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Well, Bill, you have to admit the cyclists are becoming much more militant lately. I saw a velociped of them (is that the word for a group of bicyclists?) recently, and they were going merry-as-you-please right down the middle of a VERY busy highway, and when anyone honked at their road-hogging style, they would grant the person a peek at the National Bird.

I mean, this is just rude, inexcusible behavior. They are counting on people not to get pissed and just smack 'em off the road. There were sidewalks there, they were just being pr**ks.

BTW, I love riding bikes. I used to ride mine on the strand at the beach, from Santa Monica to Torrance. Pretty good workout on a fantastic day. But you have to be considerate of other bicyclists and rollerbladers, skateboarders, peds., etc... I NEVER ride my bike on ANY streets. I saw a woman on the road who fell from her 10 speed in Palos Verdes back in the 80's and the road was rough and gravely. She had no helmet or protective wear, just t-shirt and shorts. She was obvious in a lot of pain when the paramedics arrived. I heard her screaming. I came upon her AFTER the mishap and other people were helping her.

Well, I've seen it from both sides, being a recovering cyclist myself...most of them are OK but the obnoxious few can get really obnoxious. We have a group that likes to ride en masse down busy streets (a pun - they call themselves "Critical Mass,"), as self-righteous a gaggle of snots as you could imagine, chanting "we're not stopping traffic, we ARE traffic!" Which is cool until they decide they're pedestrians too when convenient and bowl over the real pedestrians on the sidewalk...

Well, Bill, you have to admit the cyclists are becoming much more militant lately. I saw a velociped of them (is that the word for a group of bicyclists?) recently, and they were going merry-as-you-please right down the middle of a VERY busy highway, and when anyone honked at their road-hogging style, they would grant the person a peek at the National Bird.

I mean, this is just rude, inexcusible behavior. They are counting on people not to get pissed and just smack 'em off the road. There were sidewalks there, they were just being pr**ks.

I think that's exactly the image that people get when they talk about "rude" cyclists. I don't think that this represents a majority of cyclists by any stretch of the imagination, but the ones that pull this crap are pretty much making it bad for the rest of the riders. They are essentially planting a solid chip on the shoulder of motorists when they act in a militant fashion.

I don't do much riding any more, but I used to get around quite a bit by bicycle. There's certainly a few rude motorists around, but the biggest hazard was simply drivers that weren't paying attention and didn't see you. I can't count the number of times that I was passed by a car that immediately turned right in front of me. I think that they just didn't know I was there. They figured they were past me and that they could turn safely.

Okay, first off, it's illegal to ride bikes on the sidewalk. Look it up. Second, the law also states that bicycles have a right to the road. Getting far enough over to the right to let cars pass is a courtesy, but bicyclists are not obliged to do it. They are permitted to take their lane. Again, look it up.

...and when anyone honked at their road-hogging style, they would grant the person a peek at the National Bird.

I mean, this is just rude, inexcusible behavior. They are counting on people not to get pissed and just smack 'em off the road. There were sidewalks there, they were just being pr**ks.

I....I....I live outside of Durango, CO...the "Mountain Bike Capitol of the World"...If they stayed "in the mountains" I would have no problem...I...I...I can't type what I want to type.

FMCDH!