So, I'm driving into work yesterday and I see cars backing up in front of me. Soon the problem became apparent. A cyclist was taking up 3 or 4 feet of the lane at a 20mph clip in a 45mph zone. Waiting for the gaps in the oncoming traffic, cars would pull out and pass the bicyclist. A half mile down the road, the traffic light turns red. Sure enough, here comes the bicyclist slipping by all the cars on the shoulder of the road where he finally stops right up at the front of the line. The light turns green and the cars back up again...
And these clowns in the article would never, ever do something like that, it's just a few bad apples dontchaknow. Feel pity for bicyclists? Yeah, right...
1 posted on
10/01/2003 6:49:42 AM PDT by
Hatteras
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To: Hatteras
A half mile down the road, the traffic light turns red. Sure enough, here comes the bicyclist slipping by all the cars on the shoulder of the road where he finally stops right up at the front of the line. The light turns green and the cars back up again... Don't you know that bicyclists obey all traffic laws? How dare you post something like this?
NOT
We see this every day in Austin. I used to have a Chevy full sized pickup with the HUGH mirrors. Pulled as close to the curb as possible. Electric windows and cold water also tend to stop the bikers from passing on the right.
154 posted on
10/01/2003 8:03:16 AM PDT by
Arrowhead1952
(I am ashamed the dixie chicks are from Texas!)
To: Hatteras
I used to walk to work (about a mile, but no joke in lovely tropical humid Houston). I can't tell y'all how many dipshits threw stuff at me on my way to work. Once, someone introduced my upper back to a mostly-full beer - at seven in the morning. Ugh.
173 posted on
10/01/2003 8:11:44 AM PDT by
Xenalyte
(I may not agree with your bumper sticker, but I'll defend to the death your right to stick it)
To: Hatteras
Clowns that ride their bikes in the streets, in lanes with traffic are certified idiots and have an obvious death wish.
They ought to take every idiot that think his bike is a car and show him some video of someone that has gone under the wheels of a car or truck.
177 posted on
10/01/2003 8:13:01 AM PDT by
Joe Hadenuf
(I failed anger management class, they decided to give me a passing grade anyway)
To: All
This thread's great!
Apparently, there is a whole big world out there, far from my couch, that is an unpleasant world of cyclists fighting drivers fighting skateboarders.
Me and my remote get along just fine.
182 posted on
10/01/2003 8:14:28 AM PDT by
dead
(Valerie Plame is a spy. Pass it on.)
To: Hatteras
I don't ride a bicycle.
I do drive a car and you know who causes the most problems for me? Other car drivers, most of them probably a lot the aggressive, rude, stupida**, homicidal nutballs threatening bikers on this thread.
Jeesh, what a bunch of headcases.
186 posted on
10/01/2003 8:15:48 AM PDT by
kegler4
To: DollyCali
Dead minds driving ping.
191 posted on
10/01/2003 8:17:01 AM PDT by
bicycle thug
(Fortia facere et pati Americanum est.)
To: Hatteras
In Colorado, cyclists have every right to be on the road as an automobile. Cyclists are required to observe all traffic laws for that reason. They are only required to be as far to the right as comfortable. I suspect that if traffic was held up it was due to driver's lack of confidence, rather than a lack of space. I have experienced similar backups while driving only to realize that it was a timid older driver who felt the need to take up half of the oncoming lane in order to pass the cyclist, when in reality, there was plenty of room to pass. As a driver, I get pissed when traffic is backed up due to two cyclists riding a side-by-side, in the roadway.
As a kid, riding with the traffic on my 20" single speed, I felt a rush of wind pass my ear. I looked up to see some idiot holding a pipe out of the window of a truck.
For the rest of my youth, I rode against traffic. Since cyclists are required to follow the traffic laws this is illegal, which is unfortunate, because the cyclist is putting his life in the hands of the drivers. Riding against traffic is tricky, however, when a driver is making a left turn - they are looking for oncoming traffic and won't see the cyclist riding against traffic until the last second, usually.
Recently, here in Summit County, Colorado, the letters-to-the-editor in the Summit Daily got a little heated over the issue of cyclists using roads versus bikepaths. There is a two-lane road over Dillon dam, in particular, that sparked debate. Anti-cyclists even went as far as to write that given the choice of a head on collision, taking a breath and slowing down or hitting a cyclist, they would hit the cyclist. Drivers felt that cyclists had no right to the roadway because there is a bikepath right next to it. When the newspaper ran a picture of the newly posted sign prohibiting cyclists from the roadway, you could see the bikepath in the background. The photo revealed why cyclists would use the roadway when a perfectly good bikepath ran alongside it - on the "bikepath" two pedestrians were walking, side-by-side, with a dog, taking up the whole bikepath.
I have ridden the exact same path many times and when approaching pedestrians, I yell out "hello" 20 yards, or so, in advance. One particular day, a woman with a particularly large posterior was walking alongside with her companion. When I yelled out "hello" she turned, looked at me and continued without making the slightest effort to move to the side. Needless to say, I made a very audible suggestion that involved characterizing her bundinghah as I rode past her.
224 posted on
10/01/2003 8:29:46 AM PDT by
Nephi
(Compassionate conservativism: Sure it's socialism, but what are you gonna do, vote for Nikita Dean?)
To: Hatteras
248 posted on
10/01/2003 8:36:28 AM PDT by
SGCOS
To: newgeezer
didjuicythis?
293 posted on
10/01/2003 8:52:31 AM PDT by
biblewonk
(Spose to be a Chrisssssssstian)
To: Hatteras
This thread sure brings out the road ragers.
To: Hatteras
"And these clowns in the article would never, ever do something like that, it's just a few bad apples dontchaknow. Feel pity for bicyclists? Yeah, right..."
It's a shame that 99.9% of bicyclists give the other .1% a bad name.
301 posted on
10/01/2003 8:54:14 AM PDT by
b-cubed
To: Hatteras
Bicycles and trucks are a good combination.
318 posted on
10/01/2003 9:00:53 AM PDT by
RightWhale
(Repeal the Law of the Excluded Middle)
To: Hatteras
I'm very surprised he stopped at the light. Most of the time they keep on peddling. My only gripe with cyclists, is that they feel they have equal right to the roadway, but don't feel they have to obey the rules. (My apologies to the 10% to which this does not apply.)
To: Hatteras
I rode a bicycle from the coast of Oregon to the coast of Delaware when I was in college. There is no reason for an experienced cyclist to take up more than a foot or two on next to the line on the side of the road. If he does, he shouldn't be riding in traffic....
One thing I've constantly observed with motorists though, is giving cyclists WAY too much space on the side....I'll be riding within one foot of the line and cars behind with plenty of space, won't pass, evidently because they are nervous drivers, not realizing how narrow their vehicle really is.
Many times the troubles with bicyclists are just as much the fault of drivers as they are the cyclist... You can't get mad at a cyclist just because stupid drivers won't pass him.
I think the writer calling for concealed carry for cyclists facing violent motorists is on the mark.
Watch out drivers, if you try to hurt (or more likely kill) a cyclist you may wake up in the hot place...
To: Hatteras
20 mph, 3-4 ft into the lane... this guy was doing EXACTLY what is urged of transporation cyclists at a truly fast pace...
Folks, cyclists have a legal right to use virtually every single road in all 50 states. In fact, historically, cyclists were among the ones who fought to have the first roads paved... The fabric of "traffic" is wide and colorful and includes things that move slowly including, in OHio at least, Amish buggies, slow moving commercial vehicles and bicycles... get used to it, get over it... the physical threats posted here are of far more concern to me than slowing people down before they can pass a cyclist. The slightest nudge from a passing motorist can KILL a cyclist...
To: Hatteras
Back in the 1980s we carpooled from Simi Valley, Ca. to West L.A. and would often get off the 405 at MulHolland to Wilshire Blvd. to avoid backups; for a several month period we would encounter a lone female bicyclist , challenging gravity and centripedal force gallantly while occupying a full one-third of the downhill lane; we thought at first that this was her Weight-Watchers regimen, but after a long winter of bobbing about and weaving around as best as possible we finally concluded she was just nuts.
To: Hatteras
first Rush attacks black football players, now another host attacks bikers...I'm afraid that the next target might be badminton players...Hannity have a beef with badminton?
To: Hatteras
Not to offend any cyclists here, but folks who dress up like they're racing in the Tour de France - nearly every cyclist I see these days - when they're just taking a leisurely ride around town look absolutely ridiculous (to be kind about it).
To: Hatteras
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