Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Cobb targets cyclists (Cobb County, Georgia)
Atlanta Journal Constitution ^ | 1/23/07 | CRAIG SCHNEIDER

Posted on 01/23/2007 1:20:01 PM PST by GeorgiaDawg32

With its flat surface, wide shoulders and lack of parked cars, Columns Drive near Marietta draws dozens of cyclists on a nice day, including many who use the somewhat remote road as their training track, riding lap after lap up and down the 2 1/2 mile street.

But angry residents who live along the road in upwards of million-dollar homes say the cyclists whip along the street three or more abreast, cutting off cars, robbing the roadway and scaring people even as they step out to check their mailbox.

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


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: anticyclist; bikegeeks; roadrage
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-135 next last
To: Minn
It’s functional people. Those people aren’t wearing tight stretchy shorts to look cool or irritate you. They provide padding, moisture control and coolness.

Yup, it's a world of difference, especially in Summer- Better than naked. But there are those who act like it is not only a law that someone wears it, but what BRAND it is, and if it is "correct" enough. So I meet them all halfway...Generic black shorts and Specialized jerseys to match the bike. Which of course, does not impress the Trek riders, etc.

My wife and riding buddy (Trek fan) teased me for getting branded anything..."You are such a GIRL about it!", etc.

It depends. Sometimes after Work, I WANT to spend that five extra minutes riding, and if it is not too hot, I'll just jump on and go for a quick ride. For a longer trail ride, though, it's comfort first. Including the cutsie Specialized shoes...

61 posted on 01/23/2007 2:44:43 PM PST by Gorzaloon (Global Warming: A New Kind Of Scientology for the Rest Of Us.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: Dark Skies

That's it !!! It is the southern hospitality!!!!

Be safe on the roads !!!!!


62 posted on 01/23/2007 2:46:49 PM PST by Kimmers (It's not what you take when you leave this world behind, it's what you leave behind when you go)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: DUMBGRUNT

Prolly a downhill run... I can go about 30...tops on a flat road but not for long.


63 posted on 01/23/2007 2:47:07 PM PST by Silicon Cowboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Dark Skies

That is still wrong. You stop no matter what the traffic is.

Do you run the signs when you are driving as well?


64 posted on 01/23/2007 2:53:01 PM PST by Silicon Cowboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Silicon Cowboy
Prolly a downhill run... I can go about 30...tops on a flat road but not for long

Yeah, same here.

*shrug* I'm old.

What shuts me up is some old coot fifteen years my senior, blazing by me uphill, than asking at the water stop, "Hey! Gonna do the Wellesley to Provincetown 163 mile Pan Mass Challenge with us this year?".

I haven't figured out an excuse yet, but I'll work on it! :-)

65 posted on 01/23/2007 2:53:36 PM PST by Gorzaloon (Global Warming: A New Kind Of Scientology for the Rest Of Us.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: GeorgiaDawg32

Heh, You'd still get the muscle-memory reflexive finger telling you that you are #1. I usually can see the oncoming traffic in my rear-view.


66 posted on 01/23/2007 2:57:24 PM PST by Silicon Cowboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: landorepub

and earn the RR spike I fling.


67 posted on 01/23/2007 2:59:20 PM PST by Silicon Cowboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: Silicon Cowboy

then please forgive me if i somewhow slip into reverse and run your ass over, knucklehead!!


68 posted on 01/23/2007 3:08:30 PM PST by landorepub
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: HIDEK6
So will you take AirTran out of town, or are you boycotting them, too?

My AirTran would have been I75. But I don't see what Air Tran has to do with the price of beans in China

69 posted on 01/23/2007 3:18:34 PM PST by Investment Biker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 49 | View Replies]

To: GeorgiaDawg32
When I used to live in Marietta, I was an avid runner. Someone mentioned the park at the end of Columns Drive (Johnson's Ferry Rd. marks the other end); my run would start at the southern entrance of the park and, on some days, I'd go all the way to Johnson's Ferry Rd., then turn around and head back to the parking lot (about 8 miles round-trip).

If I recall correctly, there were no stop signs along Columns Drive. Also, there are no crossing streets: Columns Drive nearly dead-straight, and about east-west; to the south-side of the road are some polo fields and the Chattahoochee River; to the north side are 2 "back" entrances into Atlanta Country Club.

