. The roads where I live have nice bike lanes on both sides, yet even a pair of cyclists will pedal side-by-side and thus block part of the street, necessitating a swerve into the oncoming traffic opposite lane to get past the "snails". If they want to converse....get helmets with two-way radios.
Bicyclists have the worst road etiquette of any set of wheels rolling.
Amen - they are a bigger hazard than drunk drivers who insist on riding narrow back country roads during rush hour. I had one kick my door when I told him to stay on the shoulder
In all candor, that comment is sadly correct.
In EVERY cycling club ridden over the course of Many Hundreds of miles, there is a sense of entitlement / owning the road by fellow cyclists.
Cyclist road riding education actually encourages riders to “assert themselves” on the road.
In Every club I’ve ridden with I’ve been appalled at the two / three abreast social hour swarm behavior of most cyclists I know.
This accident is tragic, and an awful reminder that cyclists must ride defensively, and stay out of harm’s way.
As for me, I don’t road ride much anymore, and when I do, it bright lights on, and ride on the road’s edge.
Better safe, than sorry...
RE: “”Stop riding 5 abreast taking up the whole lane.”
Bingo. The roads where I live have nice bike lanes on both sides, yet even a pair of cyclists will pedal side-by-side and thus block part of the street, necessitating a swerve into the oncoming traffic opposite lane to get past the “snails”. If they want to converse....get helmets with two-way radios.
Bicyclists have the worst road etiquette of any set of wheels rolling.”
Agreed, but it's still against the law to kill them. (Gotta confess, I've occasionally wished ill on packs of bicyclists spreading out over the whole vehicular lane when thee was a bike line handy)
“Bicyclists have the worst road etiquette of any set of wheels rolling.”
Bingo, again.
I say this as a former distance rider. I wasn’t a rude, pushy or “in-your-face” rider. I did a number of sponsored rides for various “cures”. I loved the exercise and being outdoors. I didn’t particularly like riding in a group, so spent a lot of time out by myself.
I walked away from it the day someone in a car bounced a full pop bottle off my back. I didn’t get the plate number because I was crossing a bridge, and there were a number of cars that had just come up behind me.
Cyclists can be aholes, but cage-drivers are nuts.
****Bicyclists have the worst road etiquette of any set of wheels rolling. ****
A few weeks ago I got behind two, on a narrow winding paved road, in rush hour. Within a few minutes they had traffic backed up for miles before they finally took off on a side road.
I thought, “WHAT IDIOT would be out bicycling on THIS road during Rush Hour!” An hour later and they could have had the road to themselves, but THEY chose rush hour.