Unless things have changed dramatically since I moved away in 1994, the only traffic that would be on this road would be traffic headed for ACC, or traffic headed to the east entrance of the park. So, opportunities for encounters with bikers should be limited at best (perhaps leading to its popularity with bikers?), and if they're pacing along at 30+ mph, should not be impeding traffic at all (excepting those that wish to blow down the road well in excess of the posted limit.

My guess is there's arrogance on both parts (bikers and drivers); the former due to the aggressive/dangerous drivers , and the latter due to their being inconvenienced as they might have their journey delayed 30 seconds or so.
70 posted on 01/23/2007 3:28:15 PM PST by Be Free
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Investment Biker
AirTran recently escorted a disruptive family of three off of one of its flights.

The self-centered husband declared that he would no longer fly AirTran.

I was just wondering if you were the same guy.

71 posted on 01/23/2007 3:29:04 PM PST by HIDEK6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 69 | View Replies]

To: Silicon Cowboy

I'd be stopping ever 20 seconds. Take your commuting cyclist crusade to someone who gives a sh!t. You're not a cyclist, you're a cycling mother-in-law.


72 posted on 01/23/2007 3:30:56 PM PST by Dark Skies ("He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that" ... John Stuart Mill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: Silicon Cowboy
BTW, I have friends who are local cops and I put the question to them and their response..."what kind of exercise is that."

Their suggestion, "slow down until you can determine its clear, then go. If it isn't clear, stop."

73 posted on 01/23/2007 3:33:41 PM PST by Dark Skies ("He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that" ... John Stuart Mill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: Silicon Cowboy
I don't appreciate the "See how close I can get to the cyclist without actually hitting him" game... or the "Lets honk and see if he falls off his bike" game.

Too bad, Cowgirl. I've been able to get within 2 inches of a bicyclist and never hit him. One trick I love to do is turn my window washer sprayer to the side. I can then pull up to next to a bicyclist and zap them with a long stream of cold water. Then I take off!!

74 posted on 01/23/2007 3:34:54 PM PST by ExtremeUnction
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: landorepub
...then please forgive me if i somewhow slip into reverse and run your ass over, knucklehead!!

I hear Bubba in cell block 9 is looking for a new beatch. Go for it!

75 posted on 01/23/2007 3:35:53 PM PST by Dark Skies ("He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that" ... John Stuart Mill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: ExtremeUnction
One trick I love to do is turn my window washer sprayer to the side.

You can do that from behind the wheel...or is this just bar room chatter.

76 posted on 01/23/2007 3:42:00 PM PST by Dark Skies ("He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that" ... John Stuart Mill)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: Minn
It may be functional (in fact I know it is, I have spandex bike shorts myself, and they are extremely comfortable, but they are Plain Basic Black. Just like my equestrian stuff. Even my horse is Plain Basic Black.)

There is a clear correlation between the really bright colored full-body coordinated spandex cycling outfits with the manufacturer and team logos all over them and the behavior of the cyclist in question.

Perhaps the exhibitionism inherent in looking like a rolling billboard bleeds over into riding like one owns the road.

77 posted on 01/23/2007 3:53:43 PM PST by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: HIDEK6
What a jerk.

So you can be clear. I saw Atlanta and the Silver Comet -Chief Lidiga Trail as a perfect place to go during early spring for a snowbird bicyclist. But given the reception of folks like you, a county that considers anti-cyclist ordinances, I will take my riding and money to places that are actually receptive to cyclists. In fact some even recruit them to come. I could name a dozen such places. So I don't get my early spring ride on the trail I will just save the vacation time for more pleasant and receptive places. It is not that my money is limited, just my time and I chose wisely how to use it, usually not with jerks.
78 posted on 01/23/2007 3:55:12 PM PST by Investment Biker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies]

To: Investment Biker
Fine.

Silver Comet's too crowded anyway.

If you decide not to cut your nose off to spite your face, ride in a group. There have been two women raped and one murdered on the Silver Comet. They were riding alone. They were on the more remote part of the trail, west towards Alabama.

(it goes through Cobb, Paulding, and on to the Alabama border, so how are you spiting Atlanta by not spending your vacation money in Cobb and Paulding?)

79 posted on 01/23/2007 3:56:07 PM PST by AnAmericanMother ((Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment)))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Dark Skies
Their suggestion, "slow down until you can determine its clear, then go. If it isn't clear, stop."

yea, and then get run down by the innatentive driver yakking on her cellphone that blows the light.
80 posted on 01/23/2007 3:58:52 PM PST by Silicon Cowboy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 121-135 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson